668 F.2d 477 (10th Cir. 1982), 80-1417, Daniels v. Gilbreath
| Citation | 668 F.2d 477 |
| Party Name | Hervie L. DANIELS and Hervie Daniels, Jr., as Co-Administrators of the Estate of Jesse DeSoto Daniels, deceased, for the use and benefit of Hervie Daniels, Sr., and Nancy Daniels, next of kin, Plaintiffs-Appellees, v. L. D. GILBREATH, Rickey Dennison, Maxine Fultner, Defendants, The County of McCurtain, Oklahoma, and Dr. R. D. Garcia, Defendants-Ap |
| Case Date | January 13, 1982 |
| Court | United States Courts of Appeals, U.S. Court of Appeals — Tenth Circuit |
Page 477
Argued and Submitted in No. 80-1570 Oct. 16, 1981.
Submitted in No. 80-1417 Oct. 16, 1981.
Page 478
Charles S. Rogers, Asst. Atty. Gen., Oklahoma City, Okl. (Jan Eric Cartwright, Atty. Gen. of Okl., and Manville T. Buford, Oklahoma City, Okl., with him on the briefs), for defendant-appellant Dr. R. D. Garcia.
Don Shaw, Dist. Atty., Idabel, Okl., on the brief for defendant-appellant County of McCurtain, Okl.
Frank M. Hagedorn of Hall, Estill, Hardwick, Gable, Collingsworth & Nelson, Tulsa, Okl., for plaintiffs-appellees.
Wayne W. Schmidt, South San Francisco, Cal., Fred E. Inbau, Chicago, Ill., and James P. Manak, Glen Ellyn, Ill., on the brief, for amici curiae.
Before DOYLE, BREITENSTEIN and McKAY, Circuit Judges.
WILLIAM E. DOYLE, Circuit Judge.
The judgment which is here being appealed from was entered against McCurtain County, Oklahoma, Dr. R. D. Garcia, and the former sheriff of McCurtain County, Sheriff Gilbreath. Damages were awarded to the decedent's parents growing out of his death while in the Eastern State Hospital at Vinita, Oklahoma. He had been a prisoner in the McCurtain County jail, awaiting trial. He was referred to the Eastern State Hospital for the purpose of a pre-trial diagnosis of his mental condition. The decedent died soon after arriving at the hospital. Suits were filed in the District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma. Judgments were entered against Sheriff Gilbreath in the amount of $25,000, against McCurtain County, Oklahoma for $25,000 and against Dr. R. D. Garcia in the amount of $50,000. It is to be noted that Sheriff Gilbreath did not join in this appeal and did not file a brief, of course. As to him, the problem arises as to whether his case should be decided nonetheless since his position has been indicated in this case.
Jesse DeSoto Daniels died on August 4, 1976 in the Oklahoma Eastern State Hospital. He had been arrested by the Idabel, Oklahoma police on July 25 for the assault and robbery of an elderly woman. Following arrest he was taken to the Idabel City jail. While there, Daniels' father attempted to visit him and brought Jesse a tranquilizer known as Sinequan in an unmarked container. This drug had been prescribed
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for Jesse's use several days before his arrest. Following his arrest he was transferred to the McCurtain County jail. It was discovered that Daniels was not receiving the tranquilizer. This was due to the fact, so the jailers said, that it was in an unmarked container; the county jail would not administer the substance. Daniels' father was notified and brought to the jail a properly marked prescription of Sinequan. There was contradictory evidence at the trial as to whether Daniels received any of the tranquilizer while in the county jail. Daniels received no medical attention while he was in the county jail. It is said that he screamed for his father on more than one occasion and the Sheriff asked the District Attorney to seek a court order for psychiatric evaluation of Daniels in order to determine his competence to stand trial. The Sheriff allowed Daniels' father to take custody of his son on August 3rd and to transport him to the state hospital on August 4th.
Jesse Daniels, the deceased, was upon arrival interviewed by Dr. Garcia. On that occasion Daniels' father, Hervie L. Daniels, testified that he told Dr. Garcia that Jesse needed the Sinequan that he had brought along. According to the elder Daniels, Dr. Garcia walked away from Daniels before he was able to tell the doctor that Jesse had an allergic reaction to Stelazine or Thorazine six years before. The record is not clear as to which it was. Mr. Daniels also testified that he wished to tell the doctor that Jesse had had an allergic reaction to "some medicine." Stelazine is a phenothiazine in the same class of drugs with Serentil, the drug administered to Jesse just before his death. The decedent, after his conversation with Garcia, was taken to a room in the hospital and given pencil and paper for the purpose of completing a test. At that time he became very noisy and the staff had to subdue him. Jesse was a good sized man, he was around six feet tall and weighed close to 200 pounds and it took three or four of the personnel to quiet him. At that time Dr. Garcia ordered an injection of Serentil for Jesse. This is a phenothiazine used to control psychosis. In a matter of minutes after this injection Jesse Daniels died. The autopsies did not disclose the cause of death.
The plaintiffs' theory of the case is that McCurtain County and Sheriff Gilbreath had deprived Daniels of his due process rights under the fourteenth amendment and had administered cruel and unusual punishment to him in violation of the eighth amendment. Further, it is their contention that these constitutional violations led to Daniels' death and were the result of their failure to administer the tranquilizer Sinequan to the decedent and failure to provide adequate medical care at the jail leading to his transfer to the state mental hospital. As to Dr. Garcia, his unwillingness to listen to the decedent's father about Jesse's medical history evidenced, so they maintain, a deliberate indifference to the serious medical need of Daniels and thereby violated his eighth and fourteenth amendment rights. The argument is that if Dr. Garcia had known of the allergy, he may not have administered the Serentil. So, the theory is that Daniels lost his life and the survivors were damaged as a direct and proximate result of the actions of the defendants.
THE CONTENTIONS ON APPEAL
McCurtain County and the sheriff are blamed for causing the death of the decedent. Their contention is that they were far removed from his death and that the evidence as to them is insufficient. Similarly, Dr. Garcia maintains that the evidence is insufficient from his standpoint as well. Garcia maintains that the evidence was legally insufficient to prove (a) the violation of any constitutionally protected rights of Jesse Daniels or (b) a causal relationship between the acts or omissions of Dr. Garcia and the death of Jesse Daniels. We are saying that there is a complete lack of evidence to establish responsibility on the part of the sheriff and the county for the death of Jesse Daniels. Thus, there were intervening acts subsequent to the time that Jesse Daniels left the jail which render their actions legally remote causes-causes which in both fact and in law do not qualify
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as proximate causes. The trial court should have directed verdicts for both the county and for the sheriff.
The Legal Status of the Sheriff
While on the subject of the former Sheriff of McCurtain County, L. D. Gilbreath, we must point out that although the sheriff did not appeal on his own behalf, an organization, The Americans for Effective Law Enforcement, Inc., did file a brief on his behalf and on behalf of McCurtain County. They urge in that brief that our conclusions in appeal No. 80-1470 should apply to the non-appealing party, Sheriff Gilbreath. Ordinarily a non-appealing party cannot gain benefit from a successful appellate decision reversing a trial judgment rendered against him. See Cook & Sons Equipment v. Killen, 277 F.2d 607 (9th Cir. 1960); 9 J. Moore's Federal Practice, P 1201.44(4), (2d ed., 1980). Inasmuch as we have concluded that neither the county nor the sheriff is liable as a matter of law, it makes no sense to allow the judgment against the sheriff to stand. The position which we take is consistent with In re Barnett, 124 F.2d 1005, 1009 (2nd Cir. 1942), wherein it was held that a non-appealing party could benefit from an appellate decision when reversal "wipes out all basis for recovery against the non-appealing, as well as against the appealing defendant." See Kicklighter v. Nails by Jannee, Inc., 616 F.2d 734 (5th Cir. 1980); Maryland Casualty Company v. City of South Norfolk, 54 F.2d 1032 (4th Cir. 1932). Cf. Hegger v. Green, 646 F.2d 22 (2nd Cir. 1981) (acknowledging In Re Barnett but distinguishing it where the non-appealing party can still be liable). A law does not hold a man responsible for every consequence however remote in time and in circumstances.
The activity of the sheriff here, and indeed of the county, is far removed in time and space from the activity associated with the death of Jesse Daniels. We fail to see how it could be argued that the sheriff had anything to do with the death of Daniels. The argument on behalf of the plaintiffs is that if the sheriff and his deputies had given the medication that was offered at the jail prior to the transfer to the hospital, there would not have been a problem. However, this can hardly be regarded as a cause in law, or for that matter in fact. They are successive events but undoubtedly Jesse would have had to have been transferred to the hospital for the purpose of an examination in all events, regardless of whether he was given medication in the jail. The events subsequent to jail could not possibly have been foreseen from that vantage point. See Johnson v. Duffy, 588 F.2d 740, 743-44 (9th Cir. 1978).
Inasmuch, then, as it appears to be undisputed that Sheriff Gilbreath could not under any...
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