(Download) "Vasquez v. Fleming" by Third Circuit United States Court Of Appeals # Book PDF Kindle ePub Free
eBook details
- Title: Vasquez v. Fleming
- Author : Third Circuit United States Court Of Appeals
- Release Date : January 13, 1980
- Genre: Law,Books,Professional & Technical,
- Pages : * pages
- Size : 52 KB
Description
We affirmed by judgment order, on December 7, 1979, a damage award in favor of appellee in his 42 U.S.C. ร§ 1983 suit against defendant, Patrolman Fleming. Following our affirmance, appellee has filed a motion, seeking as the prevailing party, an award of costs and attorney's fees for the appeal. This suit was started in the district court for the Virgin Islands and raises an issue peculiar to that district. We are asked to determine whether the Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure, particularly Rule 39(c), which does not include attorney fees in the allowance for costs, are applicable to appeals from the district courts of the Virgin Islands or whether section 541 of the Virgin Islands Code, 5 V.I.C. ร§ 541 (1967), which allows attorney fees in costs, controls. Because we hold that the Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure are applicable to these appeals, we are presented with the second question of whether to award attorney fees under 42 U.S.C. ร§ 1988 (1976). The question whether section 541 was meant to apply to appeals was specifically left unanswered in Skeoch v. Ottley, 278 F. Supp. 314, 315 (D.V.I.1968), which held that the issue should be determined by the court of appeals. We find two compelling reasons for not applying section 541 to appeals.