Spears v. Tyler

CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Wisconsin
DecidedJuly 26, 2022
Docket2:20-cv-00894
StatusUnknown

This text of Spears v. Tyler (Spears v. Tyler) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Wisconsin primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Spears v. Tyler, (E.D. Wis. 2022).

Opinion

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT EASTERN DISTRICT OF WISCONSIN ______________________________________________________________________________ JEELINE E. SPEARS,

Plaintiff, v. Case No. 20-cv-894-pp

KEVIN TYLER, MARKEESE YOUNG, JEFF ANDRYKOWSKI, JOHN DINGMAN, DANIEL CARROLL, CYRUS PAYNE, BRANDON MCDONALD, and KEVIN UTSBY,

Defendants. ______________________________________________________________________________

ORDER GRANTING IN PART AND DENYING IN PART DEFENDANTS’ MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT (DKT. NO. 61) ______________________________________________________________________________

Plaintiff Jeeline Spears, who is representing himself, filed a complaint alleging that the defendants used excessive force against him on July 26, 2018, when he was confined at the Milwaukee County Jail. Dkt. No. 1. The court screened the complaint under 28 U.S.C. §1915A and allowed the plaintiff to proceed on an excessive force claim under either the Eighth or the Fourteenth Amendment (it was not clear whether the plaintiff was a pretrial detainee or a convicted prisoner when the incident occurred). Dkt No. 13 at 5-6. The plaintiff subsequently filed an amended complaint identifying the former Doe defendants; the amended complaint is the operative complaint. Dkt. No 31. The defendants since have filed a motion for summary judgment. Dkt. No. 61. The court will grant in part and deny in part the defendants’ motion. I. Facts1 On July 26, 2018, the plaintiff was transported from the Milwaukee Secure Detention Facility to the Milwaukee County Jail to complete the balance of a revocation sentence that followed a prior conviction. Dkt. No. 74 at ¶1. At

the time of the events described in the complaint, defendants Lt. Kevin Tyler, C.O. Markeese Young, C.O. Jeff Andrykowski, C.O. John Dingman, C.O. Daniel Carroll, C.O. Cyrus Payne, C.O. Brandon McDonald and C.O. Kevin Utsby worked as correctional officers at the jail. Id. at ¶2. When the plaintiff arrived at the jail, NP Nathan Adams (not a defendant) conducted a medical review and determined that the plaintiff would be placed on a “suicide watch” due to a policy that required inmates to be placed on suicide watch when they arrived from another facility and had not been off

suicide watch status from the prior facility for at least thirty days. Id. at ¶¶3-4. Twenty-eight days earlier, while housed at the Milwaukee Secure Detention Facility, the plaintiff had been placed on suicide watch due to an intentional acetaminophen poisoning. Id. at ¶6. Adams notified Lt. Tyler that he had

1 The court includes only material, properly supported facts in this section. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(c). The defendants filed proposed findings of fact. Dkt. No. 74. The plaintiff’s response to the defendants’ proposed findings of fact indicates that he disputes portions of the defendants’ version of the events that took place on July 26, 2018. Dkt. No. 80. The defendants contend that the plaintiff has not properly supported his disagreements with their proposed facts. Dkt. No. 86 at 1-2. To the extent the plaintiff cites to his verified amended complaint, he has properly supported his disputes because at the summary judgment stage, the court considers his verified amended complaint as an affidavit. See Devbrow v. Gallegos, 735 F.3d 584, 587 (7th Cir. 2013) (citing 28 U.S.C. §1746; Ford v. Wilson, 90 F.3d 245, 246-47 (7th Cir. 1996)); see also Lewis v. McLean, 864 F.3d 556, 561 (7th Cir. 2017) (verified complaint is “the equivalent of an affidavit for purposes of summary judgment”). placed the plaintiff on suicide watch. Id. at ¶7. When the plaintiff learned that he would be placed on suicide watch, he approached the booking desk and said he refused to go on suicide watch. Id. at ¶8. A. Booking Area

The parties dispute what happened next. According to the defendants, Tyler ordered the plaintiff to sit down in a chair, but he continued to stand near the desk while stating, “I ain’t complying you gotta do what you gotta do.” Id. at ¶9. The plaintiff was ordered several times to take a seat in a chair; the defendants do not say by whom. Id. at ¶10. Tyler ordered C.O.s Young, Utsby and Payne to place the plaintiff in a restraint belt (RIPP™ belt) with cuffs for his wrists. Id. at ¶11. While staff attempted to place the plaintiff in the restraint belt, he resisted by tensing up and pulling his arms away. Id. at ¶13. Officers

ordered the plaintiff to stop resisting, but he continued to actively resist being placed in the restraint belt. Id. at ¶¶14-15. Tyler and Young then directed the plaintiff to the wall so that he could be secured in the restraint belt. Id. at ¶16. According to the plaintiff, after a mental health staff member told him he was going on suicide watch, he said, “I’m not going on suicide watch, I’m not suicidal.” Dkt. No. 31 at ¶11. The plaintiff states that he then walked out of the mental health office and sat down in the booking area. Id. at ¶12. Ten seconds

later, mental health staff informed Tyler what the plaintiff had said. Id. at ¶13. Payne then ordered the plaintiff to sit in the blue chair, the plaintiff immediately complied and Payne came over and had a “very relaxed and friendly conversation about the policy and the need to comply with it.” Id. at ¶¶14-15. The plaintiff informed Payne that he did not feel suicidal and that he believed suicide watch was not necessary. Id. at ¶16. Without warning or provocation, Tyler approached the plaintiff and Payne and stated aggressively, “Fuck that! He’s going on suicide watch!” Id. at ¶17. Tyler grabbed the plaintiff

under the right arm, stood him up, pushed him toward the wall and then, with one hand under the plaintiff’s arm and the other on the back of his head, slammed his head and body into the wall which caused excruciating pain to the plaintiff’s head and face. Id. at ¶¶18-20. The plaintiff feared that his life was in jeopardy and he started resisting orders. Id. at ¶21. According to the plaintiff, while Tyler held him against the wall, Young and C.O. Utsby fastened a “Ripp belt” around the plaintiff’s waist and placed handcuffs on him.2 Dkt. No. 31 at ¶22. After being placed in the restraint belt,

the plaintiff went to the fingerprint and photo area for processing. Dkt. No. 74 at ¶18. B. Fingerprint and Photo Area The plaintiff resisted Young’s and C.O. Dingman’s attempts to take his fingerprints. Dkt. No. 74 at ¶22. Officers held the plaintiff’s face for the booking photos because he did not comply with his photo being taken. Id. at ¶21. According to the plaintiff, while he resisted his fingerprints being taken,

Young and Dingman bent his hands and fingers which caused excruciating

2 The defendants state that Utsby and Payne assisted in securing the plaintiff into the restraint belt. Dkt. No. 74 at ¶17. pain. Dkt. No. 31 at ¶24. He also states that, while resisting, his hands were hit with a closed fist. Id. at ¶25. Tyler then ordered staff to take the plaintiff to Housing Unit 4D. Dkt. No. 74 at ¶23.

C. Cell 23 and Nurse Assessment The plaintiff was taken to Cell 23 where officers attempted to tether him to the door while he continued to actively resist by using “dead weight tactics.” Dkt. No. 74 at ¶24.3 At about 1:30 a.m., C.O. Carroll “tapped out” Tyler to try to calm the situation because the plaintiff was focusing on Tyler. Id.

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Spears v. Tyler, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/spears-v-tyler-wied-2022.