Jose Luis Rivas v. Matteo Brattesani (Shield No. 14412) and Joseph Romano (Shield No. 05691)

Defendant police officers Matteo Brattesa-ni and Joseph Romano (jointly “the Officers”) appeal from a judgment entered on November 8, 1995, by the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (Kevin Thomas Duffy, Judge) for eom-pensatory damages in the amount of $20,000 against both defendants, jointly and severally, and for punitive damages in the amount of $25,000 against each defendant separately. On appeal, defendants claim that the district court denied them a fair trial. We are persuaded that comments made by the court in the presence of the jury may have given the…