Elliott v. Cheshire County, N.H.

• Decision Date: 10 May 1991
• Docket Number: No. 91-1038,91-1038
• Citation: 940 F.2d 7
• Parties: Guy C. ELLIOTT, Sr., as Voluntary Administrator of the Estate of Guy C. Elliott, Jr., Plaintiff, Appellant, v. CHESHIRE COUNTY, NEW HAMPSHIRE; Patrick McManus, Cheshire County House of Corrections, Superintendent, Individually and in his Official Capacity; Carl Baird, Cheshire County House of Corrections, Corrections Supervisor, Individually and in his Official Capacity; Angie Malloy, Cheshire County House of Corrections, Corrections Officer, Individually and in her Official Capacity; Robert Norton, Cheshire County House of Corrections, Corrections Officer, Individually and in his Official Capacity; Arthur Whipple, Cheshire County House of Corrections, Corrections Officer, Individually and in his Official Capacity; Richard Clapp, Cheshire County House of Corrections, Corrections Officer, Individually and in his Official Capacity; John Thornton, Cheshire County House of Corrections, Corrections Officer, Individually and in his Official Capacity; and M.P. Ranhoff, New Hampshire State Police, Trooper, Individually and in his Official Capacity, Defendants, Appellees. . Heard
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — First Circuit

Page 7

940 F.2d 7

Guy C. ELLIOTT, Sr., as Voluntary Administrator of the Estate of Guy C. Elliott, Jr., Plaintiff, Appellant, v. CHESHIRE COUNTY, NEW HAMPSHIRE; Patrick McManus, Cheshire County House of Corrections, Superintendent, Individually and in his Official Capacity; Carl Baird, Cheshire County House of Corrections, Corrections Supervisor, Individually and in his Official Capacity; Angie Malloy, Cheshire County House of Corrections, Corrections Officer, Individually and in her Official Capacity; Robert Norton, Cheshire County House of Corrections, Corrections Officer, Individually and in his Official Capacity; Arthur Whipple, Cheshire County House of Corrections, Corrections Officer, Individually and in his Official Capacity; Richard Clapp, Cheshire County House of Corrections, Corrections Officer, Individually and in his Official Capacity; John Thornton, Cheshire County House of Corrections, Corrections Officer, Individually and in his Official Capacity; and M.P. Ranhoff, New Hampshire State Police, Trooper, Individually and in his Official Capacity, Defendants, Appellees.

No. 91-1038.

United States Court of Appeals, First Circuit.

Heard May 10, 1991.

Decided July 25, 1991.

James Romeyn Davis with whom Katharine Lord Klein and Bragdon and Berkson, P.C., were on brief, Keene, N.H., for plaintiff, appellant.

Emily Gray Rice, Sr. Asst. Atty. Gen., with whom John P. Arnold, Atty. Gen. of New Hampshire, and Charles T. Putnam, Asst. Atty. Gen., were on brief, Concord, N.H., for defendant, appellee M.P. Ranhoff, and Thomas F. Kehr with whom Craig L. Staples, were on brief, Concord, N.H., for defendants, appellees Cheshire County, Patrick McManus, Carl Baird, Angie Malloy, Robert Norton, Arthur Whipple, Richard Clapp and John Thornton.

Before BREYER, Chief Judge, ALDRICH, Senior Circuit Judge, and TORRUELLA, Circuit Judge.

TORRUELLA, Circuit Judge.

Guy Elliott, Jr., ("Guy") committed suicide while a pretrial detainee at the Cheshire County, New Hampshire, House of Corrections. His father, Guy Elliott, Sr., ("Elliott" or "plaintiff") brought this 42 U.S.C. Sec. 1983 action against the county, several individually named corrections officials and officers, and the arresting officer. ¹ Elliott now appeals from summary judgment in favor of all defendants.

Review of summary judgment requires us to determine de novo whether there is any genuine issue as to a material fact and whether the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c); Petitti v. New England Tel. & Tel Co., 909 F.2d 28, 30 (1st Cir.1990). In this case, we consider the evidence in the light most advantageous to Elliott and draw all reasonable inferences in his favor. Id. at 31. "We will reverse a grant of summary judgment if there are any factual issues that need to be resolved before the legal issues can be addressed." Id.

I. EVIDENCE

On February 22, 1988, Guy assaulted his mother during an argument. He then threatened his father with a corn sickle and a chain saw. This episode of family violence was not the first for Guy, who had just turned 18. The juvenile justice system had previously detained Guy on a charge of assaulting his father. Moreover, Guy had a history of mental health problems. He was a diagnosed schizophrenic and was seeing a psychologist, Dr. Burt Hollenbeck. Against this background, Guy's family called the police. Defendant State Trooper Michael Ranhoff responded to the call. By the time he arrived at the Elliotts' home, Guy had disappeared. Trooper Ranhoff spoke with Guy's mother, who told him about the incident and about Guy's troubles, including his schizophrenia. She did not, however, mention that Guy had twice threatened suicide. After an unsuccessful search for Guy, Trooper Ranhoff departed. When notified by the Elliotts of Guy's return a few hours later, Trooper Ranhoff went back and arrested Guy, who had by this time calmed down, on a charge of assault.

Trooper Ranhoff took Guy to the Cheshire County House of Corrections for booking. They arrived at about 5:30 p.m. On intake duty was Angie Malloy, a corrections officer and a defendant in this case. Trooper Ranhoff did not inform Officer Malloy of Guy's mental illness. The intake form did not include questions on that topic and there was no procedure for the intake officer to seek, or the arresting officer to provide, such information.

Guy spent the first night in an observation cell. He seemed untroubled and his behavior that night did not arouse concern among the corrections staff. He was arraigned the next day. His family decided not to post bail, and as a consequence Guy remained in jail pending his hearing, which was scheduled for March 1. At some point during the week, Dr. Hollenbeck called the jail and spoke to a corrections officer about Guy. Early on the morning of February 29, 1988, Guy was found dead, hanging by a bedsheet from an overhead fire sprinkler.

Elliott alleges that Guy's actions during his week in detainment should have alerted the defendants to Guy's suicidal tendencies. Sworn affidavits by two of Guy's fellow detainees, Glen Hall and Timothy Deem, attest to the following events. Guy was extremely upset at not being allowed to call his parents on the telephone. He told Hall that he wanted to drown himself in the toilet. He asked Deem, who occupied the neighboring cell, what would happen if he ate soap or swallowed paper towels. He expressed concern that the drinking water was contaminated. He banged his head against the bars of his cell and tried to jam his head underneath a shelf, explaining to Deem that he was trying to snap his neck. Most notably, Guy told Deem that he wanted to end his life.

According to Hall and Deem, they reported each of these events--including Guy's explicit statement that he wanted to end his life--to Corrections Officer Angie Malloy and other officers, on at least two occasions. Hall and Deem also swear that on the night before Guy's death they suggested that Guy be placed in an observation cell, but that Officer Malloy told them there was no room.

Officer Malloy's affidavit and deposition are consistent with some of the allegations of Deem and Hall, but Malloy's version differs in some crucial aspects. Significantly, Malloy does not refer to being told by Deem and Hall that Guy had threatened to take his life. Nor does she mention that the two detainees suggested that Guy be placed in an observation cell. Finally, Malloy does not report that she knew of Guy's query about eating soap, whereas Deem's affidavit states that she not only knew but talked to Guy about it.

Malloy's statements do confirm that she knew of Guy's head-banging and his concern about the safety of the water. When informed by Deem and Hall of the head-banging, Malloy went directly to Guy and asked him what he was doing. He told her that he was "just kidding around." Malloy states that she accepted Guy's explanations because she knew that Deem and Hall were practical jokers and not to be taken seriously. Similarly Malloy attributed Guy's fear about the water to "riding" (story-telling, practical joking) by Deem and Hall. Nevertheless, she did inform her shift replacement, defendant Corrections Officer Arthur Whipple, about the incidents. The two officers checked Guy together at 11:00 on the night before he died; nothing appeared out of the ordinary. Subsequent routine checks throughout the night indicated that all was quiet and secure, until Guy's body was found at about 4:40 a.m.

II. DISCUSSION

A. The Individual Defendants

The district court determined that the named defendants were entitled to qualified immunity, and granted summary judgment on that ground. 750 F.Supp. 1146. Qualified immunity protects public officials "from liability for civil damages insofar as their conduct does not violate clearly established statutory or constitutional rights of which a reasonable person would have known." Harlow v. Fitzgerald, 457 U.S. 800, 818, 102 S.Ct. 2727, 2738, 73 L.Ed.2d 396 (1982); see also Anderson v. Creighton, 483 U.S. 635, 640, 107 S.Ct. 3034, 3039, 97 L.Ed.2d 523 (1987); Burns v. Loranger, 907 F.2d 233, 235 (1st Cir.1990). "The relevant, fact specific question in qualified immunity cases is whether any official could have, in light of the preexisting law, reasonably believed that his action was lawful." Danese v. Asman, 875 F.2d 1239, 1242 (6th Cir.1989), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 110 S.Ct. 1473, 108 L.Ed.2d 610 (1990); see also Edwards v. Gilbert, 867 F.2d 1271, 1273 (11th Cir.1989); Cortes-Quinones v. Jimenez-Nettleship, 842 F.2d 556, 561 (1st Cir.), cert. denied, 488 U.S. 823, 109 S.Ct. 68, 102 L.Ed.2d 45 (1988).

It is clearly established (and was at the time of Guy's death) that "jail officials violate the due process rights of their detainees if they exhibit a deliberate indifference to the medical needs of the detainees that is tantamount to an intent to punish." Danese, 875 F.2d at 1243; see also City of Revere v. Massachusetts General Hospital, 463 U.S. 239, 244, 103 S.Ct. 2979, 2983, 77 L.Ed.2d 605 (1983) (applying deliberate indifference standard to pretrial detainees); Bell v. Wolfish, 441 U.S. 520, 545, 99 S.Ct. 1861, 1877, 60 L.Ed.2d 447 (1979) (holding that pretrial detainees are entitled to at least as much protection as convicted prisoners); Estelle v. Gamble, 429 U.S. 97, 104, 97 S.Ct. 285, 291, 50 L.Ed.2d 251 (1976) (articulating the deliberate indifference standard).

Deliberate indifference is more than negligence. Torraco v. Maloney, 923 F.2d 231, 236 (1st Cir.1991). ² In a suicide case, "[a] finding of deliberate indifference requires a strong likelihood, rather than a mere possibility, that self-infliction of harm will occur." Id. at 236. The conduct must encompass "acts or omissions so dangerous (in respect to health and safety) that a defendant's knowledge of a large risk can be inferred." Cortes-Quinones, 842 F.2d at 558 (quotation omitted). "When a supervisory official is...