Greene v. Crawford Cnty.

• Decision Date: 25 June 2020
• Docket Number: Case No. 18-11008
• Parties: CHERYL GREENE, Personal Representative of the Estate of Dwayne Greene, deceased, Plaintiff, v. CRAWFORD COUNTY, et al., Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Eastern District of Michigan

CHERYL GREENE, Personal Representativeof the Estate of Dwayne Greene, deceased, Plaintiff, v. CRAWFORD COUNTY, et al., Defendants.

Case No. 18-11008

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT EASTERN DISTRICT OF MICHIGAN NORTHERN DIVISION

June 25, 2020

Honorable Thomas L. Ludington

OPINION AND ORDER GRANTING IN PART AND DENYING IN PART DEFENDANTS CRAWFORD COUNTY'S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT, GRANTING DEFENDANTS NLCMHA'S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT AND DENYING AS MOOT NLCMHA'S MOTIONS TO EXCLUDE AND IN LIMINE

Mr. Dwayne Greene died on December 12, 2017 after being detained at the Crawford County Jail in Grayling Michigan. Plaintiff Cheryl Greene, Dwayne's mother and his personal representative, filed her first amended complaint addressing her son's death on August 28, 2019. She alleges in Counts I and II that Defendants were deliberately indifferent and violated her son's "right to be free from cruel and unusual punishment while incarcerated under the custody and control of Defendants" under the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments in failing to secure medical assistance for her son who was experiencing symptoms of alcohol withdrawal while in their custody. ECF No. 46 at PageID.636-645. Next, she alleges Defendants failed to intervene when her son's Eighth Amendment/Fourteenth Amendment right to be free from deliberate indifference was being violated and that failure caused his death (Count III). Count IV alleges a Monell liability claim against Defendants Crawford County, Sheriff Wakefield, and Northern Lakes Community Mental Health Authority. Plaintiff alleges Defendants "were responsible for inmates' custody and care, and/or encouraged the [Crawford County and NLCMHA employees] to" violate Mr. Greene's constitutional right to be free from deliberate indifference. ECF No. 46 at PageID.647. Finally, Plaintiff alleges a pendent state law claim of gross negligence and/or wanton and willful misconduct (Count V). Specifically, Plaintiff alleges that while Mr. Greene was in Defendants' custody and they monitored and cared for him "in an extremely careless, grossly negligent, reckless, and wanton and willful manner without concern whatsoever for his safety and welfare, and failed to tend to [Mr. Greene's] serious medical needs." ECF No. 46 at PageID.654.

Defendants Crawford County and its employees filed a motion for summary judgment on December 10, 2019. ECF No. 59. Defendants contend that all of the corrections officers are entitled to qualified immunity for Counts I, II, and III, that the Monell claim fails because there is no underlying constitutional violation, and that the corrections officers are eligible for governmental immunity as to the gross negligence claim. Defendants Northern Lakes Community Mental Health Authority ("NLCMHA") and its employees filed their own motion for summary judgment on the same day. ECF No. 61. The NLCMHA Defendants argue that all claims are barred by Eleventh Amendment sovereign immunity. They further argue that even if sovereign immunity does not apply, the individual Defendants are entitled to qualified immunity for Counts I, II, and III, that the Monell claim fails because Plaintiff cannot establish a NLCMHA policy responsible for a constitutional violation, and that the Defendants are entitled to governmental immunity for the state law gross negligence claim. Responses and replies were timely filed. ECF Nos. 65, 66, 67, 77, 78.

After reviewing the facts, NLCMHA Defendants' argument for sovereign immunity will be addressed first. Then, each claim will be analyzed first for the Crawford Defendants and then for the NLCMHA Defendants. Finally, a short summary of the remaining claims will be provided.

I.

Mr. Dwayne Greene was incarcerated in the Crawford County Jail on December 4, 2019 after his bond was revoked. ECF No. 59-5. After several days in the custody of the jail, he suffered delirium tremens due to alcohol withdrawal, lost consciousness on December 8, 2019 and passed away on December 12, 2017 at Munson Medical Center. ECF No. 46 at PageID.636; ECF No. 59 at PageID.2411.

A.

Mr. Greene was a carpenter. He worked for his family's roofing business and after it closed he worked for multiple construction companies. ECF No. 59-10 at PageID.2662. He worked 8-12 hours a day depending on weather and the availability of construction materials. ECF No. 59-10 at PageID.2663. His Mother described him as a functional alcoholic. ECF No. 59-10 at PageID.2666.

On August 6, 2017 Mr. Greene was arrested for operating a vehicle while impaired, third offense, which is a felony. ECF Nos. 59-5; 59-3. He was booked into the Crawford County Jail on August 6, 2017 and his Mother believes he was able to post bail the following morning. ECF No. 59-10 at PageID.2667.

From August 2017 to December 2017 Mr. Greene was trying to reduce his consumption of alcohol. ECF No. 59-10 at PageID.2669. He drank vodka daily but reduced his consumption from a fifth a day to a pint a day. ECF No. 59-10 at PageID.2669.

On December 4, 2017 Mr. Greene appeared at the Crawford County Circuit Court to enter a guilty plea. ECF No. 59-5. Crawford County Circuit Court Judge Colin Hunter was informed that Mr. Greene acknowledged that he had been drinking alcohol that day and ordered Mr. Greene to take a preliminary breath test. Id. Mr. Greene's breath alcohol level was .194, even after waiting for 3-4 hours at the courthouse for his hearing. Id. During the hearing, Mr. Greene's attorney explained to Judge Hunter that "he's tried to quit on his own before, and he's had seizures. He will get violently ill in the jail going cold turkey." Id. at PageID.2524. Despite Mr. Greene's attorney's plea, Judge Hunter revoked Mr. Greene's bond finding that he was a danger to himself. He explained that "I'm going to trust that the jail staff is going to do what they're trained to do, which is, if they see a problem, they're going to address it immediately, but I'm absolutely not going to cut you free on a bond." Id. He further explained to Mr. Greene that

Now, again, that doesn't mean that I feel that you don't need treatment. I think you do. . . . If you - let me be clear though, Mr. Greene, if you qualify for treatment, I don't stand in the way of that, and I won't stand in the way of that. Whether or not you're going to be able to qualify for that treatment while you've got pending matters and before you've been sentenced, I think I know the answer to that is that most centers won't allow you to that treatment. That being said, if you can get into a rehab center, I won't have a problem signing an order, which is going to be prepared by your attorney, which allows you to be released to the center.

Id. at PageID.2524-2525.

B.

Captain Baerlocher is the Crawford County Jail ("the jail") administrator who reported, at the time, to Sheriff Wakefield. ECF No. 59-7 at PageID.2551; ECF No. 66-24 at PageID.3648. Katie Tessner and Renee Christman are Corporals, and supervisors, at the Crawford County Jail. ECF No. 59-7 at PageID.2562; ECF No. 59-2 at PageID.2442. The jail has 57 beds and an average daily population of 37. ECF No. 59-7 at PageID.2575. Generally, the corrections officers or COs monitor the inmates and report to their supervisors, the corporals. ECF No. 59-7 at PageID.2560. They do not usually update Capt. Baerlocher about the details of daily activity in the jail Id. If a CO is "doing something with the inmate" or if an inmate displayed "severe behaviors," they would usually log it in the jail record. ECF No. 59-15 at PageID.2864.

The Crawford County Jail is not certified by the American Correctional Association, nor has it sought the certification from the American Correctional Association. ECF No. 59-7 at PageID.2557. Additionally, Capt. Baerlocher is not aware of Crawford County using the CIWA ("Clinical Institute Withdrawal Assessment for Alcohol") score of the PAWSS ("Prediction Alcohol Withdrawal Severity Scale"). ECF No. 59-7 at PageID.2566.

Capt. Baerlocher, the sheriff, and the undersheriff all share responsibility for promulgating policies and procedures at the jail. ECF No. 59-7 at PageID.2551. The undersheriff instructs employees about policy and then has them sign a copy of the policy to corroborate that they have been instructed about the policy. ECF No. 59-7 at PageID.2564. If Capt. Baerlocher sees someone not following policy, then he will address it with them. ECF No. 59-7 at PageID.2564. If there was any training that occurred on alcohol withdrawal, Capt. Baerlocher would be responsible for the training. ECF No. 66-24 at PageID.3648.

Captain Baerlocher explained that if a bailiff or corrections officer was in court and heard a defense attorney explain that a defendant would become violently ill by quitting alcohol, it would have been expected practice for the officer to communicate the information to the jail staff. ECF No. 59-7 at PageID.2555. However, Captain Baerlocher also testified that bailiffs "get tasked with many things that are going on in the courtroom" including securing inmates, watching inmates, questions from attorneys, and paying attention to the matters in front of the judge. ECF No. 59-7 at PageID.2556.

i.

When an inmate is booked into the Crawford County jail, they are furnished with a medical questionnaire "to be able to understand learn a little bit about [the inmate's] history of their daily habits and medical and mental stability." ECF No. 59-7 at PageID.2565. According to jail policy, a nurse is required to evaluate an inmate within 14 days of an inmate's arrival. ECF No. 59-7 at PageID.2565.

The Crawford County Jail contracted with a nurse to visit the jail on Tuesdays and Fridays each week. ECF No. 59-7 at PageID.2567. The nurse is scheduled to work 8 to 12 hours per week. ECF No. 59-7 at PageID.2575. However, if more time was needed, the additional time would be made available. ECF No. 59-7 at PageID.2575.

In addition to the nurse, Northern Lakes Community Mental Health Authority ("NLCMHA") has an ongoing...