Young v. City of Augusta, Ga. Through DeVaney

• Decision Date: 28 July 1995
• Docket Number: No. 94-8481,94-8481
• Citation: 59 F.3d 1160
• Parties: Pamela D. YOUNG, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. AUGUSTA, GEORGIA, CITY OF, Through its Mayor Charles DeVANEY, in his official capacity, and its council members, et al., Defendants-Appellees.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Eleventh Circuit

Page 1160

59 F.3d 1160

32 Fed.R.Serv.3d 1438

Pamela D. YOUNG, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. AUGUSTA, GEORGIA, CITY OF, Through its Mayor Charles

DeVANEY, in his official capacity, and its council

members, et al., Defendants-Appellees.

No. 94-8481.

United States Court of Appeals, Eleventh Circuit.

July 28, 1995.

John Paul Batson, Augusta, GA, for appellant.

Ziva Peleg Bruckner, Paul Hammond Dunbar, III, Capers, Dunbar, Sanders, Bruckner & Clarke, Augusta, GA, for appellees.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Georgia.

Before HATCHETT, Circuit Judge, HENDERSON, Senior Circuit Judge, and YOUNG ^*, Senior District Judge.

HENDERSON, Senior Circuit Judge:

Pamela D. Young appeals from the judgment entered in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Georgia granting the motion for summary judgment filed by the City of Augusta, Georgia (the City) in her 42 U.S.C. Sec. 1983 municipal liability action and dismissing her pendent state law claims. ¹ After a review of the record, we conclude that genuine issues of material fact remain in the case. We therefore reverse and remand for further proceedings.

I. BACKGROUND

In July 1989, Young, who was eighteen years old at the time and afflicted with a manic-depressive disorder, ² was arrested for stealing a package of cigarettes at a local grocery store. She was thereafter found guilty of misdemeanor theft and was sentenced to pay a $500.00 fine or to serve ninety days in the City jail. Unable to pay the fine, Young was faced with service of the jail sentence. Prior to being transported to the jail, she was placed in a holding cell adjacent to the courtroom, where she removed her underwear and shoes and set them on fire. This led to another charge for destruction of City property as a result of the damage to the cell. The next day, she pleaded guilty to that offense and was again sentenced to a $500.00 fine or ninety days in jail.

Young filed this action on October 10, 1991, alleging, inter alia, that, during her imprisonment, jail officials were deliberately indifferent to her serious medical needs in violation of the Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution, giving rise to a cause of action under the authority of Sec. 1983. ³ She also contended that her treatment at the jail ran afoul of Georgia law. Young sought damages, attorneys fees and unspecified injunctive relief. The complaint named as defendants the City, through its Mayor and City Council members, the Chief of Police, Freddie Lott, and Bobbie Jean Gentle, a guard at the jail. Because Young failed to serve Lott and Gentle with process, they were never made parties to the lawsuit. Consequently, this appeal is confined to only those allegations of the complaint as they relate to the liability of the City.

The evidence gleaned from the record construed in the light most favorable to Young ⁴ discloses that her father informed "one or more persons associated with the Augusta judicial system" that she was manic-depressive and requested that she be allowed to serve any jail time imposed at the Georgia Regional Hospital at Augusta. (Georgia Regional) (R1-5 at 1). Instead, on August 15, 1989, she was taken to the City jail. Although Young had been treated for psychiatric and behavior problems during various periods since she was fourteen years old, at the time of her arrest and initial incarceration she was not being treated by a doctor and was not taking medication.

Young's stay at the jail apparently was uneventful until September 6, when she was transported to the University Hospital emergency room because of complaints of abdominal pain. ⁵ On September 11, she was returned to the emergency room because of violent behavior. She was subsequently transferred to Georgia Regional for a psychiatric evaluation, where it was determined that she would not pose a danger to herself or others if she were returned to the jail. However, by September 13, Young was in an overtly psychotic state and in need of hospitalization. She was admitted that day to Georgia Regional and psychotropic medication was prescribed for her. She was released to the jail on September 21, with a warning that she might continue to act out or make suicidal statements. A letter written by Eloise Hayes, D.O., advised that Young was manipulative and could pose a danger to herself. The letter instructed that if she engaged in such behavior, she should be placed in a stripped cell. On October 1, Young was examined at the emergency room again for possible lithium toxicity. ⁶ Upon her release, jail officials were instructed to withhold the drug until they were advised of test results. The record does not contain evidence of those results or show whether they were passed on to jail officials. ⁷

On October 3, Young told a guard she was hearing voices. In response to this information, she was placed in an isolation cell, which she attempted to flood, thereby wetting her clothes. She was then stripped naked and chained to the metal bed, which contained no mattress. She was shackled in such a way that she could not reach the toilet and was forced to eliminate her bodily wastes where she sat on the floor. When a meal was served, she threw it against the wall. While in isolation, Young, in a delusional state, repeatedly banged on the door, which resulted in her being sprayed with mace by both male and female guards. ⁸ She was confined in this manner, naked and chained to the bed amid filth and excrement and subjected to macings until October 6, when she was provided with clothes, allowed to take a shower and her cell was finally cleaned by another inmate. The next day she was taken to the Augusta Area Mental Health Clinic and then to Georgia Regional, where she was treated for her mental disorder with shots and medication. She was returned to the jail on October 10, but continued to receive psychotropic medication. ⁹ Nevertheless, on November 3, she informed a guard that she again was hearing voices. As before, she was placed in an isolation cell, which she proceeded to flood and which resulted in her being handcuffed to the bed. A short time later, she engaged in a verbal altercation with one of the guards, Bobbie Jean Gentle. The confrontation escalated into a physical assault during which Gentle struck Young in the eye with her fist. Gentle continued to beat Young, who was still shackled to the bed, until other jailers intervened. Later that day Young was again taken to the Augusta Area Mental Health Clinic and then to Georgia Regional, where she was admitted for treatment. She remained there until November 17, when she was released to her family.

In her charges of municipal liability, Young alleges that the City failed to adequately select or train jail personnel to deal with inmates suffering from mental illness, or to provide on-site medical treatment. Because of these deficiencies, she contends, treatment for her psychiatric condition was delayed until it reached emergency proportions. Although not alleged directly, implicit in the complaint also is the claim that the brutality to which she was subjected in the isolation cell from October 3 through October 6, the macings and the beating she received from Gentle, were the result of inadequate training of jail personnel.

The City moved for summary judgment urging that (1) the portions of the complaint concerning events occurring between August 15, 1989 and October 10, 1989 were barred by the statute of limitations; (2) the state law claims were foreclosed because of Young's failure to provide the notice required by O.C.G.A. Sec. 36-33-5 (mandating that notice of claims against municipal corporations be presented to the municipality for possible settlement within six months of the alleged wrongful conduct); and (3) her damages were not caused by a custom, practice or policy of the City. In support of the motion, the City submitted the affidavit of Lena J. Bonner, the custodian of the records of the City Council, who stated that no evidence existed to show that Young had served the City with the aforementioned notice required by Georgia law. In addition, the City proffered the affidavit of M. James Cullinan, identified as "the official in charge of the City of Augusta Jail." (R1-19 at p 2). Cullinan attested, inter alia, as follows:

3. At all relevant times the City of Augusta Jail employed a nurse who was charged with treating minor medical problems and directing non-minor problems to the appropriate medical facility and personnel.

4. According to the policy and procedures of the City Jail, medical attention is available at all times when emergencies occur. Emergencies are defined as medical conditions which appear to require immediate attention and are not limited to severe or life threatening conditions. Inmates in need of care are immediately transported to University Hospital and its clinics.

5. The staff at the City Jail is and has been at all pertinent times instructed and trained to respond promptly to any report of a medical need by an inmate and further trained that when in doubt, the inmate must be transported to the hospital. It is and has been at all relevant time [sic] the practice of the City jail to consistently provide prompt and adequate medical care to the inmates.

6. The staff of the City Jail not only receives initial training pertaining to medical needs of inmates at the time of employment but they also receive continuing education and training of at least four hours per month with regard to such matters.[ ]

7. Such training specifically emphasizes the necessity for all City Jail personnel to be alert to inmates' medical needs and to respond to medical needs by providing prompt care.

8. At all relevant times, City Jail personnel have also been trained to be aware of inmates' psychiatric needs. They are trained to observe the inmates' behavior and to report unusual behavior to the nurse, University Hospital...