Colson v. City of Alcoa
| Decision Date | 01 September 2021 |
| Docket Number | 20-6084 |
| Parties | ANNISSA COLSON, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. CITY OF ALCOA, TENNESSEE, et al., Defendants-Appellants. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Sixth Circuit |
Defendant Mandy England appeals the district court's denial of her motion for summary judgment in plaintiff Annissa Colson's 42 U.S.C. § 1983 suit against England for deliberate indifference to Colson's serious medical needs. Colson claims that England, a Blount County Jail correctional officer, refused to provide her with adequate medical care when Colson was brought to the jail with a knee injury. England argues that the doctrine of qualified immunity protects her from liability for her actions. On appeal England argues that Colson was not suffering from an objectively serious medical need, that England did not consciously disregard any medical need, and that Colson's right to medical care was not clearly established. We affirm the district court's determination that Colson's right to medical attention was clearly established and dismiss the rest of England's appeal for lack of jurisdiction.
On June 23, 2015, Alcoa Police Department officer Dustin Cook arrested Annissa Colson for driving while intoxicated and reckless endangerment after she drove her vehicle off the road. Colson consented to have her blood drawn for a blood alcohol test, so Cook and Alcoa Police officer Arik Wilson transported Colson to a nearby hospital.
When they arrived at the hospital, Colson got out of Cook's police vehicle but refused to enter the hospital to have her blood drawn. Cook told Colson that they would get a search warrant to draw her blood and ordered her to get back in his vehicle. After Colson repeatedly refused to get back in the car, Cook and Wilson attempted to force Colson into the back of the police vehicle. Colson claims that Wilson pushed on her knee and injured it during the struggle. Wilson admitted to Cook at the time that he heard Colson's knee pop when he applied pressure to her leg. Colson eventually got into the back of the police vehicle, and Cook drove her to the Blount County Jail while Colson cried and complained about her injured knee.
Defendant England was one of the Blount County Jail officers who met Cook and Colson when they arrived at the jail. Cook greeted England and told her that Colson was "combative" and that they had used pressure points to get her into the police vehicle. He did not mention the potential injury to Colson's knee. England told Colson to get out of the vehicle and guided her from the garage into a pat-down room inside the jail to perform a preliminary search. Colson was crying but appeared to walk without a limp from the garage to the pat-down room. During her deposition, Colson admitted that she did not have a noticeable limp or problem walking at the time.
When they were in the pat-down room, Colson told England that her "knee is fucked up thanks to your officer." Dash Cam Video 2, 41:52-41:55. England told Colson "ok" and asked her to take a few steps forward and place her forehead against a wall. Id. at 41:56. Colson appeared unsteady on her feet and initially told England that she could not move, though she eventually complied. About ten seconds later, Colson yelled "ow, ow my fucking knee" and fell to the floor. Id. at 42:16-42:20. Colson claims that she fell because her knee was unstable, but England claims that she thought Colson's knee buckled because Colson was intoxicated. England and another officer helped Colson off the ground and held her arms to steady her. Colson continued to complain about her knee. Colson removed her jewelry and attempted to step forward to give it to an officer but winced and looked unsteady, so England and another officer held her arms to steady her. A few seconds later, an officer offered Colson a hand to steady her while she removed her shoes, but Colson would not take the arm of any officer and removed her shoes herself.
A few minutes after Colson entered the pat-down room, Jennifer Russell, a nurse at the jail, came to examine Colson's knee. Russell was not in the room when Colson fell to the floor or when she appeared unsteady on her feet. Russell asked what she was checking for, and the officers told her to look at Colson's knee. Colson told Russell that the officers "fucked up [her] knee," that she had "never heard it pop so much" in her life, and that it hurt to move her leg. Id. at 46:2346:28. Russell bent down to look at Colson's knee and asked her to move it. Colson told Russell that her knee hurt and that she could not straighten it. After examining Colson's knee for less than a minute, Russell said that she "don't see no swelling" and left the room. Id. at 47:12-47:18. Colson concedes that there was no swelling when Russell looked at her knee. England claims that she thought Russell's examination of Colson's knee was "quick" but indicates that she trusted Russell's medical judgment to tell the officers if Colson needed further medical attention. DE 139-2, England Dep Page ID 2088, 2094. Colson did not receive any additional medical treatment while she was at Blount County Jail.
After Russell left, England and several other officers led Colson from the pat-down room and to a jail cell. Based on the body-cam video, at least one officer was holding Colson's arm while she walked to the cell, but it is unclear whether the officer was restraining or supporting her.[1] Off camera Colson and officers got into a struggle and several officers pinned Colson to the ground. England claims the struggle started because Colson kicked the officers, which Colson denies. The officers then placed Colson in a restraint chair and strapped down her arms and legs so they could draw her blood for the blood alcohol test. While England and other officers were holding Colson down, Colson allegedly bit England's arm.[2] England left the room and returned with a helmet, which she put on Colson until Russell could complete the blood draw. Colson was left in the restraint chair for several hours and then released on bond the next morning. The day after she was released on bond, Colson went to the hospital where she was diagnosed with a fractured tibia, torn anterior cruciate ligament, and a torn lateral collateral ligament.
On June 23, 2016, Colson filed a lawsuit against England, the City of Alcoa, Blount County, and other employees of the City of Alcoa and Blount County who were involved in her arrest. In addition to other claims, Colson alleged that England violated her constitutional rights by failing to provide medical treatment for her knee injury.
England filed her first motion for summary judgment on August 16, 2017. England argued that she was entitled to qualified immunity on Colson's claim of wrongful denial of medical care because Colson did not suffer a serious medical need and England was not deliberately indifferent to Colson's injuries. The district court denied England's motion as to Colson's claim for inadequate medical care.[3] The district court found that Colson "identifie[d] more than enough evidence establishing genuine issues of material fact in the record" as to whether "her knee injury would have been obvious to a layperson." DE 105, Op., Page ID 1494. The district court cited Colson's "repetitious complaints about knee pain, her screams, and her intermittent ability to remain standing-all of which occurred in Officer England's presence." Id. The district court described how Colson "fell to the floor while agonizing about her knee" in front of England and "England had to steady Ms. Colson on a separate occasion, when she tottered and winced in the pat down room while stepping forward to put her ring in a bag." Id.
The district court concluded that "a reasonable jury could find that Officer England knew of [Colson's need for medical treatment] and disregarded it despite having reasons to believe that the nurse rendered an unreliable medical opinion, if no medical opinion at all." Id. at Page ID 1500. First, the district court found that whether Russell issued a medical opinion was "dubious" because Russell's "lone statement was 'I don't see no swelling,' and she left the room without uttering another word to the officers." Id. at Page ID 1497. According to the district court, England had reason to know that Russell's opinion was not reliable because she was "privy to the exam and observed Ms. Colson's pained reactions to the movements that the nurse asked her to perform, if not her outright inability to perform them." Id. at Page ID 1498. Thus, the district court held that England had failed to show she was entitled to qualified immunity and denied her motion for summary judgment.
On November 9, 2018, England filed a second motion for summary judgment. England argued that she was entitled to summary judgment based on the more developed factual record and the present applicable legal standards. The district court disagreed and concluded that it did not "change[] the Court's analysis and conclusions regarding deliberate indifference." DE 202, Op., Page ID 3358-59. England filed a timely notice of appeal.
"Although '[a]n order denying a motion for summary judgment is generally not a final decision' over which we have jurisdiction, limited review is available if, as here 'the summary judgment motion is based on a claim of qualified immunity.'" Downardfor Estate of Downard v. Martin, 968 F.3d 594, 599 (6th Cir. 2020) . We may review the district court's denial of qualified immunity "to the...
To continue reading
Request your trial