O'Berry v. Allendale Police Dept.

Citation105 F.3d 648
Decision Date08 January 1997
Docket NumberNo. 96-6012,96-6012
PartiesNOTICE: Fourth Circuit Local Rule 36(c) states that citation of unpublished dispositions is disfavored except for establishing res judicata, estoppel, or the law of the case and requires service of copies of cited unpublished dispositions of the Fourth Circuit. Malachi O'BERRY, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. ALLENDALE POLICE DEPARTMENT; James Grant, individually and as Chief of Allendale Police Department; Demetrius Davis, individually and as an officer of the Allendale Police Department; Town of Allendale, South Carolina; Allendale County, a municipality of the State of South Carolina; John Stokes, individually and in his capacity as jail administrator, Allendale County, South Carolina; Lorenzo Doe, individually and as an employee of the Allendale County jail; John Doe and Richard Roe, an unknown number of unidentified employees of the Allendale County jail, individually and as employees of the Allendale jail, Defendants-Appellees.
CourtUnited States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (4th Circuit)

Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina, at Aiken. Charles E. Simons, Jr., Senior District Judge. (CA-94-2098-1-6)

R. Edward Hemingway, THE HEMINGWAY LAW FIRM, Columbia, SC, for Appellant.

Christy Scott Stephens, BOGOSLOW & JONES, Walterboro, SC, for Appellees.

ON BRIEF: W. Gary White, III, Columbia, SC, for Appellant. Marvin C. Jones, BOGOSLOW & JONES, Walterboro, SC, for Appellees.

D.S.C.

AFFIRMED.

Before HAMILTON, LUTTIG, and WILLIAMS, Circuit Judges.

OPINION

PER CURIAM:

Alleging violations of both federal and state law, Malachi O'Berry brought suit against the Town of Allendale, the Allendale Police Department, individual officers in the Allendale Police Department, the Allendale County Detention Center, and individual jailers at the Allendale County Detention Center. 1 Specifically, O'Berry contends that Officer Davis and Jailers Doe and Stokes showed deliberate indifference to his medical needs; that the Town of Allendale failed to train, supervise, and discipline Officer Davis; and that Officer Davis falsely arrested him. See 42 U.S.C.A. § 1983 (West 1994). In addition, O'Berry brought a state-law battery claim against Officer Davis for the initial arrest and against Officer Davis and Jailer Doe for placing him in the detention facility. O'Berry also brought a state law false arrest and unlawful detention claim against Officer Davis. Finally, O'Berry brought, pursuant to the South Carolina Tort Claims Act, a claim of gross negligence against the Allendale County Detention Center; and, at the close of evidence, he attempted to assert the same claim against the Town of Allendale. See S.C.Code Ann. § 15-78-60(25) (Law.Co-op.Supp.1995).

At the conclusion of O'Berry's case, Defendants moved for judgment as a matter of law. The district court granted the motion of Officer Davis, Jailer Doe, and Jailer Stokes on the § 1983 deliberate indifference claim and the motion of the Town of Allendale on the state-law claim of gross negligence. The jury returned a verdict in favor of Defendants on each remaining cause of action.

On appeal, O'Berry raises several legal and evidentiary challenges to the proceedings below. He argues that the district court erred in (1) failing to give a requested jury instruction; (2) granting Defendants' motions for judgment as a matter of law on two causes of action; (3) denying him the opportunity to introduce the deposition testimony of Jailer Stokes and Officer Davis; (4) allowing Defendants to introduce evidence of his bad character; and (5) denying his motion to add the United States as a party. Finding no error, we affirm.

I.

During the early morning of June 6, 1993, O'Berry fell into a ditch as he was walking home from a night of drinking. O'Berry, who smelled of alcohol and appeared intoxicated, was discovered lying in the ditch by his neighbors, who called the Allendale police. After helping O'Berry out of the ditch, Officer Davis arrested him for public intoxication. At this time O'Berry had no outward bruises, cuts, or other indicia of injury. In addition, he neither complained of any injuries nor requested any medical assistance. In fact, O'Berry's only complaints were that "the b---- has got my money" and "I want my money." (J.A. at 97.)

After arriving at the jail, O'Berry did not inform the defendant jailers or police officers that he needed medical assistance. Instead, O'Berry went to sleep. It was not until the next afternoon, when he awoke, that O'Berry told the jailers that he was in pain. Shortly thereafter, Jailer Lewis told Jailer Stokes that O'Berry might be in need of medical attention. Around this same time O'Berry's family arrived at the jail to take him home. When O'Berry told the jailers that he was too weak to go home with his family, Emergency Medical Technicians (EMTs) were called.

After examining O'Berry, the EMTs determined that he was not in life-threatening or imminent danger. Specifically, nothing from the EMTs' examination suggested a spinal cord injury. As a result, no spinal precautions were taken. O'Berry was transported to the Allendale County Hospital, where he was admitted and treated by Dr. Young, his primary physician. Dr. Young diagnosed O'Berry not with a spinal injury, but with Rabdomyalysis, a breakdown of muscle tissue. Several days later, O'Berry was transported to the Veterans Administration Hospital in Columbia where doctors discovered that O'Berry had a spinal injury.

II.

O'Berry first argues that the district court erred in failing to give jury instruction number 26. To appeal either the grant or denial of a jury instruction, a party must object to the instruction at the district court. See Fed.R.Civ.P. 51. If no objection is made, the district court will be reversed only if the failure to instruct constitutes plain error. See United States v. Olano, 507 U.S. 725, 731-32 (1993).

Although given the chance, O'Berry did not object to any of the district court's jury instructions. 2 As a result, we will reverse the district court only if the failure to give jury instruction number 26 constituted plain error. See id. The record on appeal does not contain the text of instruction number 26. During oral arguments, O'Berry's counsel stated that the proposed instruction concerned the constitutionality of Allendale's ordinance on drunk and disorderly conduct. If so, the instruction involved a legal question properly excluded from the jury. Therefore, the district court's failure to give instruction number 26 did not constitute plain error.

III.

O'Berry next argues that the district court erred in granting the motion of Officer Davis, Jailer Doe, and Jailer Stokes for judgment as a matter of law on his § 1983 deliberate indifference claim. O'Berry also contends that the district court erred in granting the Town of Allendale's motion for judgment as a matter of law on his state-law gross negligence claim. We address each argument in turn.

In actions tried by a jury, the district court may grant a motion for judgment as a matter of law if "a party has been fully heard ... and there is no legally sufficient evidentiary basis for a reasonable jury to find for that party." Fed.R.Civ.P. 50(a)(1). As a result, judgment as a matter of law is appropriate when a contrary verdict would necessarily be based on speculation or conjecture. See Gairola v. Virginia Dep't of Gen. Servs., 753 F.2d 1281, 1285 (4th Cir.1985). We review de novo the grant or denial of a motion for judgment as a matter of law. See id. In considering such a motion, we must construe the evidence in the light most favorable to the party against whom the motion is made. See Garraghty v. Jordan, 830 F.2d 1295, 1302 (4th Cir.1987).

A.

To prevail on a § 1983 claim of deliberate indifference to medical needs, O'Berry must show that (1) he had a sufficiently serious medical need that required medical treatment; (2) Officer Davis and Jailers Doe and Stokes were subjectively aware of the serious medical need; and (3) Officer Davis and Jailers Doe and Stokes nevertheless acted with deliberate indifference by declining to secure medical attention. See Brice v. Virginia Beach Correctional Ctr., 58 F.3d 101, 104 (4th Cir.1995). According to O'Berry, failing to provide medical attention to an elderly man found motionless in a ditch satisfies the test for deliberate indifference. We disagree.

When Officer Davis helped O'Berry out of the ditch, O'Berry smelled and acted intoxicated. O'Berry was conscious and communicative, but he neither complained of any injuries nor asked for any medical assistance. He had no outward bruises, cuts, or other indicia of injury. The following afternoon, when O'Berry first requested medical attention, two EMTs and O'Berry's personal physician examined him without finding serious injury.

We conclude that there is no legally sufficient evidentiary basis from which a reasonable jury could have found that either Officer Davis, Jailer Doe, or Jailer Stokes was subjectively aware that O'Berry had a serious injury that required medical treatment. In addition, the record is devoid of any evidence suggesting that Officer Davis, Jailer Doe, or Jailer Stokes acted with deliberate indifference in declining to provide medical attention to O'Berry. As a result, the district court did not err in granting judgment as a matter of law on this issue. A contrary verdict would necessarily be based on speculation or conjecture. See Gairola, 753 F.2d at 1285.

B.

In order to prevail on a claim of gross negligence in the refusal of medical care, O'Berry must show, pursuant to the South Carolina Tort Claims Act, that the Town of...

To continue reading

Request your trial
1 cases
  • Brown v. Dorchester Cnty. S.C.
    • United States
    • U.S. District Court — District of South Carolina
    • March 15, 2018
    ...Plaintiff is barred by the statute of limitations for such claim pursuant to the South Carolina Tort Claims Act. See O'Berry v. Allendale Police Dep't, 105 F.3d 648 (defining a gross negligence claim as a claim brought pursuant to the South Carolina Torts Claims Act). After reviewing the re......

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT