Logue v. United States, Civ. A. No. 69-C-106.

• Citation: 334 F. Supp. 322
• Decision Date: 16 February 1971
• Docket Number: Civ. A. No. 69-C-106.
• Parties: Orval C. LOGUE, ind. and as Personal Representative of His Deceased Son, Reagan Edward Logue v. UNITED STATES of America.
• Court: United States District Courts. 5th Circuit. United States District Courts. 5th Circuit. Southern District of Texas

334 F. Supp. 322

Orval C. LOGUE, ind. and as Personal Representative of His Deceased Son, Reagan Edward Logue v. UNITED STATES of America.

Civ. A. No. 69-C-106.

United States District Court, S. D. Texas, Corpus Christi Division.

February 16, 1971.

Wm. R. Edwards, Corpus Christi, Tex., and Marvin Foster, Jr., San Diego, Tex., for plaintiff.

George Pain, Houston, Tex., for defendant.

MEMORANDUM AND OPINION

OWEN D. COX, District Judge.

Reagan Edward Logue, a Federal prisoner, hanged himself in the Nueces County jail. His adoptive father, Orval C. Logue, has brought this suit under the provisions of the Federal Tort Claims Act, 28 U.S.C. § 2671 et seq., to recover damages from the government under the Texas Wrongful Death Act, Article 4671 et seq., Revised Civil Statutes of Texas (1925), as amended, for himself and for Reagan Edward Logue's mother, Alice Maire Logue, now Mrs. Blouin, and on behalf of the Estate of Reagan Edward Logue for the decedent's pain and suffering and for funeral expenses. This Court has full and complete jurisdiction of the subject matter of the parties and venue properly lies.

The Court finds the following facts surrounding the death of Reagan Edward Logue:

1. On May 22, 1968, the deceased, then eighteen years of age, was arrested by Deputy United States Marshal Del W. Bowers in Corpus Christi, Texas, on a bench warrant charging the said Reagan Edward Logue with conspiracy to smuggle 229 pounds of marijuana into the United States, and he was placed in the Nueces County jail as a Federal prisoner.

2. At about 3:00 p. m. the next day, the prisoner attempted suicide by inflicting a serious cut upon his left arm. Thereafter, he was transported from the jail to Memorial Hospital, where he was treated for the laceration and admitted with a diagnosis that he was acutely psychotic.

3. On May 24, 1968, Deputy Marshal Bowers, after conferences with his superiors in the Marshal's Office and with Shannon Gwin, M.D., the prisoner's medical doctor, decided to return the prisoner to the Nueces County jail. Dr. Gwin recommended to the Deputy Marshal that the prisoner remain in the hospital until he could be transferred to another medical facility. At this time, the prisoner had serious suicidal tendencies and his condition was not improved over what it had been when he was admitted to the hospital the day before.

4. At about 3:30 p. m. on the same day, Dr. Gwin, because he thought he had no choice, released the prisoner from the hospital to Deputy Marshal Bowers, who returned him to the Nueces County jail, pending his transfer to a Federal mental institution.

5. Deputy Bowers knew the prisoner had serious suicidal tendencies and should be protected against injuring or killing himself, and at Deputy Bowers' request, the prisoner was put in a cell which had been stripped of everything except the bunk with a mattress, the commode and wash basin. The steel walls and ceiling of the cell were symmetrically perforated with round holes about the size of a half dollar. There was no ceiling light fixture. No specific arrangements were made by the Deputy Marshal for constant surveillance of the prisoner, and this was negligence.

6. The Sheriff's employees in the jail knew the prisoner had serious suicidal tendencies, and they did make precautionary surveillance checks after his return from the hospital, but those surveillance checks were made usually in connection with bringing some other prisoner onto the floor where Reagan Edward Logue was incarcerated. This was inadequate surveillance and was negligence.

7. When the prisoner was returned to the Nueces County jail on May 24, 1968, he had a long Kerlix bandage on his arm. At about 4:30 p. m. on the afternoon of the next day he removed the bandage and hanged himself with it. Each act of negligence above mentioned was a proximate cause of his death.

8. During the above mentioned times, there was a contract for service in non-Federal institutions between Defendant United States of America and Nueces County, Texas, whereby the Sheriff of Nueces County agreed, among other things, to keep custody of Federal prisoners in the Nueces County jail at Corpus Christi, Texas. At all times material hereto, the Deputy United States Marshals involved in the arrest and detention of Reagan Edward Logue were acting within the scope of their employment for the United States government; and the members of the Sheriff's Department were acting within the scope of their employment.

The Court draws the following conclusions of law from the facts heretofore set out:

1. The decision of Deputy United States Marshal Bowers and his superiors to remove Reagan Edward Logue from the hospital to the Nueces County jail was a discretionary act within the purview of 28 U.S.C. § 2680; but, that decision having been made, the Deputy Marshal had a duty to see that reasonable care be taken at the jail to protect the prisoner against another suicidal attempt. Smart v. United States, 10 Cir., 207 F.2d 841; Costley v. United States, 5 Cir., 181 F.2d 723.

2. The government is not an insurer of the safety of its...