United States Third Circuit

In plaintiffs' section 1983 lawsuit against the city of Philadelphia and various police officers arising from an impromptu street celebration after the Eagles' National Football Conference championship win, the judgment of the district court is affirmed where: 1) district court's deductions and adjustments in calculating the attorneys' fees were well reasoned and amply supported by the record; 2) district court properly rejected plaintiff's argument that it should have instructed the jury that any amount of force used to effect an arrest without probable cause is per se excessive; 3)district court did not err in granting defendants' motion for judgment as a matter of law on the supervisory liability claim and on the Fourth Amendment malicious prosecution claim as there is insufficient evidence on the record to support these claims; and 4) it was not an abuse of discretion to deny plaintiffs' request to admit rebuttal evidence with respect to their First Amendment claims.

Appellate Information

• Argued 06/02/2009
• Decided 10/02/2009
• Published 10/02/2009

Judges

• Before:  McKEE, HARDIMAN, and GREENBERG, Circuit Judges.

Court

• United States Third Circuit

Counsel

• For Appellant:
  
• Brian M. Puricelli, Newtown, PA, Brian K. Wiley, (argued), North Wales, PA, Attorneys for Plaintiffs-Appellants.


• For Appellees:
  
• Shelley R. Smith, City Solicitor, Jane L. Istvan, (argued), Senior Attorney, Appeals, City of Philadelphia Law Department, Philadelphia, PA, Attorneys for Defendants-Appellees.