In Cummings v. Village of Port Chester, MSSSV Westchester partner Rich Sklarin success fully tried an excessive force case twice to fully vindicate several officers and the Village’s Police Department. After a motion for summary judgment at the close of discovery dismissed most of plaintiff’s claims, a jury still had to determine whether the use of a taser to bring the plaintiff into custody was reasonable under the circumstances. During the first Southern District trial in 2014 before Magistrate Smith in White Plains, the jury returned a defense verdict in favor of 2 of the 3 individually named police officers. However, the jury deadlocked after 2 full days of deliberation over whether the third Village officer, who had actually utilized the taser to effectuate plaintiff’s arrest, had used reasonable force. The case was re-tried in February, 2015 before Magistrate Smith and, following a 4 day trial, the jury rendered a unanimous defense verdict in just over an hour in favor of the third officer.