Navolio v. Lawrence County

25 Pa. D. & C.5th 155
CourtPennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Lawrence County
DecidedFebruary 9, 2012
DocketNo. 10358 of 2010
StatusPublished

This text of 25 Pa. D. & C.5th 155 (Navolio v. Lawrence County) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Lawrence County primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Navolio v. Lawrence County, 25 Pa. D. & C.5th 155 (Pa. Super. Ct. 2012).

Opinion

COX, J.,

Before the court for disposition is the motion for summary judgment filed by the defendant Lawrence County, which argues that it is protected from liability in the current case by government immunity as stated in 42 Pa.C.S.A. § 8541, et seq.

The decedent, Matthew A. Hamilton, was arrested by the New Castle Police Department on a bench warrant and incarcerated at Lawrence County Corrections on September 13, 2006. At that time, the decedent was under the influence of alcohol, Roxy codone, Fentanyl and Xanax. He was placed in the HB Block of the facility and he received medical treatment from the defendant PrimeCare Medical, Inc. (hereinafter “PrimeCare”) for detoxification from drug dependence. PrimeCare medicated the decedent by providing him with Vistaril and Bentyl, which had several possible side effects, such as dizziness, drowsiness, sleepiness, confusion, blurred vision, dry mouth, nausea or vomiting. He was also restricted to the bottom bunk of his [157]*157cell for ten days during his detoxification. On S eptember 15, 2006, at approximately 8:30 p.m., PrimeCare administered the medications to the decedent, which required him to walk from his cell and down a flight of stairs to the central command area of the HB Block section of the jail. Several excerpts from the depositions of Lynn Sharp, a nurse employed by PrimeCare, were provided to this court. She testified it was common to mandate that inmates who were going through the detoxification process sleep on the bottom bunk, similar to the decedent, as they may have seizures or become dehydrated from a lack of food or water1. She stated that the decedent received his treatment and began walking to his cell. She also recalled that the decedent was having a difficult time “detoxing”, but he ambulated without difficulty and was alert at the time he was there. It must be noted that he vomited twice between dinner and his encounter with Ms. Sharp. Captain Shawn Cama, an employee of Lawrence County Corrections, explained that the decedent reached the top of the stairs, took a few steps, turned around and walked back toward the stairs. Once he reached the stairs, the decedent grabbed the railing, turned around, leaned against the hand rail and fell backwards. He landed on the concrete floor feet first and tumbled backwards striking his head. Captain Cama insisted that the decedent “jumped” over the railing and the fall was not accidental. Conversely, the plaintiff presented the Mahoning County Coroner’s Report, which indicated that Captain Cama informed Thomas Pappas, the investigator from the Mahoning County Coroner’s Office, [158]*158that the decedent fell over the railing. The plaintiff has also supplied the opinion of Cyril H. Wecht, M.D., J.D., who stated that the decedent’s death may have been attributed to the medications he received and the facility’s failure to employ adequate safety measures for possible adverse drug reactions. It must be noted that the plaintiff has presented the court with a copy of the 2006 International Building Code, which mandates that a “guard” shall be constructed along the open sides of any mezzanine, which must create a protective barrier of not less than 42 inches measured vertically from the edge of the tread, adjacent walking surface or adjacent seatboard. In addition, handrails of a height not less than 34 inches nor more than 38 inches must be installed on stairways. The plaintiff alleges that the railings on the stairway in the current matter were only 32 inches high.

Upon suffering the injury, the decedent’s detainer was lifted and he was transported to Jameson Memorial Hospital by paramedics. The decedent was then transported by STAT MedEvac helicopter to St. Elizabeth’s Health Center where it was diagnosed that he suffered bilateral frontal hemorrhagic contusions, a right subdural hematoma, a right frontal subarachnoid hemorrhage, a midline shift to the left, fractures of the left temporal, occipital and parietal bones and a fracture of the right temporal. He remained in a comatose state until he died at 7:20 p.m. on September 25, 2006.

Based upon those facts, the plaintiff Brenda Navolio filed suit in United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania against the defendants Lawrence County and PrimeCare arguing that the defendants [159]*159violated 42 U.S.C. 1983, et. seq., and they were negligent by failing to implement proper protocols for transporting inmates who were experiencing side effects from medical treatments and the railing in question was of inadequate height to properly protect the decedent from injury. On February 9, 2010, the Honorable Terrence F. McVerry granted summary judgment in favor of the defendants on all of the plaintiff’s federal claims and declined to render a decision on the state law claims. The plaintiff then filed a Praecipe To Transfer Case Purusant To 42 Pa.C.S.A. § 5103 to transfer the negligence claim to state court on March 9, 2010, and filed a notice of appeal of Judge McVerry’s rulings on March 19, 2010. The parties agreed to stay the state court proceedings until the outcome of the federal appeal was decided. On Januaiy 19, 2011, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed Judge McVerry’s decision.

Now, Lawrence County has filed a motion for summary judgment claiming that the Political Subdivision Tort Claims Act, 42 Pa.C.S.A. § 8541, et seq., grants it immunity in the current matter and none of the eight enumerated exceptions to the same apply. More specifically, Lawrence County contends that the real property exception in 42 Pa.C.S.A. § 8542(b)(3) does not apply to situations in which an inmate is injured while incarcerated.

The purpose of the Summary Judgment Rule is to eliminate cases prior to trial where a party cannot make out a claim or defense after the relevant discovery has been completed. Miller v. Sacred Heart Hospital, 753 A.2d 829 (Pa. Super. 2000). The mission of the summary judgment procedure is to pierce the pleadings and to assess the proof [160]*160in order to see whether there is a genuine need for a trial. The summary judgment rule exists to dispense with a trial of the case or, in some matters, issues in a case, where a party lacks the beginnings of evidence to establish or contest a material issue. Ertel v. Patriot-News Company, 544 Pa. 93, 674 A.2d 1038 (1996). Any party may move for summary judgment in whole or in part as a matter of law whenever there is no genuine issue of any material fact as to a necessary element of the cause of action or defense which could be established by additional discovery or expert report or if, after the completion of discovery relevant to the motion, including the production of expert reports, an adverse party who will bear the burden of proof at trial has failed to produce evidence of facts essential to the cause of action or defense which in a jury trial would require the issues to be submitted to a jury. Pa.R.C.P. No. 1035.2.

Summary judgment may be granted only in cases where it is clear and free from doubt that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to a summary judgment as a matter of law. Kafando v. Erie Ceramic Arts Co., 764 A.2d 59, 61 (Pa. Super.

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Bluebook (online)
25 Pa. D. & C.5th 155, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/navolio-v-lawrence-county-pactcompllawren-2012.