Davis v. Smith, 80-1409

• Decision Date: 28 January 1981
• Docket Number: No. 80-1409,80-1409
• Citation: 638 F.2d 66
• Parties: William Earl DAVIS, Appellant, v. Billy Stile SMITH, Deputy Sheriff; and Robert Mays, Sheriff, Lee County, Arkansas, Appellees.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Eighth Circuit

Page 66

638 F.2d 66

William Earl DAVIS, Appellant, v. Billy Stile SMITH, Deputy Sheriff; and Robert Mays, Sheriff Lee County, Arkansas, Appellees.

No. 80-1409.

United States Court of Appeals Eighth Circuit.

Submitted Jan. 23, 1981.

Decided Jan. 28, 1981.

Daggett, Daggett & Van Dover by David W. Cahoon, Marianna, Ark., for appellees.

William Earl Davis, pro se.

Before LAY, Chief Judge, and BRIGHT and HENLEY, Circuit Judges.

LAY, Chief Judge.

William Earl Davis appeals from a judgment in his favor in an action under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 on the ground that the damage award was inadequate. Davis filed a pro se complaint alleging cruel and unusual punishment by virtue of his detention for sixteen days in a "punishment" cell of the county jail in Lee County, Arkansas. ¹ Davis requested $100,000.00 damages from defendant Billy Stile Smith, Chief Deputy Sheriff and jailer of Lee County, and $100,000.00 damages from Robert May, Sheriff of Lee County.

After a nonjury trial the district court, the Hon. William R. Overton presiding, concluded that conditions in the "punishment" cell constituted cruel and unusual punishment in violation of the eighth amendment. Davis occupied the punishment cell on three occasions for a total of sixteen days. The bare, concrete cell measured approximately six feet by ten feet. As many as six prisoners were placed in the cell for up to six days at a time. No mattresses, blankets or pillows were provided. The toilet facility in the cell was a "hole in the floor" which could be flushed only by someone outside the cell. The toilet was sometimes unflushed for hours after its use. Toilet paper and other articles for personal hygiene were not provided. There was no washbasin or running water in the cell. The cell was unheated, and the prisoners slept huddled together for warmth on the steel bunk or concrete floor.

Although the court's finding of an eighth amendment violation is not challenged, we think it essential that we clarify the scope of the constitutional rights of pretrial detainees. A person committed to pretrial detention may be subjected to "the restrictions and conditions of the detention facility so long as those conditions and restrictions do not amount to punishment, or otherwise violate the Constitution." Bell v. Wolfish, 441 U.S. 520, 536-37, 99 S.Ct. 1861, 1872-1873, 60 L.Ed.2d 447 (1979). Campbell v. Cauthron, 623 F.2d 503, 505 (8th Cir. 1980). The critical inquiry is "whether particular restrictions and conditions accompanying pretrial detention amount to punishment in the constitutional sense of that word." Bell v. Wolfish, 441 U.S. at 538, 99 S.Ct. at 1873. In this case it was not essential that defendant's liability rest upon punishment constituting cruel and unusual treatment. ² The court's finding that the conditions of Davis' pretrial detention constituted punishment under the eighth amendment was clearly sufficient to establish a violation of Davis' due process rights under the fourteenth amendment.

Davis alleged that he developed hemorrhoids during his confinement in the punishment cell and that Deputy Smith denied his request for medical care. The district court found insufficient evidence to establish that the hemorrhoids were caused by the conditions in the cell or that the denial of medical care violated Davis' constitutional rights. At trial the only medical evidence produced was that of Aubry Bradbury, a registered nurse and Infirmary Administrator at Cummins where the plaintiff is now confined. Although there is not competent evidence in the record to show that Davis' unlawful confinement in the Lee County jail caused his hemorrhoids, the evidence does tend to show that Davis' hemorrhoidal condition could have been aggravated by Davis' sleeping on cold cement floors. At the time of his confinement, he asked for medical assistance and this was refused. As we read the findings of the district court, it is not clear that the question of aggravation of Davis' hemorrhoidal condition was considered.

Davis was awarded $800.00 by the district court, computed at $50.00 per day for the sixteen days he spent in the punishment cell. The standard of review to be applied when assessing sufficiency of damages awarded by the district court in a nonjury case is under the "clearly erroneous" rule. Taylor v. Pre-Fab Transit Co., 616 F.2d 374, 375 (8th Cir. 1980); Hysell v. Iowa Public Service Co., 534 F.2d 775, 786 (8th Cir. 1976); Zatina v. Greyhound Lines, Inc., 442 F.2d 238, 242-43 (8th Cir. 1971). Findings of the trial court will not be reversed by the appellate court unless it is "left with the definite and firm conviction that a mistake has been committed." Zenith Radio Corp. v. Hazeltine Research, Inc. 395 U.S. 100, 123, 89 S.Ct. 1562, 1576, 23 L.Ed.2d 129 (1969), quoting United States v. United States Gypsum Co., 333 U.S. 364, 395, 68 S.Ct. 525, 541, 92 L.Ed. 746 (1948).

As indicated, the district court neither explained fully the reasons for the award nor considered the extent to which Davis' confinement amounted to unlawful punishment under Wolfish (as...