SCHOELCH v. MITCHELL

• Decision Date: 12 November 2010
• Docket Number: No. 08-2776.,08-2776.
• Citation: 625 F.3d 1041
• Parties: Charles SCHOELCH, Appellant, v. Emmett MITCHELL, individually and in official capacity; St. Louis County; Michael Henderson, Capt., individually and in official capacity; Cheryl Stone; Kenneth Reed, Major, Internal Affairs Officer, individually and in official capacity; Roy Mueller, Director of Department of Justice Services, individually and in official capacity; John Szuba, Unit Manager, St. Louis County Justice Center; John and Jane Does, individually and in official capacity, Appellees.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Eighth Circuit

625 F.3d 1041

Charles SCHOELCH, Appellant,

v.Emmett MITCHELL, individually and in official capacity; St. Louis County; Michael Henderson, Capt., individually and in official capacity; Cheryl Stone; Kenneth Reed, Major, Internal Affairs Officer, individually and in official capacity; Roy Mueller, Director of Department of Justice Services, individually and in official capacity; John Szuba, Unit Manager, St. Louis County Justice Center; John and Jane Does, individually and in official capacity, Appellees.

No. 08-2776.

United States Court of Appeals,Eighth Circuit.

Submitted: March 9, 2010.

Filed: Nov. 12, 2010.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED.

Lawrence Francis Schoelch, argued, San Bernardino, CA, for appellant.

Charles W. Bobinette, argued, St. Louis, MO, for appellee, Emmett Mitchell.

Lorena Victoria Merklin von Kaenel, argued, St. Louis, MO, for all other appellees.

Before BYE, ARNOLD, and COLLOTON, Circuit Judges.

COLLOTON, Circuit Judge.

Darien Lindsey attacked fellow pretrial detainee Charles Schoelch, leaving Schoelch with facial injuries that required surgery. Schoelch brought this action, pursuant to 42 U.S.C. §§ 1983, 1986, and 1988, against jail guard Emmett Mitchell, alleging that Mitchell failed to protect him from Lindsey. He also asserted that various supervisory officials and St. Louis County should be held liable for failing to protect him and for failing to train and supervise Mitchell. The district court ¹ granted summary judgment for Mitchell and the other defendants, and we affirm. ²

I.

On review of a summary judgment, we recount the facts in the light most favorable to Schoelch. After his arrest for felony theft on July 27, 2004, Schoelch was detained in the St. Louis County Justice Center pending trial. He was assigned to housing unit 6B, a direct supervision unit that typically held approximately 66 or 67 inmates. In direct supervision units, inmates may move freely about the housing unit, unless the unit is on “lock down” status and the inmates are confined in their cells. Lindsey, who awaited trial on charges of robbery, armed criminal action, and drug distribution, also was housed in unit 6B. As of September 7, 2004, Emmett Mitchell, a fifty-nine-year-old guard who started working at the Justice Center in 1992, was assigned to work in unit 6B.

Lindsey, nicknamed “Big D,” had a reputation among Justice Center officers for aggressiveness and misbehavior. An officer remarked in a report dated February 9, 2004, that Lindsey exhibited “bizarre behavior,” including “depression, high anxiety, attention seeking, [and] sudden changes in behaviors from high to low,” which the officer speculated might be “suicidal signs.” On March 14, guard Sue Weatherford witnessed Lindsey fight inmate Demetrius Taylor. On June 1, after Amy Vaughn released Lindsey from his cell for a shower, he charged after inmate David Allen. Vaughn was unable to stop Lindsey until other officers responded to her call for assistance.

Schoelch's troubles began on October 27, 2004, when Mitchell placed him on lock down for sneaking food to his cell after lunch and for cursing. Schoelch and another inmate then allegedly caused a flood of water in unit 6B, although the source of the water is not apparent from the record. Upon discovering the flood, Mitchell announced the cancellation of activities and commissary privileges for all inmates. Mitchell allowed Lindsey to assist with cleaning up the water. Lindsey, evidently upset with Schoelch for causing a loss of privileges for all inmates in the unit, asked Mitchell to open Schoelch's cell so that he could assault him. Mitchell did not accede to Lindsey's request, but Lindsey paced near Schoelch's cell during the cleanup process and continued to threaten Schoelch.

Approximately thirty minutes after Lindsey first threatened Schoelch, Mitchell opened Schoelch's cell. Schoelch testified in an administrative hearing that he now “assume[s]” that Mitchell opened his cell so that it could be cleaned. Lindsey entered, saying that he intended to “kill” Schoelch. He grabbed Schoelch and slammed him against the wall. The incident lasted “[m]aybe a couple seconds,” according to Schoelch, and ended when another inmate intervened.

After that incident, Schoelch sought neither medical attention nor a transfer from unit 6B. He did not report an assault to Mitchell, because he suspected that Mitchell was aware of the incident. Schoelch complained to Lieutenant Michael Henderson about being locked in his cell as punishment for the flooding incident, but he did not report an assault to Henderson. Schoelch mentioned an assault to Lieutenant Cedric Kelly, but did not name the assailant. According to Schoelch, he and Lindsey “agreed [and] shook hands,” and “nothing was ever more said about” the incident.

Early on the morning of November 12, Mitchell opened Joshua Hoth's cell door after Hoth failed to respond to orders to prepare for a court appearance. Lindsey entered, pulled Hoth out of his cell, and said “get your ass out here for court.” Lindsey released Hoth from his grasp when Hoth exited the cell. Hoth approached Mitchell, complained about Lindsey entering his cell, and then proceeded to his court appearance.

Also on November 12, after the incident with Hoth, Lindsey had another altercation with Schoelch. As inmates stood in line for lunch, Lindsey yelled at Schoelch for making excessive noise in the unit and pushed him. Mitchell was at a nearby podium from which he had an unobstructed view of the push, but he did not intervene. Schoelch turned away from Lindsey. After Schoelch picked up a lunch tray and sat down to eat, Lindsey approached him and, according to Schoelch, “started swinging.” Schoelch slid his chair away from Lindsey, but Lindsey connected with one blow to the face. Approximately ten seconds elapsed between when Lindsey approached Schoelch and the end of the attack. Mitchell was looking in the direction of Lindsey and Schoelch during the attack, but did not respond.

Schoelch continued eating his lunch before recognizing that he was bleeding. Holding his face, he approached Mitchell and asked to be seen by a nurse. He also asked Mitchell to open his cell door. Mitchell opened the cell door, and Schoelch proceeded to his cell. Mitchell called Henderson and asked him to check on Schoelch. After Henderson arrived, Schoelch informed Henderson that Lindsey punched him at lunch. Soon after the attack on Schoelch, Hoth informed Henderson about Lindsey entering his cell to rouse him.

Henderson called for a nurse to assist Schoelch, and then escorted Lindsey to the eighth floor of the jail to be placed on lock down status and segregated from other inmates. Schoelch was taken to a hospital, where a CAT scan revealed several facial fractures. He also lost teeth in the attack. Schoelch underwent reconstructive surgery approximately one month later. Following an internal investigation, Mitchell was fired for violations of several jail policies arising from the incidents of October 27 and November 12.

Schoelch brought this action against Mitchell, several supervisory officials, and St. Louis County. ³ He alleged that Mitchell and the supervisory officials failed to protect him from Lindsey's assaults. Schoelch also asserted that the officials knew about inadequacies in Mitchell's training and performance, and that Lindsey should have been incarcerated in a more secure housing unit. According to Schoelch, municipal liability should be imposed against St. Louis County.

The district court granted summary judgment for the defendants. The court ruled that the record did not show any defendant failed to respond reasonably to a substantial risk of harm. The court also found that Schoelch's allegation that Mitchell received insufficient training and supervision was unsupported by evidence, and determined that classifying Lindsey such that he was housed in a direct supervision unit with Schoelch did not constitute deliberate indifference.

II.

[1] We review the grant of summary judgment de novo, construing the evidence in the light most favorable to Schoelch and drawing all reasonable inferences in his favor. Summary judgment is appropriate when the record presents no genuine issue of material fact, and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Fed.R.Civ.P. 56. We may affirm on any basis supported by the record. Moyle v. Anderson, 571 F.3d 814, 817 (8th Cir.2009).

[2] [3] [4] [5] The Eighth Amendment requires officials to “provide humane conditions of confinement” by taking reasonable steps to protect inmates convicted of crimes from assault by other inmates. Farmer v. Brennan, 511 U.S. 825, 832, 114 S.Ct. 1970, 128 L.Ed.2d 811 (1994). Schoelch's custodians had a comparable duty to protect Schoelch as a pretrial detainee, although this duty arose under the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. Kahle v. Leonard, 477 F.3d 544, 550 (8th Cir.2007). To prove unconstitutional failure to protect from harm, Schoelch must show (1) an “objectively, sufficiently serious” deprivation, meaning that he was incarcerated under conditions posing a substantial risk of serious harm, Farmer, 511 U.S. at 834, 114 S.Ct. 1970 (internal quotation omitted), and (2) that the defendant was deliberately indifferent to the substantial risk of serious harm. Id. The second requirement is a subjective test; the defendant must be “aware of facts from which the inference could be drawn that a substantial risk of serious harm exists, and he must also draw the inference.” Id. at 837, 114 S.Ct. 1970.

[6] We begin with Schoelch's claim that Mitchell violated his constitutional rights by failing to protect him from Lindsey. Schoelch suggests that the October 27 incident on its own demonstrates a constitutional violation. The district court concluded that Schoelch's “allegation that defendant Mitchell opened his cell so that Lindsey could hurt [him] is not supported by the evidence,” but...