Flint v. KY Dept. of Corrections

• Decision Date: 13 June 2001
• Docket Number: No. 00-5129,00-5129
• Citation: Flint v. KY Dept. of Corrections, 270 F.3d 340 (6th Cir. 2001)
• Parties: (6th Cir. 2001) Edward H. Flint, individually, as father, next of kin, administrator and personal representative of the estate of Robert Flint, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Kentucky Department of Corrections; Jack C. Lewis, Commissioner, Kentucky Department of Corrections; Dewey Sowders, Deputy Commissioner, Kentucky Department of Corrections; C. Tony Williams, Interim Warden; Michael Whisman; Tommy Eldridge; Richard Gray; Sue Montgomery, in her capacity as guardian for James H. Montgomery, Defendants-Appellants, James Edgar Underwood; Jim Montgomery, Print Shop Supervisor, Defendants. Argued:
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Sixth Circuit

Page 340

270 F.3d 340 (6th Cir. 2001)

Edward H. Flint, individually, as father, next of kin, administrator and personal representative of the estate of Robert Flint, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Kentucky Department of Corrections; Jack C. Lewis, Commissioner, Kentucky Department of Corrections; Dewey Sowders, Deputy Commissioner, Kentucky Department of Corrections; C. Tony Williams, Interim Warden; Michael Whisman; Tommy Eldridge; Richard Gray; Sue Montgomery, in her capacity as guardian for James H. Montgomery, Defendants-Appellants, James Edgar Underwood; Jim Montgomery, Print Shop Supervisor, Defendants.

No. 00-5129

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE SIXTH CIRCUIT

Argued: June 13, 2001

Decided and Filed: October 26, 2001

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Western District of Kentucky at Louisville. [Copyrighted Material Omitted]

[Copyrighted Material Omitted] Michael A. Valenti, Kevin P. Crooks, VALENTI, HANLEY & CROOKS, Louisville, Kentucky, Edward H. Flint, Louisville, KY, for Plaintiff-Appellee.

Edward F. Busch, Richard M. Sullivan, CONLIFFE, SANDMANN & SULLIVAN, Louisville, Kentucky, Keith D. Hardison, Office of General Counsel, Department of Corrections, Frankfort, KY, for Defendants-Appellants.

Before: RYAN and COLE, Circuit Judges; MARBLEY, District Judge.^*

OPINION

ALGENON L. MARBLEY, District Judge.

The Defendants, Jack C. Lewis, Dewey Sowders, C. Tony Williams, Michael Whisman, Tommy Eldridge, Richard Gray and James Montgomery appeal the District Court's denial of summary judgment on the issue of qualified immunity.¹ The Plaintiff, Edward H. Flint, the administrator and personal representative of the estate of Robert Flint, brought suit against the Defendants following his son's murder while Robert Flint was an inmate at Luther Luckett Correctional Complex ("LLCC"). In his amended complaint, brought pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983, the Plaintiff alleged a deprivation of his constitutional rights under the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment and the Cruel and Unusual Punishment Clause of the Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution.² The central issue before the Court is whether qualified immunity was properly denied by the District Court on the Plaintiff's Eighth Amendment cruel and unusual punishment claim.

For the following reasons, the District Court's opinion is AFFIRMED, and qualified immunity is DENIED to individually named Defendants Lewis, Sowders, Whisman, Eldridge, Gray, Williams and Montgomery.

I. BACKGROUND

A. Facts

The facts presented are in the light most favorable to the non-movant Plaintiff, and are taken from the evidence, including the depositions, that were filed with the District Court as of January 5, 2000, the date of the District Court's opinion and order denying summary judgment.³

The Plaintiff, Edward H. Flint, brought suit on behalf of the estate of his son, Robert Flint ("Flint"). Flint was killed by James Underwood on October 5, 1995, while both individuals were inmates at LLCC. The named Defendants are as follows: Jack Lewis, Commissioner of the Kentucky Department of Corrections; Dewey Sowders, Deputy Commissioner; Tony Williams, Interim Warden of LLCC Michael Whisman, temporary print shop Supervisor; Tommy Eldridge, temporary print shop Operations Manager; Richard Gray, Internal Affairs Officer, and James Montgomery, former print shop Operations Manager.

While at LLCC, Flint worked at the print shop. Inmates generally enjoyed working at the print shop because it was the highest-paying job available to them. Defendant Montgomery was the manager of the print shop. Montgomery, himself a former inmate, had what was characterized as a "close relationship" with several inmates, including Raymond Rust, Defendant Underwood and William Borsch.⁴ Montgomery would allow inmates Rust, Underwood and Borsch to make telephone calls from his office in violation of prison rules. In July of 1995, Flint reported to prison officials that, from the print shop, Rust had called Montgomery at home while Montgomery was on vacation.

Surmising that Flint reported Rust's phone calls, Montgomery terminated Flint's employment at the print shop on August 31, 1995, and in September of 1995, fabricated an incident report against Flint.⁵ Defendant Montgomery accused Flint of "ratting" on him and on Rust. Montgomery told Flint that he would "fix it so that Flint would never go home." Operations Lieutenant Fryberger, in his investigative report dated September 5, 1995, concluded that Montgomery filed the incident report against Flint in retaliation for his reporting the infractions of Montgomery and his inmate friends. Defendants Sowders and Gray were given copies of Fryberger's report, and Defendant Gray knew that Montgomery threatened Flint when Montgomery told Flint that he was "going to get his."

Defendant Sowders assigned Gary Beckstrom and Philip Webb, Investigators at the Department of Corrections Central Office, to look further into Montgomery's activities at the print shop. Montgomery was transferred from LLCC pending the investigation, and Defendant Eldridge became the new temporary print shop supervisor. During the investigation, Flint was interviewed and disclosed Montgomery's misconduct, including the illegal phone calls, illegal print jobs and the falsification of time sheets. Because of their unwillingness to cooperate with the investigation, Rust, Underwood and Borsch all lost their jobs at the print shop.

Also as a result of the investigation, Rust was placed in administrative segregation. In a letter Rust wrote to Underwood from segregation, postmarked September 21, 1995, Rust blamed Flint for his detention and stated that Flint was "at the top of my list of things to do." Prison officials obtained the letter and provided a copy to Defendant Gray, who turned the letter over to investigators Webb and Beckstrom.

A week later Rust wrote a second letter to Underwood, stamped received on September28, 1995, which also was intercepted by LLCC's Internal Affairs Office. In that letter, Rust wrote:

I blame Flint + Ernie for me being in here where I cant keep up with condition, and I want to kill them so bad, I dream about it. I know they aren't worth the time I would have to do for it, but one dark night we will meet again.

On September 20, 1995, Gray issued an order forbidding Borsch and Underwood from entering the print shop. The order was given "wide distribution" which included placing a copy of it in the print shop mailbox. In addition, Gray discussed the contents of the memorandum with Defendant Eldridge, telling him that Underwood and Borsch were not allowed in the print shop. Eldridge subsequently informed his staff, including Defendant Whisman, of the restriction. Eldridge knew that Underwood, Borsch and Rust all recently had lost their jobs at the print shop.

In late September, Flint called his father and told him that he was going to be killed. Edward Flint, in turn, contacted Defendants Sowders and Williams. Sowders and Williams both told Edward Flint that they were familiar with the situation and that an investigation was being conducted. That fall, following a call from Edward Flint, State Representative Tom Burch telephoned Defendant Lewis to inform him of the threat against Flint's life. Lewis initially told Burch that he would look into the matter and later informed him that the incident was under investigation.

In October of 1995, Defendant Eldridge was employed temporarily as the Operations Manager of the print shop because of the ongoing investigation. Defendant Gray called Eldridge when he first took the temporary position to tell him that Underwood would no longer be working in the print shop. On October 3, 1995, Underwood was informed that he would undergo "special reclassification." Long-time inmates understood that "special reclassification" meant being transferred to another prison.

On October 4, 1995, Underwood arrived at the print shop just before the doors were to be unlocked for lunch. Underwood asked Defendant Whisman about getting his job back at the print shop. At that time, Whisman understood that Underwood was not permitted to enter the print shop. Defendant Whisman also knew that inmates were not allowed in the print shop if they were not employed there. Despite this knowledge, Defendant Whisman told Underwood that it would be "okay" for him to remain in the foyer of the print shop.

At 11:00 a.m., Whisman unlocked the front door of the print shop to allow the meritorious inmates to go to lunch. Defendant Eldridge recently had left the shop to escort a repairman through the service gate. When Whisman opened the door, Underwood was "looking towards the front of the institution, looking in the direction of where Mr. Eldridge would be returning." Eldridge left the door unlocked, giving Underwood access to the print shop. Fifteen minutes later, Defendant Whisman went to the back door of the bindery, leaving the shop free from supervision. Underwood entered the print shop, walked into the tool room, grabbed a hammer and bludgeoned Flint to death.⁶

Before the murder, Mack Beasley, a civilian supervisor at LLCC, told Eldridge that Underwood had threatened Flint's life. Gray, the Internal Affairs Officer, eventually learned through his postmortem investigation that Eldridge and Whisman both had been informed that Underwood had lodged a death threat against Flint. After the murder, Gray also interviewed Beasley, who confirmed that Harper told him of Underwood's death threat. Warden Barry told Gray not to write a report of the incident because it was after the fact.

B. Procedural History

The Plaintiff originally filed his complaint on September 6, 1996, in the Western District of Kentucky. The District Court had jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1331. An amended complaint was filed on June 30, 1998. Following the Plaintiff's motion, a second amended complaint was filed on October 22, 1998. The...