Davis v. Or. County

• Decision Date: 10 June 2010
• Docket Number: No. 09-2700.,09-2700.
• Citation: 607 F.3d 543
• Parties: Cody DAVIS, Plaintiff-Appellant,v.OREGON COUNTY, MISSOURI; County Sheriff, Tim Ward, Defendants-Appellees,Oregon County Sheriff's Department, Defendant.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Eighth Circuit

607 F.3d 543

Cody DAVIS, Plaintiff-Appellant,v. OREGON COUNTY, MISSOURI; County Sheriff, Tim Ward, Defendants-Appellees,Oregon County Sheriff's Department, Defendant.

No. 09-2700.

United States Court of Appeals,

Eighth Circuit.

Submitted: March 10, 2010.

Filed: June 10, 2010.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

William P. Nacy, Hanrahan, Nacy & Mathers, P.C., Jefferson City, MO, argued (Samuel E. Trapp, Trapp & Associates, Osage Beach, MO, on the brief), for appellant.

Jason Coatney, Springfield, MO, argued (Patricia A. Keck, on the brief), for appellees.

Before BYE, ARNOLD, and COLLOTON, Circuit Judges.

BYE, Circuit Judge.

Cody Davis appeals the district court's ¹ grant of summary judgment in favor of Sheriff Tim Ward, the Oregon County Sheriff's Department, and Oregon County. Davis, a pretrial detainee at the Oregon County jail, brought suit under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and various state law authority asserting the defendants violated his rights in failing to ensure his safety after a fire broke out at the jail. The district court granted summary judgment in favor of the defendants. On appeal, Davis contends there are remaining issues of fact as to whether the inmates had access to incendiary materials, whether the jail staff was adequately trained to respond to fires, and whether the jail was equipped with appropriate fire-safety devices. We affirm the district court.

I.

On September 6, 2007, a fire broke out in the county jail in Oregon County, Missouri, where Cody Davis was being held as a pretrial detainee. The county jail is located in the Oregon County courthouse, which consists of three floors and a basement. Upon entering the main jail access corridor, there is one door leading to the north jail cell and one door leading to the south jail cell. At the time of the fire, four detainees, including Davis, were held in the south cell of the jail. Two other detainees were held in the north cell.

The Oregon County Sheriff's Department utilizes a dispatcher to act as a detention officer to guard pretrial detainees and inmates at the jail. As part of their duties, dispatchers conduct periodic jail checks. Before beginning a jail check, dispatchers announce “10-6” on the department radio to indicate to all officers who may be listening that he or she is away from the station to perform a jail check. Upon the conclusion of the check, dispatchers announce “10-8” on the radio to indicate the officer has concluded the check and is back at the station.

On the date of the fire, Deputy Wendell Stevens was on duty as a dispatcher and jailer for the Sheriff's Department. He conducted a jail check at approximately 9:20 p.m. and observed the four detainees in the north end of the south cell. Approximately ten minutes later, Deputy Stevens announced on the radio he had concluded the check. Shortly thereafter, Deputy Stevens announced “10-6” to indicate he was performing another jail check. Tim Ward, Sheriff of Oregon County, was listening to radio traffic at the time and believed there could be trouble because of the close proximity in jail checks. Deputy Stevens subsequently announced the jail was on fire.

Chief Deputy Eric King, who was also listening to the radio, arrived within a few minutes of learning of the fire. He was unable to enter the jail due to the volume of smoke and he opened a window and started a fan in an attempt to provide ventilation. After securing a self-contained breathing apparatus, Chief Deputy King entered the jail and escorted the two detainees out of the north cell into the hallway. He proceeded to the south cell, along with firefighters from the city of Alton, Missouri. Chief Deputy King found inmate Robert Huff lying unconscious in front of the toilet and the firefighters transported Huff into the hallway. After further searching, Chief Deputy King discovered Davis lying near an overturned bunk. The firefighters removed Davis from the cell, along with the other two detainees.

Upon his arrival at the jail, Sheriff Ward observed thick black smoke emanating from the jail. Sheriff Ward initially entered the jail without a self-contained breathing apparatus to assist Chief Deputy King in removing detainees from the cell. After making contact with Chief Deputy King, Sheriff Ward left to retrieve a ladder and broke two windows to provide additional ventilation. He then returned to the jail to assist in the removal of the detainees from the cell.

The parties dispute how the fire was started. Davis asserts there was no evidence as to the cause of the fire. The district court found the fire was set as the defendants alleged-by inmates intentionally igniting paper, Styrofoam cups, and a mattress in the corner near the south room of the south cell. In support of their assertions before the district court, the defendants provided a report from Kuticka Fire Investigations concluding the fire was caused by the intentional piling of combustible items in the south cell and the intentional igniting of these items. The defendants also provided an expert report from Captain Richard Ramage concluding Sheriff Ward operated the jail under reasonable and safe conditions, in addition to an affidavit from an architect stating the jail did not violate any established building codes. The defendants also noted the electricity and water were still operable after the fire. They hypothesized the fire was an attempted escape by the inmates, in part because a metal bar had been broken out of the wall where it was affixed in concrete.

The parties appear to be in general agreement about the fire equipment on hand at the Sheriff's Department at the time of the fire. Between the dispatcher's station and the jail, there are five fire extinguishers at various locations. There is also a smoke detector above the door that leads to the main jail corridor and another smoke detector located outside the main jail corridor. No other fire safety equipment existed in the jail, such as oxygen tanks, operable fire control sprinklers, or other equipment.²

On September 1, 2007, five days before the fire, the Sheriff's Department received information from the Alton Police Department regarding contraband being smuggled into the jail. Inmates had been observed lowering a rope made out of tied together sheets out the window to the ground to receive contraband. Davis was in the south cell at the time the Sheriff's Department learned of these activities. Pursuant to the information, the Sheriff's Department searched the jail and discovered several items of contraband, including a rope connected to a toilet plunger handle, two metal pieces of wire made into “shanks,” pills, lighters, cigarettes matches, and other paraphernalia. Davis asserts inmates frequently used some of these items to smoke cigarettes and other items in the jail. He based his assertions in part on his previous six months of incarceration between 2006 and 2008. He also alleged inmates were supplied cigarettes by Tom Lamb, a Sheriff's Department jailer who retired on December 7, 2006. After the September 1, 2007 search, the jail staff closed a window in the cell area to prevent more contraband from being brought into the jail.

In his complaint, Davis asserted eleven counts alleging various violations of federal and state law relating to the defendants' failure to protect, reckless indifference and/or gross negligence, failure to use adequate procedures, failure to maintain the jail in proper condition, negligence, and cruel and unusual punishment under the Eighth Amendment. The district court granted summary judgment on Davis's claims under section 1983 and the Eighth Amendment after concluding he could not meet the deliberate indifference standard. The district court also granted summary judgment on Davis's remaining common law negligence claims after concluding the defendants were immune from liability for negligence. Davis timely appeals.

II.

We review the district court's grant of summary judgment de novo, viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the non-moving party. Rand Corp. v. Yer Song Moua, 559 F.3d 842, 845 (8th Cir.2009). Summary judgment is appropriate “if the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law.” Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c). A fact is material when it might affect the outcome of the suit under governing law. Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 248, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986).

A. Section 1983 and Constitutional Claims

The Eighth Amendment prohibits “cruel and unusual punishments.” U.S. Const. amend. VIII. A prisoner's conditions of confinement, including the safety measures taken to protect prisoners, are subject to scrutiny under the Eighth Amendment. Kahle v. Leonard, 477 F.3d 544, 550 (8th Cir.2007). Here, Davis was a pretrial detainee at the time of the alleged violation, and thus his section 1983 claims are analyzed under the Fourteenth Amendment's Due Process Clause instead of the Eighth Amendment. Id. “This makes little difference as a practical matter, though: Pretrial detainees are entitled to the same protection under the Fourteenth Amendment as imprisoned convicts receive under the Eighth Amendment.” Id.

The Eighth Amendment standard for conditions of confinement is whether the defendants acted with deliberate indifference. Nelson v. Corr. Med. Servs., 583 F.3d 522, 528 (8th Cir.2009) (en banc). A prison official is deliberately indifferent if he “knows of and disregards” a substantial risk to an inmate's safety. Id. There is both an objective component and a subjective component to a claim of deliberate indifference, which questions: (1) whether a substantial risk to the inmate's safety existed, and (2) whether the officer had knowledge of the substantial risk to the inmate's safety but nevertheless disregarded it. Id. at 529. “The...