Dancy v. McGinley, No. 15-140 (2d Cir. 2016)
Annotate this CaseJarquez Dancy and Jayvon Elting, two high school students, were stopped by Police Officer Gregg McGinley while they were walking on Main Street in Poughkeepsie, New York. A confrontation ensued that left Elting bruised, scraped, and swollen, and Dancy with a broken jaw. Elting and Dancy brought a civil rights action in federal district court alleging, inter alia, false arrest and use of excessive force. The district court entered judgment as a matter of law in favor of Elting on liability as to his claims against McGinley for false arrest and use of excessive force, and thereafter the jury awarded him $215,000, which the district court remitted to $196,500. The jury found in favor of Williams on Dancy's claim for false arrest, but was unable to reach a verdict on Dancy's excessive force claim. At a second trial, the jury found in favor of Williams on Dancy's excessive force claim. The district court denied Dancy's motion for a new trial. The court affirmed the judgment in favor of Elting and the amount of damages. However, the court vacated the judgment in favor of Williams and remanded for a new trial on Dancy's excessive force claim. In this case, the court concluded that there was a lack of clarity in the district court's instructions that improperly placed the burden on Dancy to prove intent, not only as to the seizure but as to the injury as well. The error was not harmless.
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