Robert Norse v. City of Santa Cruz

MEMORANDUM

Robert Norse appeals the district court’s denial of his motion for a new trial after a jury verdict in favor of the defendants. This 42 U.S.C. § 1983 case has been before us previously, and the parties are familiar with its lengthy procedural history. See Norse v. City of Santa Cruz, 629 F.3d 966 (9th Cir.2010) (en banc). The en banc court remanded the case to the district court for'a trial on the merits, and the district court presided over a six-day jury trial.

The jury’s verdict was that the defendants did not violate Norse’s First and Fourth Amendment rights on either of the two occasions in question, when he was ejected from Santa Cruz City Council meetings in 2002 and 2004. The only question raised on appeal is whether the district court abused its discretion in determining that the jury verdict was not contrary to the clear weight of the evidence, a high standard for appellant to surmount. See Kode v. Carlson, 596 F.3d 608, 612 (9th Cir.2010) (“[WJhere the basis of a Rule 59 ruling is that the verdict is not against the weight of the evidence, the district court’s denial of a Rule 59 motion is virtually unassailable. In such cases, we reverse for a clear abuse…