Blackmore v. Kalamazoo County

• Decision Date: 07 December 2004
• Docket Number: No. 03-2222.,03-2222.
• Citation: 390 F.3d 890
• Parties: Tjymas BLACKMORE, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. KALAMAZOO COUNTY, et al., Defendants-Appellees.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Sixth Circuit

Page 890

390 F.3d 890

Tjymas BLACKMORE, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. KALAMAZOO COUNTY, et al., Defendants-Appellees.

No. 03-2222.

United States Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit.

Argued: September 14, 2004.

Decided and Filed: December 7, 2004.

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ARGUED:

Mark R. Bendure, Bendure & Thomas, Detroit, Michigan, for Appellant. Joseph Nimako, Cummings, McClorey, Davis & Acho, Livonia, Michigan, for Appellees.

ON BRIEF:

Mark R. Bendure, Bendure & Thomas, Detroit, Michigan, for Appellant. Joseph Nimako, Cummings, McClorey, Davis & Acho, Livonia, Michigan, for Appellees.

Before: MOORE and CLAY, Circuit Judges; HAYNES, District Judge.^*

HAYNES, District Judge.

Plaintiff, Tjymas Blackmore, appeals the district court's final order dismissing his claims under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 for violations of his civil rights by Defendants, Kalamazoo County, Kalamazoo County Sheriff Thomas N. Edmonds, in his official capacity (collectively "the County"), and twenty employees of the Kalamazoo County Sheriff's Department in their individual capacities ("the Officers").¹ Blackmore asserted claims under the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments against the County and its officers for their failure to provide prompt medical treatment for his serious medical condition, appendicitis, for over two days while Blackmore was detained in the Kalamazoo County jail.

The district court denied Blackmore's motion for summary judgment, but granted Defendants' motion for summary judgment on Blackmore's claims. The district court concluded that under Napier v. Madison County, 238 F.3d 739, 742 (6th Cir.2001), Blackmore did not present "verifying medical evidence" to prove the detrimental effect of Defendants' delay in providing Blackmore medical treatment. Blackmore asserts that his proof is sufficient to create material factual disputes on whether he had a serious need for medical care during his detention, and that such disputes require a jury trial. Based upon our review of the factual record, we conclude that the district court misinterpreted Napier. We REVERSE and REMAND to the district court for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.

I. BACKGROUND

Members of the Kalamazoo County Sheriff's Department arrested Blackmore at approximately 3:30 a.m. on May 27, 2000 for driving on a suspended license. The Officers then transported Blackmore to the Kalamazoo County Jail, booked him and placed him in a cell at approximately 5:25 a.m. Within an hour of his arrival, Blackmore began experiencing abdominal pain and complained to a deputy jailor, requesting medical care. Blackmore continued to complain about this pain. An entry in the Sergeant's jail log reflects that at 5:00 p.m. on Sunday, May 28, 2000, Blackmore was "complaining of abdominal pain". About that time, jail officials gave Blackmore antacids, but did not otherwise secure medical care.

At some unidentified time on Monday, May 29, 2000, Blackmore filed a "Request for Medical Care" in which he complained of "sharp" and "extreme a[b]dominal pain in the lower area" lasting twenty-six hours for which he needed medical attention "right away". (J.A. 63). A later entry in the Sergeant's jail log reflects: (1) that at 1:30 a.m., Blackmore "stated that he is having sharp abdominal pains;" (2) Blackmore "had vomited and the antacids that were given to him earlier did not help;" and (3) that Blackmore "stated that the pains have been constant since Saturday afternoon...." (J.A. 70-71). At this time, jail officials placed Blackmore into an observation cell, but did not provide any medical treatment. Id.

At 6:30 a.m. Monday morning, over two complete days after his first complaint of pain, a jail nurse examined Blackmore and diagnosed him as "showing classic signs of appendicitis." (J.A. 71). Blackmore was transported to a local hospital at approximately 7:00 a.m., and an appendectomy was successfully performed early that afternoon without complication.

Blackmore filed this action on May 13, 2002, asserting that the defendants violated his constitutional and civil rights. The gravamen of Blackmore's claims was that the jailors violated his constitutional rights by denying him prompt medical care for a serious medical need and that the County violated his constitutional rights by failing to implement policies and to train jailors adequately to respond to inmates' serious medical needs.

Upon completion of discovery, both parties moved for summary judgment. As noted earlier, the district court denied Blackmore's motion, but granted summary judgment to Defendants, relying principally upon Napier v. Madison County, 238 F.3d 739 (6th Cir.2001). Napier held that an inmate who complains that a delay in medical treatment is "sufficiently serious" so as to violate his constitutional rights, must present "verifying medical evidence" to establish the detrimental effect of the delay in medical treatment. Here, the district court explained that "Plaintiff has not offered any medical evidence to show that he suffered a detrimental effect from not having his surgery earlier." (J.A. 222). The district court noted that "Plaintiff's appendix did not burst. There is no evidence of any medical complications or consequences arising from the delay of treatment." Id. Although noting that Blackmore needed to prove only that his "health risks ... were increased during the period of delay to a constitutionally unacceptable degree," the district court concluded that "[t]here is simply no medical verification that his condition worsened as a result of the delay." Id.

II. ANALYSIS

A. Standard of Review

This Court reviews de novo a district court's grant of summary judgment. Terry Barr Sales Agency, Inc. v. All-Lock Co., 96 F.3d 174, 178 (6th Cir.1996). Summary judgment is appropriate only 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). Upon the filing of a motion for summary judgment, the opposing party must come forth with sufficient evidence to withstand a motion for a directed verdict, Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, 477 U.S. 242, 247-52, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986), particularly where there has been an opportunity for discovery, Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 322, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986). The judge does not "weigh the evidence and determine the truth of the matter but .. determine[s] whether there is a genuine issue for trial." Liberty Lobby, 477 U.S. at 249, 106 S.Ct. 2505. For such a motion, the Court views the evidence and draws all reasonable inferences in the light most favorable to the non-moving party. See Matsushita Elec. Co., Ltd. v. Zenith Radio Corp., 475 U.S. 574, 587, 106 S.Ct. 1348, 89 L.Ed.2d 538 (1986).

As to Blackmore's denial of medical care claim, the issue of "whether [Defendants] were deliberately indifferent is a mixed issue of law and fact.... The resolution of this question requires us to compare [Defendants'] conduct with a legal standard of deliberate indifference." Williams v. Mehra, 186 F.3d 685, 690 (6th Cir.1999) (en banc).

B. Deliberate Indifference

The Eighth Amendment forbids prison officials from "unnecessarily and wantonly inflicting pain" on an inmate by acting with "deliberate indifference" toward the inmate's serious medical needs. Estelle v. Gamble, 429 U.S. 97, 104, 97 S.Ct. 285, 50 L.Ed.2d 251 (1976). Pretrial detainees are analogously protected under the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. Bell v. Wolfish, 441 U.S. 520, 545, 99 S.Ct. 1861, 60 L.Ed.2d 447 (1979). Whether a convicted prisoner or a pretrial detainee, deliberate indifference to one's need for medical attention suffices for a claim under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. Roberts v. City of Troy, 773 F.2d 720, 723 (6th Cir.1985). Prison officials' deliberate indifference violates these rights "[w]hen the indifference is manifested by ... prison guards in intentionally denying or delaying access to medical care...." for a serious medical need. Estelle, 429 U.S. at 104, 97 S.Ct. 285.

A constitutional claim for denial of medical care has objective and subjective components. Farmer v. Brennan, 511 U.S. 825, 834, 114 S.Ct. 1970, 128 L.Ed.2d 811 (1994); Napier, 238 F.3d at 742; Brown v. Bargery, 207 F.3d 863, 867 (6th Cir.2000). The objective component requires the existence of a "sufficiently serious" medical need. Farmer, 511 U.S. at 834, 114 S.Ct. 1970; Estelle, 429 U.S. at 104, 97 S.Ct. 285. "As the Supreme Court explained in Farmer, `the inmate must show that he is incarcerated under conditions posing a substantial risk of serious harm.'" Brown, 207 F.3d at 867 (quoting Farmer, 511 U.S. at 834, 114 S.Ct. 1970).

The subjective component requires an inmate to show that prison officials have "a sufficiently culpable state of mind in denying medical care." Brown, 207 F.3d at 867 (citing Farmer, 511 U.S. at 834, 114 S.Ct. 1970). This subjective component "should be determined in light of the prison authorities' current attitudes and conduct." Helling v. McKinney, 509 U.S. 25, 36, 113 S.Ct. 2475, 125 L.Ed.2d 22 (1993). Deliberate indifference "entails something more than mere negligence," Farmer, 511 U.S. at 835, 114 S.Ct. 1970, but can be "satisfied by something less than acts or omissions for the very purpose of causing harm or with knowledge that harm will result." Id. Under Farmer, "the official must both 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; see also LeMarbe v. Wisneski, 266 F.3d 429, 435 (6th Cir.2001). "Knowledge of the asserted serious needs or of circumstances clearly indicating the existence of such needs, is essential to a finding of deliberate indifference." Horn v. Madison County...