Caldwell v. Moore
| Decision Date | 01 July 1992 |
| Docket Number | No. 91-5852,91-5852 |
| Parties | John Allen CALDWELL, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Woodford County Chief Jailer, James MOORE, et al., Defendants, Harry Stephen Tracy; Rick Adkins; Daniel E. Clark; W. Keith Broughton, Defendants-Appellees. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Sixth Circuit |
Dean W. Bucalos (argued and briefed), Robert J. Brown, Brown, Bucalos, Santana & Bratt, Lexington, Ky., for plaintiff-appellant.
W. Henry Jernigan, Jr., James L. Gay, Jacqueline Syers Duncan (argued and briefed), Jackson & Kelly, Ronnie G. Dunnigan, Ronnie G. Dunnigan Law Offices, Lexington, Ky., W. Kenneth Nevitt, C. Thomas Hectus (argued and briefed), Williams & Wagoner, Louisville, Ky., for defendants-appellees.
Before: KENNEDY and SUHRHEINRICH, Circuit Judges; and WEBER, District Judge. *
Plaintiff John Allen Caldwell brought this action under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 against various officials of the Woodford County Jail and four police officers alleging violation of his rights under the Eighth Amendment and the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution. Specifically, Caldwell alleged that the use of a stun gun and a straitjacket against him and the subsequent deprivation of medical care constituted cruel and unusual punishment. The district court granted summary judgment for the defendants based on qualified immunity. For the following reasons, we affirm the district court.
In July 1988, Caldwell was being held in the Woodford County Jail pending his transfer to the Kentucky State Prison system. Caldwell had been convicted of receiving stolen property. While incarcerated at the jail, Caldwell was involved in an altercation with three other inmates. Due to the altercation, Caldwell was removed from the general jail population and placed in an isolation cell.
On July 15, 1988, after having been in the isolation cell for several days, Caldwell asked to be let out so that he could get some fresh air and water and walk up and down the narrow hallway in front of the isolation cell. Although his request was denied, Caldwell stated that he was provided with food and water throughout the time he was confined in the isolation cell.
Caldwell stated that every time his request to be let out of the isolation cell was denied he would kick the door and shout for the jailer. Caldwell stated that he would shout for a few minutes and kick the cell door, then pause and repeat this conduct. Deputy jailer Andrew Sutherland informed Caldwell that he would be placed in a straitjacket if he continued to shout and kick the cell door. Nonetheless, Caldwell continued this conduct into the late evening on July 15.
After seven hours of this conduct, Sutherland contacted the City of Versailles, Kentucky, Police Department and requested assistance in restraining Caldwell. Between 11:00 p.m. and 12:00 a.m. four or five police officers arrived at the jail. Those police officers were Ricky Allen Adkins, William Keith Broughton, Harry Steven Tracy, Daniel Eugene Clark and Russell Gentry Yocum. 1 Caldwell was still in an excited state, yelling and kicking on the cell door, when the police officers arrived at the jail.
One of the police officers picked up an electric stun gun that Chief Jailer James Moore had purchased and kept in a desk in the jail office. Police officer Ricky Allen Adkins took the electric stun gun with him as he, the other police officers and Andrew Sutherland went to Caldwell's cell. The electric stun gun was taken in the presence of the other police officers, all of whom had knowledge it was taken, and with the consent of Andrew Sutherland.
None of the police officers had any formal training in the use of an electric stun gun, knew the capabilities of this particular electric stun gun, or received any express authorization to use an electric stun gun in the course of their employment. None of the police officers had received any training or education in the handling of inmates who were extremely agitated, upset or excited, or suffering from mental illness or emotional disturbance. Nor were any of the jailers instructed as to when medical treatment should be administered to inmates. None of the police officers had any training in the use of a straitjacket.
Officer Adkins spoke briefly with Caldwell, informing him that the police were called to quiet him. Caldwell indicated that he would continue to shout and kick until released from his cell. Caldwell then kicked the cell door again. At that moment, at least three of the police officers entered the cell and Adkins shot Caldwell with the electric stun gun several times. Caldwell collapsed and he was placed in a straitjacket. The officers then left Caldwell alone on the floor of the cell.
Within one hour of this incident, Caldwell had crawled along the cell floor and rubbed the straitjacket against a sharp edge of the cell door until he eventually was able to remove it. Caldwell alleged that he suffered chest pains and burns from the stun gun, but he makes no claim of physical injury from the straitjacket. Caldwell now contends that he suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder arising from this episode.
The day after this incident, Caldwell asked Sutherland if he could see a doctor because he was in pain from being shot with the stun gun. According to Caldwell, Sutherland told him that he didn't need to see a doctor, but Sutherland agreed to inform Chief Jailer James Moore about Caldwell's request. The day following his request to Sutherland, Caldwell was taken to the Woodford County Hospital where he was examined by a doctor. Caldwell stated that after the examination, which included an examination of his heart, the doctor told him there was nothing he could do except give him medication for the pain. Caldwell was returned to the Woodford County Jail and he was transferred to the state correctional system either the next day or the day after. Following his transfer to the state correctional system, Caldwell visited a doctor who gave him medication for the pain he was experiencing.
Based on these facts, Caldwell filed this lawsuit pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983. Caldwell named the following persons as defendants: Rick Allen Adkins, W.K. Broughton, Harry Stephen Tracy, David Eugene Clark, James Moore, and Andrew Sutherland. Adkins, Broughton, Tracy, and Clark are employed by the City of Versailles, Kentucky, as police officers. Moore is the Chief Jailer at the Woodford County Jail, and Sutherland, as indicated above, is a deputy jailer at the Woodford County Jail. Caldwell claims that the defendants used excessive force in responding to the disturbance at the jail, and that such "excessiveness" constituted cruel and unusual punishment in violation of the Eighth Amendment. Specifically, Caldwell alleged that use of the stun gun and straitjacket constituted cruel and unusual punishment because it amounted to excessive force. Caldwell also claims that the defendants violated his Eighth Amendment rights by showing deliberate indifference to his serious medical needs which arose from the incident with the stun gun.
The case was referred to a magistrate for a report and recommendation. The magistrate made factual findings and concluded that "a reasonable jury could not conclude that the actions of the defendants in using the stun gun and the straitjacket for the purpose of restraining the plaintiff and restoring order to the jail were solely for punishment or that they were motivated by a malicious or sadistic intent to cause the plaintiff harm." (Jt.App. at 411). The magistrate also concluded that the defendants had not exhibited "deliberate indifference" to Caldwell's medical needs. Accordingly, the magistrate recommended granting the defendants qualified immunity.
The district court, after conducting a de novo review, granted summary judgment in favor of the defendants based on qualified immunity. This appeal followed.
Caldwell's notice of appeal states that he is appealing from the June 10, 1991, order "sustaining the defendants' motion for summary judgment; overruling plaintiff's objections to the Magistrate's proposed Findings of Fact and Recommendation and affirming the Magistrate's Report and Recommendations and dismissing this action." Caldwell did not appeal from an earlier order denying him leave to amend his complaint. Under Rule 3(c) of the Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure, where a notice of appeal specifies a particular order, only the specified issues related to that order may be raised on appeal. See Wilson v. Firestone Tire & Rubber Co., 932 F.2d 510 (6th Cir.1991). The defendants contend that Rule 3(c) prevents this court from considering Caldwell's claim that the district court erroneously denied him leave to amend his complaint because this order was not listed in the notice of appeal.
This contention is without merit. The denial of a request for leave to file an amended complaint is not appealable. Marathon Petroleum Co. v. Pendleton, 889 F.2d 1509, 1511 n. 1 (6th Cir.1989). However, such an order is appealable after the entry of a final judgment because the final judgment calls into question the propriety of all the nonfinal rulings of the district court. See McLaurin v. Fischer, 768 F.2d 98, 102 (6th Cir.1985).
Thus, in the present case, Caldwell could not appeal the denial of leave to amend until after the entry of summary judgment. After summary judgment was granted, Caldwell appealed that final judgment without including the previous order denying leave to amend in the notice of appeal. However, the defendants identify no prejudice as a result of this omission and we conclude that the notice of appeal was adequate to put the opposing parties on notice of the issues Caldwell was appealing. See Taylor v. United States, 848 F.2d 715, 717-18 (6th Cir.1988) (...
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