Keaton v. Ceaser
- Jesse Furman
- 1:17-cv-00952
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 59
In Keaton v. Caesar, Judge Furman issued jury instructions for claims involving an arrest and strip search but made no final decision.
Eric Keaton and Sergeant Kenneth Caesar were the parties whose claims and defenses were submitted to the jury. The order also provided instructions for the jurors deciding those claims.
What happened
In Eric Keaton v. Sergeant Kenneth Caesar, the court issued an order attaching two exhibits: a draft jury charge considered at the November 13, 2019 charge conference and the finalized jury charge.
The instructions told jurors how to evaluate evidence and decide Keaton’s claims under a federal civil-rights law. The claims concerned whether Caesar falsely arrested Keaton and unlawfully strip-searched him after the arrest. The charge explained probable cause, individualized reasonable suspicion, damages, and the jury’s deliberation procedures.
Judge Jesse M. Furman did not decide liability, damages, or the parties’ underlying dispute in this order. The opinion text contains no jury verdict or other final disposition.
The detailed version
- Keaton v. Ceaser · No. 1:17-cv-00952
- Jesse Furman
- Nov. 14, 2019
Nature of the Order
The court issued an order attaching Court Exhibit 1, the draft jury charge considered at the November 13, 2019 charge conference, and Court Exhibit 2, the finalized jury charge. The order itself does not state a jury verdict, enter judgment, or resolve the claims.
Claims and Jury Instructions
The finalized charge concerned Eric Keaton’s claims against New York Police Department Sergeant Kenneth Caesar under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, a federal civil-rights statute. The claims arose from Keaton’s arrest on May 1, 2014, and a related search.
The charge instructed the jury to decide:
- Whether Caesar had probable cause to arrest Keaton. The instructions defined probable cause as information known at the time of arrest that would lead a reasonable officer to conclude that the person had committed or was about to commit a crime. - Whether Keaton was unlawfully strip-searched at the police station. The instructions stated that a lawful strip search required individualized reasonable suspicion that Keaton was concealing weapons, drugs, or other contraband, and that the search also had to be conducted reasonably. - Whether Caesar’s conduct caused injury or damages. The charge described compensatory damages and nominal damages, which are a token award recognizing a rights violation when actual monetary damages are not shown or cannot be calculated without speculation.
Other Instructions
The charge explained the preponderance-of-the-evidence standard, meaning that a fact must be more likely true than not true. It also instructed jurors about evaluating witness credibility, distinguishing evidence from attorneys’ arguments, using direct and circumstantial evidence, deliberating, and reaching a unanimous verdict.
The finalized charge stated that punitive damages were not relevant and could not be awarded. The attached finalized verdict form asked the jury to decide liability and compensatory or nominal damages for the false-arrest and unlawful-strip-search claims. It did not include a punitive-damages question.
Disposition and Effect
Judge Jesse M. Furman’s order only attached the draft and finalized jury-charge materials. The provided text does not report the jury’s verdict and does not state whether either party prevailed. It therefore does not decide the merits of Keaton’s claims or Caesar’s defenses.
Read the full 59-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.