Estate of Fahner v. Coty. of Wayne
| Decision Date | 22 June 2011 |
| Docket Number | Case No. 2:08–cv–14344. |
| Parties | ESTATE OF John C. FAHNER, by Shirley FAHNER, duly appointed personal representative, of the Estate Fahner, Plaintiff, v. COUNTY OF WAYNE, a corporate subunit of Government, Sheriff Warren Evans, in his individual and official capacity, Undersheriff, Harold Cureton, in his individual and official capacity, Chief Director of Jails, Jeriel Heard, in his individual and official capacity, Jail Commander Malcolm D. Thompson, in his individual and official capacity, Sgt. Michael Long, 1661, in his individual and official capacity, Ofc. Mears, 2685, in his individual and official capacity, Cpl. C. Hall, 1437, in his individual and official capacity, Ofc. Brian Glatfelter, 3525, in his individual and official capacity, Sean Pollard a/k/a Shawn Johnson, Det. Clara Carter–Steele, in her individual and official capacity, Nurse Bernadine Tuitt, in her individual and official capacity, Lt. Kevin Semak, in his individual and official capacity, Jointly and Severally, Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Eastern District of Michigan |
OPINION TEXT STARTS HERE
David A. Robinson, Robinson Miller, P.C., Southfield, MI, for Plaintiff.
Karie H. Boylan, Wayne County Corporation Counsel, Detroit, MI, for Defendants.
This matter comes before the Court on Defendants County of Wayne (“Wayne County” or the “County”), Sheriff Warren Evans, Undersheriff Harold Cureton, Chief Director of Jails Jeriel Heard, Jail Commander Malcolm Thompson, Sergeant Michael Long, Officer Matthew Mears, Corporal C. Hall, and Officer Brian Glatfelter's (collectively “Defendants”) motion for summary judgment. (Dkt. No. 154.) There are two additional co-Defendants in this case, Nurse Bernadine Tuitt and Sean Pollard, a/k/a Shawn Johnson. Pollard is currently incarcerated for the murder of Plaintiff's decedent John Fahner, the incident which gave rise to this litigation. Nurse Tuitt was an employee of the Wayne County Jail at the time of the incident; she has failed to respond to Plaintiff's allegations, and the Court entered a default judgment against her on December 23, 2010. (Dkt. No. 170.) Thus, she is liable to Plaintiff on the claims asserted against her. Plaintiff has filed a response to the instant motion. (Dkt. No. 167.) Defendants have not filed a reply. For the following reasons, the Court GRANTS the remaining Defendants' motion.
Plaintiff brings the following claims against the Defendants:
Count 1: Violation of 42 U.S.C. § 1983 against all Defendants.
Count 2: Supervisory Liability under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 against Defendants Heard, Thompson, Semak, Carter–Steele, and Long.
Count 3: Gross Negligence (Michigan law) against all Defendants.
Count 4: Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress (Michigan law) against all Defendants.
These claims stem from the murder of prisoner John Fahner (“Fahner”) in the Wayne County Jail (“WCJ”) on June 27, 2006. Plaintiff, Shirley Fahner (“Plaintiff”), brought this action on behalf of Fahner as his personal representative.
On June 27, Fahner, who was arrested on a bench warrant, was in the WCJ awaiting a court appearance for failing to appear in court on a criminal charge alleging that he wrote a bad check.1 Pursuant to WCJ policy, Fahner was placed in a holding cell on the first floor Registry area for what is known as “Court Pull” in the early morning of his scheduled court appearance. During Court Pull, inmates are placed in cells based on the judge they are scheduled to appear before that day.
Sean Pollard (“Pollard”), a/k/a Shawn Johnson, was also then incarcerated at the WCJ and was scheduled to appear before the same judge as Fahner on June 27, and was placed in the same cell in Registry as Fahner.
Approximately fifteen minutes after Pollard was placed in the cell, he savagely assaulted Fahner in an unprovoked attack. Pollard punched, kicked, and stomped on Fahner, who would later die from the injuries he sustained. Pollard is 5'10? tall and weighed 230 pounds; Fahner was 5'6? tall and weighed only 145 pounds. Pollard is a paranoid schizophrenic, for which he had been previously prescribed Depakote, Zyprexa, and Klonopin. Pollard alleges that at the time of the incident he had not taken his medication for nearly two months.
This dispute centers around how Pollard was processed when he arrived at the WCJ on June 26, what Pollard told WCJ employees about his mental health problems, and the WCJ's policies and procedures regarding inmates scheduled for a court appearance.
Pollard was transported to WCJ around 4:30 p.m., on June 26, 2006, and was processed by Deputy Mears at around 4:44 pm. Pollard's Mittimus (a writ ordered by the court directing the sheriff to convey the person identified to jail) identified him as Shawn Johnson, but also had the name Sean Pollard handwritten underneath the printed name Shawn Johnson. (Pl.'s Amended Br. in Resp. to Defs.' Mot. Ex. 1.) Despite the fact that both names, Johnson and Pollard, appeared on the Mittimus, Mears testified that he could not recall whether he put both names Shawn Johnson and Sean Pollard into the Inmate Management System (“IMS”) on his computer when he booked Pollard, although he admitted that he would usually put in both names if two were listed.2 (Pl.'s Br. Ex. 9, Deposition of Matthew C. Mears 25:1–13, 38:8–13, Oct. 29, 2009.)
Whether Defendants knew that “Shawn Johnson” was really Pollard, and reviewed Pollard's criminal history is important because Pollard had an extensive history of incarceration in the WCJ system between 2002 and 2005. (Defs.' Br. 12–13.) A review of Pollard's history on June 27 (after Fahner was murdered) revealed that the WCJ had documented prior to the incident, that he was a paranoid schizophrenic, and listed medications he was prescribed for that condition. Pollard's WCJ history also indicated that he had several past instances of assaultive conduct, towards both other inmates and WCJ staff.
Pollard testified that the officer who processed him called him out from his cell by the name Sean Pollard. (Pl.'s Br. Ex. 4, Deposition of Sean Pollard 12:21–13:11, July 23, 2009.) Pollard described this deputy as a midsized black man, weighing about 250 pounds, with a small afro. ( Id. at 14:3–8.) Mears, who processed Pollard, testified that he is white, 6'2? tall, and weighs about 280 pounds, but that in June of 2006 he said he believed he was about 40 pounds heavier. (Mears Dep. 14:25–15:4.)
Elizabeth Canfield, an analyst for the State of Michigan LEIN Field Service Section, Criminal Records Division, indicated that no LEIN checks or searches were performed for either Shawn Johnson or Sean Pollard on June 26, 2006. (Pl.'s Br. Exs. 16 & 17.) Defendants claim that the LEIN system was down, not operating at that point. (Defs.' Br. 11.) The only evidence Defendants have produced to that effect is a “trouble ticket” from a Lt. Rosebomb of the Riverview police department which said 3 (Pl.'s Br. Ex. 11.) Accordingly, WCJ did not determine a LEIN match, and Mears gave Pollard a new Wayne County CIN under the name Shawn Johnson. 4
During his deposition, Pollard testified that he told two WCJ staff members that he had been diagnosed with mental health issues, that he had not taken his prescribed medications for an extended period of time, and that he had acted violently in the past when off his medications. Wayne County Sheriff's Lt. Kevin Semak testified that if Pollard had mentioned to any staff member that he had a history of mental health issues or that he felt he needed his medication, that staff member should have flagged his name and referred him to a mental health professional. (Pl.'s Br. Ex. 33, Deposition of Kevin Semak 45:6–11, Oct. 19, 2009.)
After being processed by Deputy Mears at Registry, Pollard was taken to the second floor for medical questioning and to receive a TB test. Pollard remembered talking about his medications and mental illness with “a black, slim man.” He said he thought the man weighed no more than 150 pounds and had a brown-skinned complexion. (Pollard Dep. 15:2–13.) However, when asked about his interactions with the officer who processed him, Pollard stated that he did not discuss his criminal history or mental health problems “until afterwards when they took the TB shots and called us to see if we took medications.” ( Id. at 14:17–21.) As stated above, Mears is white, 6'2? tall, and weighed over 280 pounds. (Mears Dep. 14:25–15:4.)
Pollard testified that he also told someone on the medical staff about his mental health issues when his TB test was administered on June 26, 2006. (Pollard Dep. 18:8–20:23.) Defendant Bernadine Tuitt was the nurse who administered Pollard's TB test. (Pl.'s Br. Ex. 5.) When Pollard was given the WCJ's standard health access/authorization for medical treatment form on the second floor, he signed his name Sean Pollard, and Tuitt wrote “aka Shawn Johnson” above it. ( Id.) The second paragraph of the medical treatment form stated: “[u]pon arrival you will be asked questions about your immediate health needs.” ( Id.) Pollard testified that when he was asked about his mental health he told Tuitt “that I needed my medication for my mental illness and that I had a criminal history that related to not having my medication when I needed it.” (Pollard Dep. 20:16–23.) Significantly, Nurse Tuitt had monitored and treated Pollard's mental health problems on previous occasions in 2003–04 when he had been incarcerated at the WCJ. (Pl.'s Br. Exs. 27–30.)
In his deposition, Pollard explained that when he does not receive his medicine...
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