[DO NOT PUBLISH]
IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT
________________________ FILED
U.S. COURT OF APPEALS
Nos. 09-12956 and 09-13928 ELEVENTH CIRCUIT
MAY 25, 2010
Non-Argument Calendar
JOHN LEY
________________________
CLERK
D. C. Docket No. 01-00011-CV-1-SPM-WCS
JOSE ELIAS SEPULVEDA,
Plaintiff-Appellant,
versus
RALPH W. BURNSIDE,
SHERIFF STEPHEN M. OELRICH,
ALAN R. MORROW,
FLOYD GIPSON,
DETENTION OFFICER ALLEN, et al.,
Defendants-Appellees.
________________________
Appeals from the United States District Court
for the Northern District of Florida
_________________________
(May 25, 2010)
Before BARKETT, WILSON and ANDERSON, Circuit Judges.
PER CURIAM:
Jose Elias Sepulveda, proceeding pro se, appeals the district court’s order
denying his motion to alter or amend the judgment or for a new trial on the issue of
compensatory damages following a jury verdict in his favor in a 42 U.S.C. § 1983
civil rights action.
In 2001, Sepulveda filed an amended complaint against six defendants,
including Floyd Gipson and James Elliot, correctional officers at the Alachua
County Correctional Center (“ACCC”). Sepulveda’s complaint raised claims
under 42 U.S.C. §§ 1983, 1985, 1986, and Bivens v. Six Unknown Named Agents of
Federal Bureau of Narcotics, 403 U.S. 388, 91 S. Ct. 1999 (1971), as well as
claims arising under Florida law. The district court granted summary judgment to
defendants with respect to all of Sepulveda’s claims, with the exception of his
retaliation claim against Defendant Elliot. After a trial, a jury returned a verdict in
favor of Elliot on the retaliation claim.
Sepulveda then appealed the district court’s order granting summary
judgment on his other claims. We affirmed the grant of summary judgment in
regard to most of Sepulveda’s claims, but reversed with respect to Sepulveda’s
Eighth Amendment and First Amendment retaliation claims against Defendant
Gipson. See Sepulveda v. Burnside, 11th Cir. 2006, __ F.3d __ (No. 04-10241,
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Mar. 13, 2006). Sepulveda’s claims against Gipson were based upon an incident
where Sepulveda was attacked by another inmate, Donald Small, after Gipson let
Sepulveda and Small out of their cells in the special management pod at the same
time, without any restraints, in violation of the ACCC’s policies. On remand,
Sepulveda’s claims against Gipson were tried before a jury, which found Gipson
liable for violating Sepulveda’s constitutional rights. The jury awarded Sepulveda
only $1 in compensatory damages, but $99,999 in punitive damages. Sepulveda
filed a Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 59(e) motion to alter or amend the
judgment to increase the award of compensatory damages, and an alternative
Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 59(a) motion for a new trial on only the issue of
compensatory damages. He also filed a Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 60(b)
motion requesting relief from a final judgment due to fraud. The district court
denied Sepulveda’s post-verdict motions, and Sepulveda now appeals that order.
On appeal, Sepulveda asserts that defense counsel and Dr. M. Cintron, a
physician at the facility where Sepulveda is incarcerated, committed fraud in
defense counsel’s motion to strike Dr. Cintron from Sepulveda’s witness list.
Specifically, Sepulveda contends that Dr. Cintron was not truthful when he stated
that Sepulveda’s medical chart did not include any information attributing
Sepulveda’s hearing loss to the attack committed by Small. Sepulveda also argues
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that Dr. Javier Mauiz, a psychologist, committed misrepresentation and other
misconduct in order to have his subpoena quashed. Sepulveda asserts that his
inability to present testimony from Dr. Cintron and Dr. Mauiz precluded him from
presenting evidence regarding his injuries to the jury. Therefore, he asserts that the
district court should have either increased the compensatory damages award, or
granted a new trial with respect to compensatory damages.
We review a district court’s denial of Rule 59(a), Rule 59(e), and Rule
60(b)(3) motions for an abuse of discretion. Bianchi v. Roadway Express, Inc.,
441 F.3d 1278, 1282 (11th Cir. 2006) (per curiam); Case v. Eslinger, 555 F.3d
1317, 1325 (11th Cir. 2009) (citation omitted); Cox Nuclear Pharmacy, Inc. v. CTI,
Inc., 478 F.3d 1303, 1314 (11th Cir. 2007).
To prevail on a Rule 60(b)(3) motion requesting relief from a final judgment
due to fraud, “the movant must prove by clear and convincing evidence that an
adverse party has obtained the verdict through fraud, misrepresentation, or other
misconduct.” Cox, 478 F.3d at 1314 (quotation and alteration ommitted). The
moving party must also demonstrate that the adverse party’s conduct prevented
him “from fully and fairly presenting his case.” Id. (citation omitted). To prevail
on a Rule 59(e) motion, a party must identify “newly-discovered evidence or
manifest errors of law or fact.” Arthur v. King, 500 F.3d 1335, 1343 (11th Cir.
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2007) (per curiam) (quotation omitted). A Rule 59(e) motion may not be used to
relitigate matters that have already been decided. Id. (citation omitted).
The Supreme Court has held that the Seventh Amendment prohibits a federal
court from granting additur and increasing a jury’s award of damages. Dimick v.
Schiedt, 293 U.S. 474, 486–87, 55 S. Ct. 296, 301 (1935). The district court could
not have increased the jury’s award without ordering a new trial because such a
procedure would have violated the Seventh Amendment. See Dimick, 293 U.S. at
486–87, 55 S. Ct. at 301. Therefore, the district court properly denied Sepulveda’s
request to alter or amend the judgment under Rule 59(e), or for relief from the
judgment under Rule 60(b)(3).
Rule 59(a) provides that a federal court may order a new trial “for any
reason for which a new trial has heretofore been granted in an action at law in
federal court.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 59(a)(1)(A). We have recognized that an
insufficient award of damages is a valid basis for ordering a new trial. See
Mekdeci v. Merrell Nat’l Labs., Div. of Richardson-Merrell, Inc., 711 F.2d 1510,
1513 (11th Cir. 1983) (“Traditionally, an inadequate award of damages may
constitute a sufficient reason to set aside a jury verdict.”). As a general matter,
where a jury has found both liability and damages, a district court may limit a new
trial to the issue of damages. See, e.g., Overseas Private Inv. Corp. v. Metro. Dade
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County, 47 F.3d 1111, 1116 (11th Cir. 1995) (affirming jury’s findings concerning
liability, but remanding for a retrial on the issue of damages).
Under the facts of this particular case, Sepulveda failed to make a sufficient
showing of fraud or other improper conduct to support his request for a new trial.
Sepulveda asserts that Defendant Gipson committed fraud or misrepresentation in
conjunction with Dr. Cintron in order to avoid testifying at trial. The evidence
presented by Sepulveda to support this is Dr. Cintron’s affidavit that states
Sepulveda’s chart did not include any information explaining the cause of
Sepulveda’s hearing loss. Sepulveda points to the November 1, 2000 diagnosis of
Dr. Ranzenberger to demonstrate that there actually was information explaining the
cause of Sepulveda’s hearing loss. However, Dr. Ranzenberger indicated that
Sepulveda himself reported that his hearing loss began after the incident where he
was attacked by Small. Dr. Ranzenberger stated that a more complete audiometric
study would be necessary to understand Sepulveda’s condition. Sepulveda has not
shown that Dr. Cintron’s failure to mention this document was a deliberate
stratagem to avoid testifying at trial, rather than the result of mere inadvertence.
Sepulveda also contends that Dr. Mauiz, a Department of Justice employee,
committed misrepresentation and other misconduct in order to have his subpoena
quashed. In order to obtain testimony or production of documents from a
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Department of Justice employee, a party must follow the regulations set forth in 28
C.F.R. § 16.21 et seq. If the party is seeking oral testimony, he must provide the
responsible United States Attorney with “an affidavit, or . . . a statement . . . setting
forth a summary of the testimony sought and its relevance to the proceeding.” 28
C.F.R. § 16.22(c). The United States Attorney must then follow certain procedures
in determining how to respond to the party’s request. See 28 C.F.R. § 16.24.
Sepulveda has failed to demonstrate that the Assisted United States Attorney
(“AUSA”) made misrepresentations in his motion to quash Dr. Mauiz’s subpoena.
The motion to quash explained that Sepulveda failed to comply with the
procedures for subpoenaing a Department of Justice employee, as set out in 28
C.F.R. § 16.21, et seq. To support his argument that he did comply with the
applicable regulations, Sepulveda provided an affidavit and a list of questions that
he mailed to Dr. Mauiz in September 2006. Nevertheless, Sepulveda did not show
that he furnished these documents to the responsible United States Attorney, as
required by 28 C.F.R. § 16.22(c). Moreover, Sepulveda mailed these documents to
Dr. Mauiz in 2006, but did not subpoena Dr. Mauiz until 2009. Given the
significant lapse of time between the mailing of the affidavit and the serving of the
subpoena, it is unclear whether these documents would have satisfied § 16.22(c)
even if they had been mailed to the AUSA. In any event, Sepulveda has not
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established that the AUSA intended to mislead the court when he stated that
Sepulveda had not complied with the regulations. Because Sepulveda failed to
make a sufficient showing of fraud or other improper conduct, the district court did
not abuse its discretion by denying his motion for a new trial.
The district court could not have increased the jury’s award without ordering
a new trial because such a procedure would have violated the Seventh Amendment.
Therefore, the district court properly denied Sepulveda’s request to alter or amend
the judgment. In addition, Sepulveda failed to make a sufficient showing of fraud
or other improper conduct to support his request for a new trial. Accordingly, we
affirm the district court’s denial of Sepulveda’s post-judgment motion.
AFFIRMED.
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