Estate of Nathan Timothy Simon v. Van Beek

CourtCourt of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit
DecidedDecember 11, 2023
Docket22-1389
StatusUnpublished

This text of Estate of Nathan Timothy Simon v. Van Beek (Estate of Nathan Timothy Simon v. Van Beek) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Estate of Nathan Timothy Simon v. Van Beek, (10th Cir. 2023).

Opinion

Appellate Case: 22-1389 Document: 010110966193 Date Filed: 12/11/2023 Page: 1 FILED United States Court of Appeals UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS Tenth Circuit

FOR THE TENTH CIRCUIT December 11, 2023 _________________________________ Christopher M. Wolpert Clerk of Court ESTATE OF NATHAN TIMOTHY SIMON, by and through its personal representative Timothy Scott Simon; TIMOTHY SCOTT SIMON, individually; BERNADETTE MARY SIMON, individually,

Plaintiffs - Appellees,

v. No. 22-1389 (D.C. No. 1:21-CV-01923-CNS-GPG) SHERIFF JAMES VAN BEEK, in his (D. Colo.) official and individual capacities; CAPTAIN GREGORY VAN WYK, in his official and individual capacities; UNDERSHERIFF MIKE MCWILLIAMS, in his official and individual capacities; DEPUTY SCOTT PETERSON; DEPUTY DUSTIN OAKLEY,

Defendants - Appellants,

and

EMT BERGON SHARP; EAGLE COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE; EAGLE COUNTY DETENTION FACILITY; EAGLE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS; CORRECTIONAL HEALTHCARE COMPANIES, LLC, d/b/a Correct Care Solutions, LLC, d/b/a Wellpath, LLC,

Defendants. _________________________________ Appellate Case: 22-1389 Document: 010110966193 Date Filed: 12/11/2023 Page: 2

ORDER AND JUDGMENT * _________________________________

Before TYMKOVICH, MATHESON, and CARSON, Circuit Judges. _________________________________

Nathan Simon took his life after he was arrested and detained at the Eagle

County Detention Facility (“ECDF”) in Colorado. His estate brought individual

capacity claims under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 against the officers who arrested him—Eagle

County Sheriff’s Deputies Scott Peterson and Dustin Oakley—and three jail

supervisors—Sheriff James Van Beek, Captain Gregory Van Wyk, and Undersheriff

Mike McWilliams (collectively, “Defendants”).

The Defendants moved to dismiss the claims based on qualified immunity.

The district court denied the motion, holding the amended complaint sufficiently

alleged that the Defendants violated Mr. Simon’s clearly established due process

rights under the Fourteenth Amendment through their deliberate indifference to the

substantial risk he would commit suicide.

Exercising jurisdiction over this interlocutory appeal under 28 U.S.C. § 1291,

we reverse and remand to the district court.

* This order and judgment is not binding precedent, except under the doctrines of law of the case, res judicata, and collateral estoppel. It may be cited, however, for its persuasive value consistent with Fed. R. App. P. 32.1 and 10th Cir. R. 32.1.

2 Appellate Case: 22-1389 Document: 010110966193 Date Filed: 12/11/2023 Page: 3

I. BACKGROUND

A. Factual Allegations

On August 3, 2019, Mr. Simon was arrested for an alleged bond violation.

Two days later, he hanged himself from the inside window bars of his cell using a

bedsheet. The following presents the facts as alleged in the amended complaint.

Early Contacts with the ECSO and ECDF

In April 2019, Karlie Cummins, Mr. Simon’s girlfriend, made an emergency

call to report her concern that Mr. Simon would commit suicide. Eagle County

Sheriff’s Office (“ECSO”) employees responded, but Mr. Simon convinced them he

was not suicidal. In June, Ms. Cummins emailed ECSO Deputy Ivette Rosales,

explaining that Mr. Simon “was demonstrating suicidal behavior,” including

“extreme depression” and speaking “of suicide and giving up.” App., Vol. II at 268.

She also wrote that Mr. Simon “will lie to cover things up.” Id.

Later that month, Mr. Simon’s mother called the ECSO to report he was

“threatening suicide” and had done so before. Id. at 269. Two ECSO deputies

responded. Mr. Simon’s parents told them Mr. Simon was suicidal. Mr. Simon

denied he was suicidal but explained he was “in a bad way” and “[his] whole life

[was] falling apart.” Id. The deputies recommended that the Simons contact the

Hope Center and watch Mr. Simon through the night. One of the deputies told the

Hope Center that Mr. Simon’s “parents [were] currently worried that he [was]

suicidal.” Id.

3 Appellate Case: 22-1389 Document: 010110966193 Date Filed: 12/11/2023 Page: 4

Events Immediately Preceding Mr. Simon’s Suicide

On August 2, Defendant Deputy Peterson, Deputy Andrew Teichman, and an

ECSO detective arrested Mr. Simon and took him into custody at the ECDF. Deputy

Teichman reported that Mr. Simon was “shaking and unusually nervous.” Id.

Mr. Simon bonded out of the ECDF the next morning and returned to his

parents’ residence. He told them “he [was] going to kill himself.” Id. His mother

called 911, which connected her to the ECSO dispatch. She reported that her “son

[wa]s threatening suicide” and “ha[d] a history of mental illness.” Id. She told the

dispatcher she was concerned he might “jump in the river.” Id. Mr. Simon “abruptly

fled [his parents’] residence.” Id. Dispatch broadcast an alert for a “[s]uicidal

[p]arty.” Id.

Deputy Peterson and another deputy responded to the Simons’ residence.

“Both parents directly told the deputies that [Mr. Simon] was suicidal and

specifically not to believe him if he denied it.” Id. at 270. Later that day, Deputy

Peterson and Defendant Deputy Oakley apprehended, detained, and interrogated

Mr. Simon. They then placed him under arrest for an alleged bond violation. At an

unspecified point, Mr. Simon’s parents also “expressly told [Deputy Oakley] that

[Mr. Simon] would deny [being suicidal] and not to believe him.” Id.

Deputy Oakley transported Mr. Simon to the ECDF and spoke with him “about

his suicidal actions.” Id. Deputy Oakley asked what Mr. Simon had done “to make

[his] parents think [he was] gonna go commit suicide.” Id. Mr. Simon “responded

4 Appellate Case: 22-1389 Document: 010110966193 Date Filed: 12/11/2023 Page: 5

that he was having a hard time with a lot of personal issues . . . and that he did not

feel like going through the details” and began crying. Id.

Meanwhile, Deputy Peterson returned to the Simons’ residence and told

Mr. Simon’s parents “he did not consider [Mr. Simon] to be suicidal.” Id.

Mr. Simon’s parents again told Deputy Peterson that Mr. Simon “was in fact suicidal

and not to believe [him] if he said he was not suicidal.” Id.

Intake and State District Court Referral

Mr. Simon was booked into the ECDF as a pretrial detainee and underwent a

mental health screening. The intake form used for the screening asked whether the

“[a]rresting or transporting officer believe[d] subject may be a suicide risk,” and the

intake employee checked “NO.” Id. at 271. “[N]one of the information regarding

[Mr.] Simon’s suicidal behavior on August 3 . . . [was] communicated to the ECDF

intake personnel by [Deputies Peterson and Oakley].” Id. Mr. Simon was then

“placed . . . in the general population in a single cell . . . with no suicide-prevention

precautions.” Id. at 272. The cell had “high bars on the inside of a high window,”

and surveillance cameras could not monitor activity in the cell. Id. He was provided

with bedsheets and a towel.

On August 5, Mr. Simon attended a court advisement hearing in state district

court. During the hearing, the judge said, “The police were called as a result of . . .

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