Rivera v. County of Westchester

188 Misc. 2d 746, 729 N.Y.S.2d 836, 2001 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 266
CourtNew York Supreme Court
DecidedJune 6, 2001
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 188 Misc. 2d 746 (Rivera v. County of Westchester) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering New York Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Rivera v. County of Westchester, 188 Misc. 2d 746, 729 N.Y.S.2d 836, 2001 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 266 (N.Y. Super. Ct. 2001).

Opinion

OPINION OF THE COURT

Orazxo R. Bellantoni, J.

Defendants County of Westchester, Joseph Stancari, Officer [748]*748Savino, and Sergeant Rushin move for an order: (1) pursuant to CPLR 3212, granting summary judgment in favor of the County of Westchester dismissing the complaint and all claims asserted under 42 USC § 1983 on the ground that the County did not violate Ivan Figeroa, Jr.’s Fourteenth Amendment due process rights; (2) pursuant to CPLR 3212, granting summary judgment in favor of defendant Joseph Stancari dismissing the complaint and all claims asserted under 42 USC § 1983 on the ground that plaintiff failed to prove any personal involvement on the part of Joseph Stancari; (3) pursuant to CPLR 3212, granting summary judgment in favor of defendant Officer Savino dismissing the complaint and all claims asserted under 42 USC § 1983 on the ground that Officer Savino did not violate Ivan Figeroa, Jr.’s Fourteenth Amendment due process rights; and (4) pursuant to CPLR 3212, granting summary judgment in favor of defendant Sergeant Rushin dismissing the complaint and all claims asserted under 42 USC § 1983 on the ground that Sergeant Rushin did not violate Ivan Figeroa, Jr.’s Fourteenth Amendment due process rights.

Plaintiff cross-moves for an order: (1) deeming the plaintiff’s notice of claim alleging state law causes of action for conscious pain and suffering and wrongful death of the decedent, Ivan Figeroa, Jr., which was served on the County of Westchester on August 7, 1998, as having been filed timely, nunc pro tunc, pursuant to General Municipal Law § 50-e (5), and (2) granting the plaintiff leave, pursuant to CPLR 3025 (b), to file and serve an amended verified complaint alleging state law claims of negligence as against the defendant, County of Westchester, for conscious pain and suffering and wrongful death of the decedent, Ivan Figeroa, Jr., and alleging more specific facts pertaining to the claims brought pursuant to 42 USC § 1983.

It is hereby ordered that: (1) defendants County of Westchester, Joseph Stancari, Officer Savino, and Sergeant Rushin’s motion for summary judgment dismissing the complaint against them is granted; (2) plaintiff’s cross motion is granted to the extent that the portion of plaintiff’s notice of claim served on August 7, 1998 which alleges wrongful death is deemed to have been filed timely; and (3) plaintiff is granted leave, pursuant to CPLR 3025 (b), to file and serve within 30 days after entry of the instant order an amended verified complaint alleging a claim against defendant County of Westchester for wrongful death and alleging “that at least thirty days have elapsed since the service of such notice [of claim] and that adjustment [749]*749or payment thereof has been neglected or refused.” (General Municipal Law § 50-i [1].)

The instant action arises out of the suicide death of a 17-year-old male, decedent Ivan Figeroa, Jr., while he was a pretrial detainee at the Westchester County Jail in Valhalla, New York. Plaintiff asserts claims, pursuant to 42 USC § 1983, that defendants violated Ivan Figeroa, Jr.’s Fourteenth Amendment constitutional rights. Therefore, “[i]n this case it is [Ivan Figeroa, Jr.]’s due process rights with which we are concerned. He was a pretrial detainee, not found guilty of a crime, and therefore he could not be ‘punished.’ For that reason, his treatment in the detention facility is analyzed under the Due Process Clause, rather than the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition against cruel and unusual punishments.” (Frake v City of Chicago, 210 F3d 779, 781 [7th Cir 2000], citing Bell v Wolfish, 441 US 520 [1979].) “But like the protection afforded a convicted prisoner under the Eighth Amendment, a detainee is protected [under the Fourteenth Amendment] from the ‘deliberate indifference’ of officials. (County of Sacramento v. Lewis, 523 U.S. 833 * * * (1998); Antonelli v. Sheahan, 81 F.3d 1422 (7th Cir. 1996). Specifically, when the claim is based on a jail suicide * * * the protection a detainee receives is the same as that received by an inmate claiming inadequate medical attention under the Eighth Amendment.” (Frake v City of Chicago, 210 F3d 779, 781-782 [7th Cir 2000], citing Mathis v Fairman, 120 F3d 88 [7th Cir 1997]; Payne v Churchich, 161 F3d 1030 [7th Cir 1998], cert denied 527 US 1004 [1999].) It is well settled that “[pjrison inmates have [a] * * * right to be confined under conditions that provide ‘adequate food, clothing, shelter, and medical care.’ ” (Estate of Novack v County of Wood, 226 F3d 525, 529 [7th Cir 2000], citing Farmer v Brennan, 511 US 825 [1994], quoting Hudson v Palmer, 468 US 517 [1984].) “In addition, prison officials are responsible for taking reasonable steps to guarantee the safety of the inmates in their charge * * * To make out a claim for a violation of an inmate’s * * * right to adequate conditions of confinement, a plaintiff must make two showings: ‘First, the danger to the inmate must be objectively serious, posing a substantial risk of serious harm. Second, the prison official must have a sufficiently culpable state of mind — one of “deliberate indifference” to inmate health or safety.’” (Estate of Novack v County of Wood, 226 F3d 525, 529, quoting Haley v Gross, 86 F3d 630, 640-641 [7th Cir 1996], and citing Farmer v Brennan, 511 US 825, 834 [1994].)

“ ‘Deliberate indifference,’ as it is used in the [Fourteenth] Amendment context, comprehends more than mere negligence [750]*750but less than the purposeful or knowing infliction of harm.” (Estate of Novack v County of Wood, 226 F3d at 529, citing Farmer, 511 US at 836; Estelle v Gamble, 429 US 97, 106 [1976]; Haley, 86 F3d at 641.) The deliberate indifference standard “requires that a prison official know of and disregard a substantial risk of serious harm to inmate health or safety.” (Estate of Novack v County of Wood, 226 F3d 525, 529, citing Farmer, 511 US at 837; see also, McClemoore v Dingman, 229 F3d 1135 [2d Cir 2000], quoting Chance v Armstrong, 143 F3d 698, 703 [2d Cir 1998].) “The deliberate indifference standard is a subjective one. It is not enough that there was a danger of which a prison official objectively should have been aware. IT] he official must both be aware of facts from which the inference could be drawn that a substantial risk of serious harm exists, and he must also draw the inference.’” (Estate of Novack v County of Wood, 226 F3d at 529; see also, Starcher v Correctional Med. Sys., 2001 WL 345810, 2001 US App LEXIS 5394 [6th Cir, Mar. 26, 2001, Batchelder, J.].)

In the instant matter there is no evidence that any of the defendant officials were “aware of facts from which the inference could be drawn that” decedent Ivan Figeroa, Jr. was a substantial suicide risk or that any defendant official drew such an inference. The Court notes that “[m]ere knowledge that an inmate is behaving violently or ‘acting in a “freaky” manner’ is not sufficient to impute awareness of a substantial risk of suicide.” (Estate of Novack v County of Wood, 226 F3d 525, 529, quoting State Bank of St. Charles v Camic, 712 F2d 1140, 1146 [7th Cir 1983], and citing Mathis v Fairman,

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Bluebook (online)
188 Misc. 2d 746, 729 N.Y.S.2d 836, 2001 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 266, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/rivera-v-county-of-westchester-nysupct-2001.