Tortu

I. Factual and Procedural Background

This case arises out of Christopher Tortu’s arrest at the McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas, Nevada on July 9, 2001. After filing his complaint seeking redress for the alleged unreasonable force applied by the officers, the district court granted defendants’ partial motion for summary judg- TORTU v. LAS VEGAS METRO. POLICE 2465 ment and dismissed many of Tortu’s claims. The case then proceeded to trial on the only issue remaining: whether Offi- cers Richard Cashton, Duane Cowley, and Eugene Engle used excessive force while arresting Tortu.

A. Trial Proceedings

During trial, both parties presented widely divergent accounts of the events that transpired during Tortu’s arrest. In its post-trial order, the district court heavily relied on these vast differences in testimony as well as the significant amount of testimony from the officers and their witnesses to grant Engle’s post-trial motions. Accordingly, we provide a sum- mary of the testimony presented at trial and include each party’s account of the events when the two versions substan- tially differed. To better understand the jury’s verdict, we sep- arate…