Estate of Hocker by Hocker v. Walsh

• Decision Date: 20 April 1994
• Docket Number: No. 93-6066,93-6066
• Citation: 22 F.3d 995
• Parties: ESTATE OF Jacinda Sue Hocker, by Jerry HOCKER, Administrator, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. John J. WALSH, Jr., individually and in his official capacity as Sheriff of Cleveland County, Oklahoma, and the Board of County Commissioners of Cleveland County, Oklahoma, on behalf of Cleveland County, Oklahoma, Defendants-Appellees.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Tenth Circuit

Page 995

22 F.3d 995

ESTATE OF Jacinda Sue Hocker, by Jerry HOCKER Administrator, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. John J. WALSH, Jr., individually and in his official capacity as Sheriff of Cleveland County, Oklahoma, and the Board of County Commissioners of Cleveland County, Oklahoma on behalf of Cleveland County, Oklahoma, Defendants-Appellees.

No. 93-6066.

United States Court of Appeals Tenth Circuit.

April 20, 1994.

Mark Hammons, of Hammons & Associates, Oklahoma City, OK, for plaintiff-appellant.

William R. Holmes, Asst. Dist. Atty. for Cleveland County, Norman, OK, for defendants-appellees.

Before TACHA and BARRETT, Circuit Judges, and KANE, ^* District Judge.

TACHA, Circuit Judge.

Jacinda Sue Hocker committed suicide by hanging herself while being detained at the Cleveland County Detention Center in Norman, Oklahoma. Plaintiff-appellant Jerry Hocker, the father of decedent and the administrator of her estate, filed suit under 42 U.S.C. Sec. 1983 against the Board of County Commissioners of Cleveland County ("Cleveland County") and John J. Walsh, Jr. individually and in his official capacity as sheriff of Cleveland County ("Sheriff Walsh"). Plaintiff alleged that Sheriff Walsh and Cleveland County (collectively the "defendants") were deliberately indifferent to the serious medical needs of his daughter due to unconstitutional policies and customs established by Sheriff Walsh as supervisor of the jail. Plaintiff also asserted a claim for state law negligence. The federal magistrate judge ¹ granted defendants' motion for summary judgment on plaintiff's federal claims and dismissed without prejudice the state law negligence claim. Plaintiff now appeals. We exercise jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. Sec. 1291 and affirm.

I. Background

On the morning of May 11, 1989, police officers James Maisano and Darla McClure were dispatched to the Holiday Inn in Norman, Oklahoma. Upon arriving at the motel, the officers were directed to the swimming pool area where they found Ms. Hocker asleep on a small sofa. On a nearby table the officers observed a syringe and a purse containing pink capsules and a small plastic bag with a white powdery substance inside. Officer McClure gently nudged Ms. Hocker on the shoulder, at which time she awoke, stood up and conversed with the officers. She was slightly unsteady in her balance and gave incomplete responses to the officers' questions. At some point during the investigation, the officers also discovered Tommy Tompkins, Ms. Hocker's boyfriend, inside the motel. Based upon their observations, the officers arrested both Ms. Hocker and Mr. Tompkins for trespass, public intoxication and possession of controlled dangerous substances.

Officer Maisano proceeded to transport Ms. Hocker and Mr. Tompkins to the Cleveland County Detention Center ("Detention Center" or "Center"). Ms. Hocker walked to Officer Maisano's patrol car without any assistance, she carried on a conversation with Mr. Tompkins in the back seat of the car on the way to the Detention Center, and she walked under her own power to the book-in window at the Center. The book-in sheet describes Ms. Hocker as being "semi" coherent with "poor" ease of movement and notes that she was not violent or self-destructive, was not on medication and had no bruises, lesions or other symptoms.

The Detention Center has a policy of placing intoxicated individuals in the receiving section ² of the Center so that they can be closely monitored until they are sufficiently sober to enter the Center's general population or are bailed out of the Center. The Center also has a policy of refusing to accept individuals who appear to be in need of medical treatment. Ms. Hocker was placed in the receiving section of the Detention Center at approximately 8:35 a.m. on May 11, 1989, because her state of intoxication was not deemed so severe as to require medical treatment.

A jail log entry made at 12:00 p.m. on May 11, 1989, notes that "Hocker and Tompkins would not wake up." An entry made at 1:10 p.m. reads: "Hocker and Tompkins appear asleep[,] still to [sic] intox. to process[,] poss. drug abuse on both; very incoherent." A 2:40 p.m. entry states: "I tried to wake up Hocker ... still very incoherent; would not wake up." Entries made at 4:20 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. both state that Mr. Tompkins and Ms. Hocker "still intoxicated." The following day, May 12, 1989, a log entry made at 5:49 a.m. states: "Tried to process Hocker, Jacinda, through the evening but subject was too intoxicated. Finally was able to process Hocker at 0549. She still was somewhat intoxicated but was able to complete processing."

On the afternoon of May 12, 1989, Ms. Hocker was released for nearly two hours to make initial appearances on criminal charges before a judge of the District Court of Cleveland County and before a judge of the Municipal Court of Norman, Oklahoma. At 10:00 p.m. that evening, Ms. Hocker was moved upstairs to a general population cell.

On the morning of May 13, 1989, an inmate at the Detention Center received a note from Ms. Hocker addressed to Mr. Tompkins. ³ That afternoon at approximately 5:00 p.m., an attorney, Joel Wade Barr, talked with Ms. Hocker in the visitation area of the Center at the request of Mr. Tompkins. At 6:30 p.m., Deputy Cathy D. Suttle was serving the evening meal when she discovered Ms. Hocker in her cell hanging from the upper bunk with a towel around her neck. Deputy Suttle cut through the towel with a pocket knife and laid the body down. By this time, Deputy Suttle's supervisor, Sergeant Jo Brinda Noble, had arrived at Ms. Hocker's cell. Sergeant Noble searched for vital signs. None were found. Ms. Hocker had no pulse, her skin was cool, and lividity was present in her lower extremities.

Plaintiff filed suit against Cleveland County and Sheriff Walsh individually and in his official capacity alleging that they were deliberately indifferent to the serious medical needs of Ms. Hocker. Plaintiff contended that Sheriff Walsh had established an unconstitutional policy and custom of admitting unconscious, intoxicated arrestees to the Center. The magistrate judge granted the defendants' motion for summary judgment, finding as a matter of law that the defendants were not deliberately indifferent to Ms. Hocker's serious medical needs because Ms. Hocker did not exhibit a serious medical need and because the Detention Center staff did not know and had no reason to know of the specific risk that Ms. Hocker would commit suicide. Plaintiff now appeals. ⁴

II. Discussion

A. Standard of Review

We review the grant of summary judgment de novo, using the same standard applied by the district court. Applied Genetics Int'l, Inc. v. First Affiliated Sec., Inc., 912 F.2d 1238, 1241 (10th Cir.1990). Summary judgment is appropriate "if the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law." Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c). "When applying this standard, we examine the factual record and reasonable inferences therefrom in the light most favorable to the party opposing summary judgment." Applied Genetics, 912 F.2d at 1241. "However, the nonmoving party may not rest on its pleadings but must set forth specific facts showing that there is a genuine issue for trial as to those dispositive matters for which it carries the burden of proof." Id. (citing Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 324, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 2553, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986)). An issue of material fact is "genuine" if a "reasonable jury could return a verdict for the nonmoving party." Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 248, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 2510, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986). "The mere existence of a scintilla of evidence in support of the plaintiff's position will be insufficient" to defeat a properly supported motion for summary judgment. Id. at 252, 106 S.Ct. at 2512.

B. Deliberate Indifference to Serious Medical Needs

Under the Fourteenth Amendment's Due Process Clause, pretrial detainees are entitled to the same degree of protection against denial of medical care as that afforded to convicted inmates under the Eighth Amendment. Frohmader v. Wayne, 958 F.2d 1024, 1028 (10th Cir.1992). Thus, plaintiff's claim for inadequate medical attention must be judged against the "deliberate indifference to serious medical needs" test of Estelle v. Gamble, 429 U.S. 97, 104, 97 S.Ct. 285, 291, 50 L.Ed.2d 251 (1976). Martin v. Board of County Comm'rs, 909 F.2d 402, 406 (10th Cir.1990). Relying on Garcia v. Salt Lake County, 768 F.2d 303 (10th Cir.1985), plaintiff contends that Sheriff Walsh and Cleveland County were deliberately indifferent to the serious medical needs of Ms. Hocker.

In Garcia, the Salt Lake County Jail had an unwritten policy of admitting unconscious individuals who were suspected of being intoxicated. Mr. Garcia, who was suspected of being intoxicated, was apparently admitted to the jail in an unconscious state at approximately 3:45 p.m., was observed to still be unconscious at 8:30 p.m. and was found dead at about 10:15 p.m. A medical doctor testified that Mr. Garcia would have survived if he had been transported to the hospital when observed at 8:30 p.m. and found to be unconscious. Finding gross deficiencies in the jail's staffing and procedures, we held that Salt Lake County was deliberately indifferent to the serious medical needs of Mr. Garcia: "The record supports the conclusion that the County's policy of admitting to jail unconscious persons suspected of being intoxicated, carried out with the described deficiencies and indifference, caused a violation of Garcia's constitutional rights." Id. at 308 (footnote omitted).

Citing Garcia, plaintiff argues that Sheriff Walsh had established a policy of admitting intoxicated, unconscious individuals to the Detention Center and that therefore Sheriff...