Ellis v. Washington County

198 F.3d 225
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
DecidedNovember 30, 1999
DocketNos. 98-6178, 98-6228
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 198 F.3d 225 (Ellis v. Washington County) 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
Ellis v. Washington County, 198 F.3d 225 (6th Cir. 1999).

Opinions

MERRITT, J., delivered the opinion of the court, in which KENNEDY, J., joined. DAUGHTREY, J. (pp. 229-32), delivered a separate opinion concurring in part and dissenting in part.

OPINION

MERRITT, Circuit Judge.

In this wrongful death action, plaintiffs, Nancy Ellis, individually, as the mother of Craig Lanthorn, now deceased and as next friend of Catherine E. Lanthorn, and Catherine Lanthorn, individually, minor child of deceased, Craig Lanthorn, sued the defendants, Johnson City and Washington County, Tennessee, a city and the county in which it is located. Plaintiffs also sued three jailors: Sam Garland, employed by the Johnson City Jail; and R.D. Jamerson and Billy Mitchell, employed by Washington County Jail. Plaintiffs brought suit under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 for the suicide of Craig Lanthorn while incarcerated at the Washington County Jail on August 3, 1994, three hours after being transferred there from the Johnson City Jail. The primary issue we deal with in this opinion is whether the action’s or policies of the defendants, or any of them, was the proximate cause of the suicide. We conclude as to all defendants, except Jamerson, that the plaintiffs have failed to establish proximate causation and therefore affirm the summary judgment entered below as to Washington County and Johnson City. We affirm the District Court’s grant of summary judgment on grounds of qualified immunity to jailors Garland and Mitchell. We conclude that we lack interlocutory appellate jurisdiction as to the defendant Jamerson’s claim that the District Court erred in refusing to grant him qualified immunity.

I. Washington County’s Liability for Failure to Train Its Jailors to Prevent Suicide

The case proceeded in the court below on the theory that Craig Lanthorn committed suicide in “cell block B^i” of the Washington County Jail by hanging himself at approximately 1:55 P.M. on August 3, 1994. This cell had a monitor camera at one end. It was not designed as a suicide prevention cell. Plaintiffs claim that Lanthorn should have been placed in a suicide prevention cell and that all sheets and clothing useful in committing suicide should have been removed. They also claim that the County did not give the jailors adequate training in suicide prevention.

On the afternoon of August 2, 1994, Craig Lanthorn was arrested at the residence of Dr. and Mrs. James Turnbull, following a 911 call from the Turnbull’s daughter, Sara, reporting that Lanthorn, her boyfriend, was attempting to break into the house. She left the residence and hid in a neighbor’s yard after Lanthorn broke a window to gain access through the back door. Dr. Turnbull, a psychiatrist, [227]*227testified that Lanthorn was “delirious or delusional,” and he attributed this to “Lanthorn’s drug use,” not to suicidal tendencies or a mental illness. Arresting officer Hensley believed that Lanthorn was drunk. He was “dazed or disoriented,” “unsteady on his feet” but “cooperative.” Hensley carried Lanthorn to the Johnson City Jail and charged him with public intoxication and criminal trespass. He was held overnight in the Johnson City Jail. After he was arraigned in court the next morning, where he was represented by counsel, the Johnson City police carried him to the Washington County Jail to await trial.

During the period from 11:00 A.M. in the morning when Lanthorn arrived at the Washington County Jail until his suicide three hours later, nothing occurred that would put reasonable jailors on notice of a possible suicide attempt. Jailor Robertson talked to Lanthorn about suicide when Lanthorn arrived, and Lanthorn said that he was not a suicide risk and “loved life.” A few minutes later Jailor Mitchell, who had gone to high school with Lanthorn, came on duty. He was concerned about Lanthorn’s mental health and so advised his superior, who told him to determine if Lanthorn was a suicide possibility. Mitchell found Lanthorn on the second floor of the jail talking to his mother. He seemed to be crying. After the phone call, Mitchell engaged him in conversation. Mitchell asked Lanthorn, “Craig, are you suicidal?” Lanthorn said, “Hell no, I’ve got a baby on the way that I’ve got to take care of.”

Finally, and most important of all, plaintiff in this case, Nancy Ellis, Lanthorn’s mother, is an experienced, practicing, licensed, clinical psychologist with a Ph.D. She stated two months after the death of her son in a letter that “he was not suicidal at 11:30 when I talked to him [on the phone],” and he “knew he was getting out [of jail]”:

Craig had everything to live for, a family who adored him, a child on the way, numerous friends and, a positive future. He was immensely likable. Although he had had some painful experiences, he was dealing with this in therapy and was very enthusiastic about treatment. One of the things we talked about in our last conversation was his next session with Ted (his psychologist). He was eager to get there. (App.474.)

Based on these facts — particularly in view of his mother’s expert opinion two months later and jailor Mitchell’s conversation about suicide — there is no evidence from which a reasonable jailor would have foreseen suicide. No deliberately indifferent policy was a proximate cause of the death. When an experienced expert in the field of psychology, like decedent’s mother, plaintiff, Nancy Ellis, was unable to predict suicide, and did not think it was necessary to warn her son’s jailors of such a possibility, it is unreasonable to attribute fault to the County or its jailors for failing to predict suicide. The County was under no legal obligation to isolate Lanthorn in a suicide cell or take other extraordinary steps in anticipation of suicide. Whatever the county may have failed to do in training its jailors about suicide, its training program was not a proximate cause of the injury here. Its conduct was no more a proximate cause of the suicide than was the failure of plaintiff Ellis herself — an expert in the field — to foresee the result.

The same reasoning applies to jail- or Mitchell, the jailor who was in high school with Lanthorn. Mitchell recognized that Lanthorn was mentally unstable and interrogated him about suicide. After the interview, Mitchell made a mistake in assessing Lanthorn’s suicidal tendencies— just as did Lanthorn’s mother — but he certainly was not deliberately indifferent toward Lanthorn and exhibited a genuine concern for his welfare while in jail. The District Court did not err in granting summary judgment for Mitchell.

II. Liability of Johnson City and its Jailors for Lanthorn’s Suicide

Although Lanthorn’s suicide occurred in the Washington County Jail af[228]*228ter his transfer, not in the Johnson City Jail, plaintiffs also seek to blame Johnson City and its jailors for the death of Lanthorn on grounds that Johnson City did not properly train its jailors in suicide prevention, which in turn led the jailors to fail to anticipate, and remain deliberately indifferent to, the possibility of Lanthorn’s suicide. For reasons similar to those expressed above, we conclude that the actions and policies of Johnson City and its jailors did not proximately cause the suicide of Craig Lanthorn. There is no evidence to support a conclusion that the City or its employees should be held legally responsible for the suicide.

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Bluebook (online)
198 F.3d 225, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/ellis-v-washington-county-ca6-1999.