Estate of Laura Allison v. Wood County, Tex

524 F. App'x 963
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
DecidedMay 15, 2013
Docket12-40749
StatusUnpublished
Cited by12 cases

This text of 524 F. App'x 963 (Estate of Laura Allison v. Wood County, Tex) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Estate of Laura Allison v. Wood County, Tex, 524 F. App'x 963 (5th Cir. 2013).

Opinion

PER CURIAM: *

Defendants-Appellants (“Appellants”) filed this interlocutory appeal of the district court’s denial of summary judgment on the defense of qualified immunity. Plaintiffs-Appellees (“Appellees”) had brought suit in the district court, alleging that Appellants treated Laura Allison’s serious medical needs with deliberate indifference while she was incarcerated in the Wood County Jail, thereby resulting in her death. We REVERSE and REMAND for further proceedings.

I. FACTUAL & PROCEDURAL HISTORY

In February 2007, Decedent Laura Allison (“Decedent Allison”) was arrested in Wood County, Texas for driving under the influence of alcohol. As a condition of her sentence, she was required to attend the Victim Impact Panel (“VIP”) class, which the Wood County Probation Office conducted. On March 17, 2009, Decedent Allison arrived at a VIP class, which Adult Probation Officer/Community Supervision Officer Colin Kovic (“Officer Kovic”) was facilitating that day. When Officer Kovic first saw Decedent Allison as she arrived at the class around 5:30 PM, he noticed that her eyes were glassy and red, her speech was slow, and she smelled of alcohol. Decedent Allison explained her condition to Officer Kovic by stating that she was suffering from allergies and had taken a double dosage of her allergy medication. Officer Kovic requested several times that Decedent Allison take a breathalzyer examination, but she refused. Officer Kovic thus called the Wood County Sheriffs Department, which sent Quitman Police Officer David Barkley (“Officer Barkley”) to the scene. Texas Department of Public Safety Trooper Brandon Owens acted as backup for Officer Barkley.

When Officer Barkley arrived, Officer Kovic told Officer Barkley that he had requested that Decedent Allison take a breathalyzer test, but she had refused. Officer Barkley also requested that she take a breathalyzer examination, but she again refused. Officer Barkley told Decedent Allison that he could smell alcohol about her person, but she denied that she had been drinking. Officer Barkley then performed a simple sobriety test by requesting that she stand on one leg, but she failed the test, as she was unable to keep her leg raised. Officer Barkley therefore placed her under arrest at approximately 6:37 PM and transported her to the Wood County Jail (“Jail”), where she arrived at *966 approximately 7 PM. 1

Officer Barkley’s arrest report stated: “Suspect arrived at Probation Office had been drinking and stated took prescription meds not in accordance with direction.” (capitalization in original omitted). Officer Barkley’s Complaint/With Probable Cause Affidavit states, in pertinent part:

I noticed the odor of an alcohol beverage emitting from [Decedent] Allison’s breath. I further observed she was confused in answering questions. Her speech was slurred and she was staggered [sic]. [Decedent] Allison stated she had misused her prescription medications. At this time I attempted to have [Decedent] Allison complete a standard field sobriety test which she could not. [Decedent] Allison did appear in a public place while intoxicated and did present a threat [illegible] danger to herself or others.

(capitalization in original omitted).

Officer Kovic later attested in his affidavit that, on the day of Decedent Allison’s arrest, she appeared intoxicated, but not so intoxicated as to require medical help. He averred that she was able to walk without assistance and carry on a conversation with him. He further attested that, if she had appeared to need medical help, he would have requested emergency assistance for her.

Defendant Jail Sergeant David Hayes (“Sergeant Hayes”) was the supervisor at the Jail the night of Decedent Allison’s arrest, and he booked her into the Jail. Decedent Allison was crying and upset because she was arrested and would be unable to see her grandchildren the next day as she had planned. Sergeant Hayes used a screening form to obtain information from her regarding any “suicide and medical and mental impairments.” Sergeant Hayes noted her medications as “Paxil, Disapam [sic], [and] Clamara [sic],” and Decedent Allison reported to him that she attempted suicide a year earlier by using pills because she was depressed. In response to the screening form’s question, “Observed to be under the influence of alcohol drugs or withdrawal?” Sergeant Hayes answered, “No.” In response to the question, “Does arresting officer or any other person believe that the inmate is at risk due to a medical condition, mental illness, mental retardation, or suicide concern?” he also answered, “No.” In his deposition, Sergeant Hayes testified that, while he did not recall whether he had read the specific information in Officer Barkley’s arrest report that Decedent Allison had taken prescription drugs not in accordance with directions, he typically reads arrest reports when a new inmate is booked into the Jail.

Several Jailers testified in deposition regarding Decedent Allison’s condition when she arrived at the Jail. Defendant Jailer Joshua Dean (“Jailer Dean”) testified that Decedent Allison did not appear to be in any medical distress during the booking process: she was not falling down, vomiting, or bleeding, and she was coherent, able to stand on her own, and capable of answering all of Jailer Dean’s questions. Defendant Jailer Cynthia Hyatt (“Jailer Hyatt”) likewise testified that Decedent Allison exhibited no signs of medical distress. Additionally, Jailer Hyatt testified that she observed Decedent Allison from 7 PM until 8:30 PM, that she was doing “okay,” and that by 8:30 PM, she was sleeping. Jailer Hyatt further testified that she asked Decedent Allison if she *967 needed anything at one point, but Decedent Allison said that she did not. Defendant Jailer Bobbye Leffel (“Jailer Leffel”) also assisted with Decedent Allison’s booking by conducting the pat-down search. Jailer Leffel testified that Decedent Allison was “highly upset” about not getting to see her grandchildren and “just appeared to be intoxicated.” Jailer Leffel further testified that Decedent Allison was able to carry on a conversation and did not stumble, fall, or trip on the way to her cell.

On the other hand, Defendant Jailer Michael Allison (“Jailer Allison”) 2 noticed Decedent Allison “passed out” on the bench in her cell around 8 PM. By “passed out,” Jailer Allison meant “she was laid down asleep, and I know she had got brought in for PI [public intoxication], for some sort of intoxication.” Due to Jailer Allison’s knowledge that Decedent Allison was arrested for “some sort of intoxication,” he asked Defendant Jailer Ryan Zeller (“Jailer Zeller”) if Decedent Allison “was messed up with pills or alcohol.” However, Jailer Allison also testified that he “didn’t know how messed up” she was but she “looked fine,” despite the fact that she was passed out.

Various Jailers testified that they walked by Decedent Allison’s cell approximately every thirty minutes at least to check on her, including to make sure that she was still breathing. For example, Jailer Leffel testified that Decedent Allison appeared to be fine at one point, by which she meant Decedent Allison was breathing and snoring.

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Bluebook (online)
524 F. App'x 963, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/estate-of-laura-allison-v-wood-county-tex-ca5-2013.