Daniels v. Andersen

• Decision Date: 31 December 1975
• Docket Number: No. 39945,39945
• Parties: Leonard L. DANIELS, by and through Charles Jones, his brother and next friend, Appellee, v. Richard R. ANDERSEN et al., Appellees, Impleaded with the City of Omaha, a municipal corporation, Appellant.
• Court: Nebraska Supreme Court

Page 397

237 N.W.2d 397

195 Neb. 95

Leonard L. DANIELS, by and through Charles Jones, his brother and next friend, Appellee, v. Richard R. ANDERSEN et al., Appellees Impleaded with the City of Omaha, a municipal corporation, Appellant.

No. 39945.

Supreme Court of Nebraska.

Dec. 31, 1975.

Syllabus by the Court

1. In determining the sufficiency of evidence to sustain a judgment, it must be considered in the light most favorable to the successful party. Every controverted fact must be resolved in his favor and he is entitled to the benefit of every inference that can reasonably be deduced from the evidence.

2. Under the Political Subdivisions Tort Claims Act, section 23--2406, R.R.S.1974, the findings of a District Court under the act will not be disturbed on appeal unless they are clearly wrong.

3. An essential element in any negligence action is a duty recognized by law which the defendant owes to the plaintiff.

4. It is a basic principle of law that a jailer has a duty to exercise that degree of care necessary to provide reasonably adequate protection for his prisoners.

5. In the case of an intoxicated prisoner the police officer is impelled to use a higher degree of care for his safety and protection than is necessary or expected in the case of one who has control of his physical and mental faculties and able to protect himself.

6. Proximate cause, as used in the law of negligence is that cause which in the natural and continuous sequence, unbroken by an efficient intervening cause, produces the injury, and without which the injury would not have occurred.

7. If the original negligence is of a character which, according to the usual experience of mankind, is liable to invite or induce the intervention of some subsequent cause, the intervening cause will not excuse it, and the subsequent mischief will be held to be the result of the original negligence.

8. A verdict may be set aside as excessive on appeal when, and not unless, it is so clearly exorbitant as to indicate that it was the result of passion, prejudice, mistake, or some means not apparent in the record.

Herbert M. Fitle, City Atty., James E. Fellows, Timothy M. Kenny, Omaha, for appellant.

John T. Carpenter, Matthews, Kelley, Cannon & Carpenter, Omaha, for appellee.

Heard before WHITE, C.J., and SPENCER, BOSLAUGH, McCOWN, NEWTON, CLINTON and BRODKEY, JJ.

WHITE, Chief Justice.

This is a negligence action brought against members of the Omaha police department and the City of Omaha, Nebraska. The District Court, sitting without a jury, found for the plaintiff and awarded him $200,000 in damages. The defendant city appeals. We affirm the judgment of the District Court.

The plaintiff, Leonard L. Daniels, a 50-year-old male, was arrested by members of the Omaha police division on September 21, 1970, and booked on the charge of 'drunkno prosecution.' It is the practice of the Omaha police division to arrest persons who are so intoxicated that they are in danger of injuring themselves. These persons are confined in what is referred to as the 'drunk tank.' When sober, they are released without formal charges. After the plaintiff was confined in the drunk tank, an intoxicated man by the name of Watson was placed in the drunk tank. Watson proceeded to go through the pockets of the other inmates, and then without any provocation, he punched the plaintiff in the head and also kicked him once. As Watson then moved around the cell, one of the other inmates, Kinstler began pounding on the window of the drunk tank, fearing that he was in danger. After some period of time, perhaps as much as 15 minutes, Watson, an ex-professional prize fighter and an escapee from a mental institution, returned to attack the plaintiff again. Watson picked plaintiff up and threw him on his head. Watson then kicked the plaintiff four or five times in the head. The plaintiff was finally discovered by one of the jailers when he opened the door to the drunk tank to place another drunk in the cell. Upon being taken to the hospital, it was discovered that the plaintiff had suffered a broken jaw and a severe brain injury. Since the injury, the plaintiff has not been able to talk or to remember anything. He cannot reason, and his physical abilities such as walking are severely limited. There was medical testimony to the effect that the plaintiff's condition will never improve, and that he will always require total custodial care.

Leonard L. Daniels, through his brother, Charles Jones, brought this negligence action against the City of Omaha, under the Political Subdivisions Tort Claims Act, sections 23--2401 to 23--2420, R.R.S.1974, alleging that the City of Omaha negligently caused him to be severely beaten while in the defendant's custody. The District Court found for the plaintiff and awarded him $200,000 in damages. The defendant appeals that decision, arguing first, that it was not liable for the plaintiff's injuries, and second, that the damage award was excessive.

'In determining the sufficiency of the evidence to sustain a judgment, it must be considered in the light most favorable to the successful party. Every controverted fact must be resolved in his favor and he is entitled to the benefit of every inference that can reasonably by deduced from the evidence.' Lucht v. American Propane Gas Co., 183 Neb. 583, 162 N.W.2d 891 (1968). See, also, Thompsen v. Miller, 177 Neb. 530, 129 N.W.2d 498. Moreover, under the Political Subdivisions Tort Claims Act, section 23--2406, R.R.S.1974, the 'findings of a District Court under the act will not be disturbed on appeal unless they are clearly wrong.' Craig v. Gage County, 190 Neb. 320, 208 N.W.2d 82.

An essential element in any negligence action is a duty recognized by law which the defendant owes to the plaintiff. It is a basic principle of law that a jailer has a duty to exercise that degree of care necessary to provide reasonably adequate protection for his prisoners. See, 60 Am.Jur.2d, Penal and Correctional Institutions, § 17, p. 821; Restatement, Torts 2d, § 320, p. 130. What is reasonable care of prisoners depends on the circumstances of each case. See O'Dell v. Goodsell, 152 Neb. 290, 41 N.W.2d 123.

In the case at hand, the plaintiff was intoxicated. He was arrested for his own protection and placed in the 'drunk tank.' By being placed in the 'drunk tank,' Daniels was deprived of one basic method of self-protection--that of escape. Thus, being intoxicated and having no means of escape, Daniels possessed little ability to protect himself. The police are not insurers of a prisoner's safety, but when a prisoner is intoxicated, a jailer has a duty to use a high degree of care to insure the prisoner's protection. The concept that a police officer owes a higher standard of care to an intoxicated prisoner has been recognized in other jurisdictions. In Barlow v. City of New Orleans, 228 So.2d 47 (La.App., 1969), affirmed 257 La. 91, 241 So.2d 501, the plaintiff, an intoxicated prisoner, was left unattended in the back seat of a police car which was locked in such a way that the prisoner could not escape. A fire broke out in the police car and the plaintiff was injured. The court said: 'From our jurisprudence has evolved a principle of law that imposes upon a police officer the duty to exercise reasonable and ordinary care and diligence to prevent injury to a prisoner in his custody; * * *. The jurisprudence also supports the principle that in the case of an intoxicated prisoner the police officer is impelled to use a higher degree of care for his safety and protection than is necessary or expected in the case of one who has control of his physical and mental faculties and able to protect himself.'

In this case not only was the plaintiff defenseless due to his condition, but as Lt. Hartquist, the detention commander, testified, fights between prisoners in the drunk tank were to be expected.

The crucial question to be decided is: Does the evidence support the finding that the defendant violated the high standard of care owed to the plaintiff? The District Court, on the facts, has already determined that the defendant breached its duty toward the plaintiff. That determination can be set aside only if the evidence shows it to be clearly wrong. We hold that there is sufficient evidence in the record upon which the trial court could have based its decision that the defendant was negligent.

First, the District Court might have based its decision upon the failure of the defendant to conduct a sufficient number of physical inspections of the drunk tank. The drunk tank was constructed with the idea of having it monitored with two television cameras and one audio monitor. Thus, the jailers could see into and hear from the drunk tank without leaving the jailer's office. However,...