Grayson v. Ross

• Decision Date: 19 July 2006
• Docket Number: No. 04-3577.,04-3577.
• Citation: 454 F.3d 802
• Parties: Jerala GRAYSON, as personal representative for the Estate of Daniel Neal Grayson, Plaintiff/Appellant, v. Bob ROSS, individually and in his official capacity as a Crawford County Sheriff, Defendant/Appellee, John McAllister, individually and in his official capacity as a Crawford County Deputy; Chris Porter, individually and in his official capacity as a Crawford County Deputy, Defendants/Appellees, Roy Bass, individually and in his official capacity as a Crawford County Deputy, Defendant, Michael Sharum, individually, Defendant/Appellee.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Eighth Circuit

454 F.3d 802

Jerala GRAYSON, as personal representative for the Estate of Daniel Neal Grayson, Plaintiff/Appellant, v. Bob ROSS, individually and in his official capacity as a Crawford County Sheriff, Defendant/Appellee, John McAllister, individually and in his official capacity as a Crawford County Deputy; Chris Porter, individually and in his official capacity as a Crawford County Deputy, Defendants/Appellees, Roy Bass, individually and in his official capacity as a Crawford County Deputy, Defendant, Michael Sharum, individually, Defendant/Appellee.

No. 04-3577.

United States Court of Appeals, Eighth Circuit.

Submitted: November 18, 2005.

Filed: July 19, 2006.

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Luther Oneal Sutter, argued, Little Rock, AR, for appellant.

Ralph Charles Ohm, argued, Hot Springs, AR, for appellees, McAllister and Porter.

Nga Ostoja-Starzewski, argued, North Little Rock, AR, for appellee Sharum.

Before ARNOLD, BEAM, and RILEY, Circuit Judges.

BEAM, Circuit Judge.

Daniel Neal Grayson (Grayson) died October 15, 2000, following self-mutilation while incarcerated in the Crawford County Detention Center (jail). Jerala Grayson (Appellant), as the personal representative of Grayson's estate, sued the Crawford County Sheriff and three of the jailers in their individual and official capacities. An amended complaint altered the list of defendants, adding arresting officer Michael Sharum, in his individual capacity, and dismissing jailer Roy Bass.

The suit alleged violations of Grayson's right to medical treatment and to due process, as secured by the Fourth, Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution, redressable under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, as well as violations of rights secured by the Constitution of the State of Arkansas, redressable under the Arkansas Civil Rights Act of 1993. The district court granted summary judgment in favor of the Crawford County Sheriff, finding that the individual capacity claim failed because it was undisputed that the Sheriff was not aware that Grayson was incarcerated until Grayson had already seriously injured himself. Appellant does not appeal this finding.

The district court also granted summary judgment in favor of the Sheriff and the remaining jailers in their official capacities, finding that Appellant's claim for failure to train or for unlawful policy or custom violations failed. The district court ruled that Officer Sharum was entitled to qualified immunity, and granted summary judgment in his favor. Finally, the district court granted qualified immunity to the two remaining jailers, Chris Porter and John McAllister, for the decision to accept Grayson into the jail (intake), but not for their subsequent actions or the timeliness of summoning medical attention (post-intake monitoring). The case proceeded to a jury trial, resulting in a verdict in favor of Porter and McAllister.

Appellant appeals the grant of qualified immunity to Sharum, the partial grant of qualified immunity to Porter and McAllister, and the grant of summary judgment on the official capacity claims as to the Sheriff, Porter, and McAllister. In addition, Appellant contends that the jury was improperly instructed on the standard of care under the Arkansas Civil Rights Act of 1993. Finally, Appellant questions the district court's exclusion of evidence regarding the Arkansas State Jail Standards. We affirm in part.

I. BACKGROUND

At oral argument, Appellant conceded that there was no Fourth Amendment claim; thus, the facts regarding the arrest are merely provided as background. Because the district court granted qualified immunity on the intake procedure, we view those facts in the light most favorable to Appellant, the non-moving party. Robinson v. White County, Ark., 452 F.3d 706, 711-12 (8th Cir.2006). The claims for post-intake monitoring proceeded to trial, and we recount the facts in the light most favorable to the jury verdict. Smith v. Ferrel, 852 F.2d 1074, 1076 (8th Cir.1988).

A. The Arrest

On October 15, 2000, a little after 2:00 p.m., Van Buren, Arkansas, Police Officer Michael Sharum responded to an accident report involving a vehicle in a creek. He found Grayson standing next to the creek, soaking wet, and reporting that his vehicle was going to "blow up." Sharum tried to arrest Grayson for driving while intoxicated, and Grayson became combative. Sharum, struggling to gain control of Grayson, struck Grayson on the head with his duty weapon, and then Grayson cooperated with the arrest. Sharum placed Grayson in the back of his unit and transported him to the jail.

B. The Intake

Following the arrest, Sharum drove his vehicle into the sallyport at the jail. He walked with Grayson into the jail and had Grayson sit on a bench in handcuffs. Sharum told the jailers that he was "pretty sure" Grayson was under the influence of some narcotic. Sharum also told the jailers that he would have to come back later to perform a blood draw for a toxicology screening and asked that Grayson be changed into dry clothing. While he was filling out a probable cause sheet, Sharum observed Grayson calmly sitting on the bench, coherently answering questions from the jailers about his name, address, date of birth, and social security number. Sharum also spoke to Grayson's mother, who explained that Grayson had a history of methamphetamine use. Sharum left the jail. At the time of their interactions, Sharum was not sure if Grayson was actually experiencing any hallucinations, such as Grayson's reported belief that his vehicle would "blow up." When Grayson arrived at the jail, he appeared normal, was responsive and attentive, and did not display any signs that he was having hallucinations.

Grayson was brought to the jail at approximately 2:30 p.m., shortly before the first shift ended at 3:00 p.m. Corporal Bobby Josenberger was supervising jailers Roy Bass and Gena Bowles. When Gena Bowles first observed Grayson, he was sitting quietly on a bench in handcuffs. She had a difficult time getting his attention. She asked him if he had been doing drugs, and he replied that he had lost something. Bowles initially refused to accept Grayson, and Sharum complained to her that taking Grayson to the hospital would take a lot of time. Bowles told Josenberger that she thought Grayson should not be booked into the jail, but should be taken to the hospital. Bowles called Grayson's mother, and put his mother on the phone with Josenberger.

After talking to Grayson's mother, Josenberger conferred with Sharum and Corporal John McAllister. Because McAllister would be supervising the next shift starting at 3:00 p.m., McAllister visually evaluated Grayson to determine whether to accept him at the jail. He asked Grayson if he had been doing drugs, and Grayson told McAllister that he had lost his straw. McAllister decided to book him into the jail, stating that the jail had booked detainees in worse condition. Bowles told McAllister that she thought that Grayson would become more intoxicated, but he assured her that Grayson would be all right. McAllister was not informed that Grayson had been struck in the head or that Grayson had claimed his vehicle was going to explode.

Bass, McAllister, and a third jailer accompanied Grayson to the dressing room inside the jail. Grayson complied with their instructions and changed into a dry prison uniform by himself. At approximately 2:55 p.m., Bass, jailer Chris Porter, and McAllister escorted Grayson to Cell 7, which was used as an observation cell for prisoners who were intoxicated, to make sure that a jailer could readily observe him.

C. The Post-Intake Monitoring

Jailers Chris Porter and Lacy Ree worked the afternoon shift that day, from 3:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m., with McAllister supervising. When Grayson entered Cell 7, Porter did not notice anything that caused him concern.

Sharum returned to the jail at 4:30 p.m. to take Grayson's blood. Again, at that time, Sharum observed that Grayson was not acting abnormally and Sharum did not observe evidence that Grayson was hallucinating. Sharum read Grayson his rights on implied consent for drug testing, and Grayson stated that he did not understand, would not submit to testing, and did not want to sign anything. McAllister accompanied Sharum to witness the reading of the implied consent form and noticed that Grayson was acting like he did not want to be disturbed, a not-uncommon reaction to the implied consent form, but nothing about the event signaled that Grayson needed to go to the hospital.

Porter was stationed at a desk located in a hallway common to all cells, approximately fifteen to twenty feet from Cell 7. Porter checked on all men in the jail at 3:05 p.m. and at 4:00 p.m. and noticed nothing unusual about Grayson. Until 5:00 p.m., Grayson was quiet and behaved normally.

However, at 5:00 p.m., Grayson's behavior changed. He began to scream, a behavior Porter characterized as not unusual for intoxicated inmates. Porter notified McAllister, who responded to Cell 7. McAllister saw Grayson sitting on the floor with his shirt off, screaming and rubbing his eyes with the palms of his hands. McAllister called Grayson by his first name. Grayson stopped and agreed to relax and calm down. McAllister left Cell 7 and instructed Porter to put Grayson on a fifteen-minute watch. McAllister went to the front of the jail and telephoned the jail administrator to let him know that there was an inmate screaming and rubbing his eyes. The administrator told McAllister to keep an eye on the inmate, which McAllister considered already accomplished by the fifteen-minute watch.

At 5:15 p.m., Porter noted that Grayson had taken off his clothes and was still screaming. At 5:23 p.m., Grayson was standing in Cell 7 and sweating. At 5:30 p.m., Porter noticed a small pool of blood on the floor. Grayson was bent over with his back to the door, so Porter contacted McAllister.

Sharum and Van Buren Police...