Tesch v. County of Green Lake
| Citation | 157 F.3d 465 |
| Decision Date | 22 May 1998 |
| Docket Number | No. 97-3930,97-3930 |
| Parties | Ronald W. TESCH, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. COUNTY OF GREEN LAKE, Don Bruendl, Sheriff of Green Lake County, County of Outagamie, Bradley G. Gehring, Sheriff of Outagamie County, John L. Behrent, Mary E. Effertz, Certain Unnamed Deputy Sheriffs and/or Correctional Officers Employed by Outagamie County, City of Berlin, John Trochinski, David Trochinski, Robert W. Zache, and John W. Dobson, Defendants-Appellees. |
| Court | United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (7th Circuit) |
Richard J. Auerbach (submitted on briefs), Auerbach & Porter, Madison, WI, for Plaintiff-Appellant.
Peter M. Farb (submitted on briefs), Gabert, Williams & Farb, Appleton, WI, for County of Outagamie and Gehring.
Gregg T. Heidenreich, Stilp & Cotton, Milwaukee, WI, for City of Berlin.
Before FLAUM, RIPPLE, and KANNE, Circuit Judges.
Ronald Tesch, who suffers from muscular dystrophy and is confined to a wheelchair, brought this action pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 alleging that police and correctional officers failed to deal with his affliction during his arrest and pre-trial detention. Tesch claims that the City of Berlin, Wisconsin and some of its police officers violated § 1983 by ordering him to get into a police car when he was physically unable to do so and then failing to heed his instructions on how to lift him off the ground after he fell in his attempt to comply with their orders. Tesch also claims that Outagamie County, Wisconsin and some of its sheriff deputies and correctional officers violated § 1983 by holding him for two nights in a jail cell that did not meet his particular basic human needs. The district court granted summary judgment to all of the defendants. We affirm.
We take as true that muscular dystrophy prevents Tesch from walking; he uses a wheelchair or motorized scooter for assistance. On November 13, 1992, police officers from the City of Berlin arrested Tesch and his wife, Sandy Tesch. Following his arrest, officers took Tesch to the Green Lake County Jail, then a local hospital, and finally to the Outagamie County Jail where he remained until his initial appearance on November 16, 1992.
Prior to the arrest of Tesch on charges relating to pornography (which were later dismissed), Sergeant John Trochinski and Officers David Trochinski and Robert Zache of the City of Berlin Police Department met to discuss Tesch's physical condition. At that meeting, they learned that Tesch was disabled and could not walk but that he could stand for short periods of time through the use of crutches, canes, or by leaning on nearby objects. The officers did not know the cause of Tesch's disability. They agreed that because of Tesch's disability, they would not follow their normal procedure of handcuffing the arrestee. They also decided that Tesch could ride in either the front or back of the squad card, whichever was more comfortable for him.
When the City of Berlin officers arrived to make the arrest, Tesch was seated in his motorized scooter just outside his residence. Sergeant Trochinski, the officer in charge, approached Tesch and informed him that he was under arrest. Tesch requested his "handicapped rights." Sergeant Trochinski told him that the officers would transport Tesch and his manually-operated wheelchair to the Green Lake County Jail, and an officer placed the wheelchair in the trunk of a squad car parked near the residence.
Sergeant Trochinski ordered Tesch to drive his scooter to the squad car. After Tesch maneuvered his scooter as close to the open front passenger door as possible, he asked Officers Trochinski and Zache how he was supposed to get in the car. According to Tesch, he was told to get up and into the car. Tesch responded that he could not get in by himself and that he needed assistance. Sandy Tesch also told the officers that he needed help; she could not help because she was already under arrest and in the squad car. Neither Officer Trochinski nor Zache offered assistance. Instead, they told Tesch to get into the squad car.
Tesch, after lifting the left arm of his scooter, fell into the small space between the scooter and the car, twisting his torso in the process. Officers Trochinski and Zache stated in depositions that when Tesch attempted to transfer himself into the squad car, he grabbed the top of the open squad car door, pulled himself up to a standing position, and then sat on the ground. According to Tesch, he has never attempted to enter a vehicle in this manner and does not believe that he was physically capable of doing so.
As a result of the fall, Tesch stated that he was in considerable pain. Officers Trochinski and Zache assisted Tesch by lifting him under his arms and placing him in the squad car. Sandy Tesch asked the officers not to pick Tesch up without direction, and Tesch also remembers saying something about not picking him up in that manner. Neither officer acknowledged his pain nor responded to Tesch's or his wife's requests.
After his arrest, Tesch was taken to the Green Lake County Jail. Prior to his arrival, the City of Berlin had informed Green Lake County Deputy Sheriff Sarah Guenther that Tesch was confined to a wheelchair. Deputy Guenther booked Tesch into the jail. Since the Green Lake County Jail was not equipped to house a disabled inmate, Deputy Guenther attempted to make arrangements to relocate Tesch to a facility equipped to detain disabled individuals. After contacting several local departments that were unable to assist, Deputy Guenther called Berlin Memorial Hospital. The hospital agreed to house Tesch in one of its rooms. Tesch stayed at the hospital under guard until the morning of November 14, 1992.
On November 14, 1992, another deputy contacted the Outagamie County Jail to determine whether it had the capability to hold Tesch. That deputy advised Outagamie County that Tesch was in a wheelchair and needed bathroom facilities for the disabled. The jail agreed to accept Tesch, and a Green Lake County deputy sheriff transported Tesch that afternoon. Sergeant Mary Effertz of the Outagamie County Sheriff's Department was the shift supervisor and officer in charge when Tesch was admitted and booked into the jail. Effertz made the decision to accept Tesch.
Tesch arrived at the jail in his manual wheelchair. The booking officer at the jail completed an inmate medical receiving/screening form for Tesch, which indicated that he had muscular dystrophy and was in a wheelchair. Tesch claimed that he was unable to care for himself and could not change into the jail-issued clothing he was given. The booking officer and a Green Lake County deputy sheriff helped him put on the jail-issued shirt. According to Tesch, the officers refused to help him change into his jail-issued pants, and he was required to wear the same pants for the forty-four hours he spent at the jail. Tesch claims that Sergeant Effertz affirmed the decision to deny him the jail-issued pants.
At the time of Tesch's arrival, the Outagamie County Jail was less than a year old with some cells specifically designed for the incarceration of disabled individuals. Tesch's cell was designed to meet all the applicable codes governing accessibility for disabled individuals which were in effect during the design and construction of the jail. The Wisconsin Department of Corrections and the Wisconsin Department of Industry, Labor, and Human Relations approved the design of the jail. The cell in which Tesch was housed contained a bed, toilet, and sink specifically designed to be accessible to disabled prisoners.
The sink and toilet were part of one unit built into the wall with a clearance designed for wheelchairs, and the toilet was higher than an ordinary toilet to facilitate transfer from a wheelchair. The sink and toilet unit also included a support railing to assist disabled prisoners in transferring between their wheelchairs and the toilet. The bed, which was permanently affixed to the floor, consisted of a steel platform on steel legs with a removable mattress on top. It was positioned in the cell to provide maximum clearance for wheelchairs. There were no grab bars installed by the bed.
The shower stall for Tesch's cell was designed to be wide enough to permit the entry of a wheelchair. The shower stall did not have grab bars. Outagamie County did have a shower wheelchair available for the use of disabled inmates. Tesch did not inquire about taking a shower and was not aware of this wheelchair, and the jail employees did not advise him of it. Tesch did not shower during his forty-four hours of confinement in the Outagamie County Jail. Normally, he took a shower once a week; he had showered two days before he was arrested.
Even though the cell was specifically designed for disabled inmates, Tesch stated that he struggled to use its facilities. He said he found it difficult and exhausting to use the toilet in his cell because it had only one grab bar and because of its height in relation to his wheelchair. Tesch claimed that due to his exhaustion from his efforts in accessing the toilet, the only way that he could use the toilet to urinate was to set his wheelchair in front of the toilet and arch his urine stream while he remained seated in the wheelchair.
Tesch says that he was able to use the sink in his cell to wash his face and hands but was unable to drink from it because it was too high for his wheelchair. Tesch requested assistance in obtaining a drink of water and in washing his face. A correctional officer gave him a washcloth for his face but did not provide any further assistance. Thus, Tesch asserts that he received nothing to drink other than the beverage provided with his three meals each day.
Finally, Tesch claims that he was unable to get into the bed without assistance because of its height and lack of grab bars. On the evening of November 14, 1992, Tesch informed a...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Turner v. Sheriff of Marion County
...(Boehm, J., concurring); Albright v. Oliver, 510 U.S. 266, 273, 114 S.Ct. 807, 813, 127 L.Ed.2d 114 (1994); Tesch v. County of Green Lake, 157 F.3d 465, 471 (7th Cir.1998); Patton v. Przybylski, 822 F.2d 697, 699 (7th Cir.1987), it is unclear whether the arrests encompassed by Section Fifte......
-
Browell v. Davidson
...v. City of Marion, 321 F.3d 658, 663 (7th Cir.2003); Treece v. Hochstetler, 213 F.3d 360, 364 (7th Cir.2000); Tesch v. County of Green Lake, 157 F.3d 465, 477 (7th Cir.1998). See also, Estate of Phillips v. City of Milwaukee, 123 F.3d 586, 596-597 (7th Cir.1997) (holding that the city and s......
-
Moore ex rel. Bell v. Hamilton Se. Sch. Dist.
...we cannot entertain the possibility that HSE is liable on a "failure to train" or "municipal policy" theory. See Tesch v. Cnty. of Green Lake, 157 F.3d 465, 477 (7th Cir. 1998) ("A failure to train theory or a failure to institute a municipal policy theory requires a finding that the indivi......
-
Jaros v. Ill. Dep't of Corr.
...walk with a prosthesis and use toilets and showers without assistance); see also Davenport, 844 F.2d at 1316;cf. Tesch v. Cnty. of Green Lake, 157 F.3d 465, 476 (7th Cir.1998) (concluding that jailers did not violate arrestee's right to due process by detaining him unattended for two nights......
-
Prisoners' Rights
...because short duration of detention did not amount to punishment and reasonably related to overcrowding); Tesch v. County of Green Lake, 157 F.3d 465, 476 (7th Cir. 1998) (no due process violation where disabled detainee forced to sleep on floor mattress because prison officials did not h......