Mason v. Barbieri
Mason v. Barbieri
Opinion of the Court
SUMMARY ORDER
Plaintiffs Larry Mason and Modesto Rodriguez appeal the dismissal of their claims brought pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 challenging the method by which they were arrested, and the denial of their motion for reconsideration brought pursuant to Rule 59(e) and District of Connecticut Local Rule 7(c).
The parties disagree about whether this motion for reconsideration should be reviewed as a motion brought pursuant to Rule 59(e) or Rule 60(b). We need not resolve this issue, however, because even if we review the motion under Rule 59(e), as plaintiffs urge, their claim fails. We review a district court’s denial of a party’s motion to alter or amend judgment under Rule 59(e) for abuse of discretion. See Empresa Cubana del Tabaco v. Culbro Corp., 541 F.3d 476, 478 (2d Cir. 2008). Plaintiffs’ motion was denied on the ground that they failed to identify “any controlling decisions or data that the Court overlooked.” Mason v. Barbieri, 07 Civ. 287 (D.Conn. May 6, 2008) (Docket No. 83). As plaintiffs’ concede, this was the proper standard, see Appellants’ Reply Br. at 6 n. 3; see also Shrader v. CSX Transp., Inc., 70 F.3d 255, 257 (2d Cir. 1995), and we identify no abuse in its application here.
Moreover, to the extent plaintiffs’ motion for reconsideration calls into question the underlying judgment, we note our agreement with the district court’s conclusion that plaintiffs failed to allege a Fourth Amendment violation based on the participation of nonlaw-enforcement civilians in their arrests. To be sure, “it is a violation of the Fourth Amendment for police to bring members of the media or other third parties into a home during the execution of a warrant when the presence of the third parties in the home was not in aid of the execution of the warrant.” Wilson v. Layne, 526 U.S. 603, 614, 119 S.Ct. 1692, 143 L.Ed.2d 818 (1999) (emphasis added). However, “the presence of a third party who is assisting authorized officers in
We have considered plaintiffs’ other arguments and find them to be without merit. For the foregoing reasons, the judgment of the district court is AFFIRMED.
. Plaintiffs' state law claims were dismissed without prejudice following dismissal of their § 1983 claim. Plaintiffs do not challenge that decision on appeal, and we deem any such challenge to have been waived. See Norton v. Sam's Chib, 145 F.3d 114, 117 (2d Cir. 1998) ("Issues not sufficiently argued in the briefs are considered waived and normally will not be addressed on appeal.”).
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.