Christina Smith v. Erie County Sheriff's Dep't

603 F. App'x 414
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
DecidedFebruary 26, 2015
Docket14-3157
StatusUnpublished
Cited by46 cases

This text of 603 F. App'x 414 (Christina Smith v. Erie County Sheriff's Dep't) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Christina Smith v. Erie County Sheriff's Dep't, 603 F. App'x 414 (6th Cir. 2015).

Opinions

[416]*416DAMON J. KEITH, Circuit Judge.

Christina Smith appeals the judgment of the district court dismissing her claims for failure to provide treatment for a serious medical need and supervisory and municipal liability. On January 1, 2012, Smith’s mother, Margaret Stallard, was arrested for disorderly conduct-intoxication. While in custody, Stallard died. An- autopsy determined that Stallard ingested a lethal mixture of prescription medication prior to arrest, causing her unfortunate death. Smith filed suit alleging a 42 U.S.C. § 1983 (“§ 1983”) claim, in violation of the Fifth, Eighth, and Fourteenth Amendments, as well as three additional state law claims. She also sought attorney’s fees and expenses under .42 U.S.C. § 1988 (“§ 1988”). Defendants moved to dismiss all claims on the ground that there was neither an Eighth nor Fourteenth Amendment violation. The district court held- that the Fourth, not the Eighth or Fourteenth Amendments applied, because Stallard was not a convicted prisoner and the alleged violation occurred prior to a probable cause hearing, respectively. The district court found that the failure to provide medical treatment was reasonable under the Fourth Amendment; it did not decide whether there was a Fourteenth Amendment violation. Because the district court found no constitutional violation, it dismissed Smith’s Complaint. We AFFIRM the district court’s judgment.

I. BACKGROUND

A. FACTUAL BACKGROUND

On January 1, 2012, at 4:00 a.m., Sergeant Mark Kusser, a Perkins Township officer, was dispatched to respond to a report that a truck was being broken into. When Sgt. Kusser arrived at the reported location, he saw Stallard sitting inside the truck with the passenger door open. As Sgt. Kusser walked towards the truck, he immediately recognized Stallard from a prior disorderly conduct arrest involving alcohol intoxication. When Sgt. Kusser approached Stallard, he asked her for identification. Stallard attempted to respond, but her speech was slurred and she could not properly identify herself. When Sgt. Kusser smelled alcohol on Stallard’s breath and observed that Stallard did not have shoes on her feet, he arrested her for disorderly conduct-intoxication.

Sgt. Kusser then searched Stallard’s purse and found a checkbook that properly identified her. Sgt. Kusser testified that he did not inventory items in the purse and does not recall its contents. Stallard was transported to, booked, and detained at the Erie County Jail (the “Jail”), not Perkins’s because it was under construction.

The booking footage shows that, as the door to the Jail opens, Officer Brittany Hausman immediately asks, “Ma’am, are you suicidal?” Stallard responds, “No.” Stallard continues to walk into the Jail guided by Sgt. Kusser, who has his right hand on Stallard’s back. Hausman directs Stallard to face the wall; she does. Haus-man begins patting and searching Stallard. Initially, Stallard stands without assistance. But as Stallard begins to lean forward, Hausman calls Officer Kyle Bellamy to hold Stallard upright while she completes the search. Stallard complies with the search, but when Hausman attempts to take Stallard’s coat off, she asks, “Why can’t I keep it?” Stallard stands without assistance and is alert for the remainder of the search; she even asks for “pop.” When the search is complete, Hausman guides Stallard — who walks without assistance — farther into the Jail. The video footage ends.

After securing Stallard in a cell, Haus-man searched Stallard’s purse and found [417]*417two bottles of pills prescribed to her. Jail policy prohibited officers from opening the bottles or counting pills. Even though Jail policy requires officers to notify supervisors and/or medical staff if medication is found during booking, Hausman did not notify anyone, nor did she question Stal-lard about the prescriptions. Hausman says that her experience led her to believe that further questioning would be futile because intoxicated individuals are not usually truthful about usage. Hausman, however, did document on Stallard’s medical evaluation form that Stallard possessed the prescription medications Alprazolan and Amtriptyline. She then placed the form in the Jail nurse’s box, whose shift was due to start at 7 a.m. Hausman did not open the pill bottles.

The Jail’s security camera shows that Stallard was continuously monitored. Shortly after 8:00 a.m., she was found dead in her cell. An autopsy determined that Stallard overdosed on prescription medication.

B. PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

On July 18, 2012, as administrator of her mother’s estate, Smith filed suit alleging that Sgt. Kusser, Hausman, and Bellamy (collectively “Individual Defendants”) violated her mother’s constitutional right to medical treatment, leading to her unfortunate death. She alleges that the Individual Defendants’ supervisors, Ken Klamar, Police Chief of Perkins Township, Terry Lyons, Sheriff of Erie County, Todd Dempsey, Erie County Jail Administrator, are liable for Individual Defendants’ alleged constitutional violation. Finally, Smith alleges that the municipalities that employ and govern Individual Defendants, Perkins Township Board of Trustees (“Perkins”) and Erie County Sheriffs Department and Board of Commissioners (collectively “Erie”) are likewise liable for Individual Defendants’ constitutional violation.1

Smith pleaded one federal claim; it alleges Fifth, Eighth, and Fourteenth Amendment violations against Defendants. The remaining counts set forth state law claims. Defendants, moved for summary judgment. Primarily, Defendants argued that there was no constitutional violation of the Eighth or Fourteenth Amendments because the evidence was insufficient to establish deliberate indifference to a medical need.2 The district court held that the Eighth Amendment did not apply because Stallard was not a convicted prisoner; it held that the Fourteenth Amendment did not apply because Stallard had not had a probable cause hearing, and thus the district court did not decide whether there was a Fourteenth Amendment violation. Rather, it held that the Fourth Amendment applied and found that the failure to provide medical treatment was reasonable. Finally, the district court held that Smith failed to. state a Fifth Amendment violation. Because the district court found no constitutional violation, it dismissed Smith’s Complaint. Smith timely appeals the judgment of the district court, challenging only the dismissal of her Fourteenth Amendment claim.

[418]*418II. STANDARD OF REVIEW

We review the district court’s grant of summary judgment de novo. Simmonds v. Genesee Cnty., 682 F.3d 438, 444 (6th Cir.2012). Under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 56(a), summary judgment is proper if a moving party “shows that there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.” Id. This requires us to view the evidence and draw all reasonable inferences in favor of the non-moving party. Tysinger v. Police Dep’t of City of Zanesville, 463 F.3d 569, 572 (6th Cir.2006).

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603 F. App'x 414, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/christina-smith-v-erie-county-sheriffs-dept-ca6-2015.