Jinks v. Richland County, No. 25690.

• Court: United States State Supreme Court of South Carolina
• Writing for the Court: PER CURIAM
• Citation: 355 S.C. 341,585 S.E.2d 281
• Parties: Susan JINKS, as Personal Representative of the Estate of Carl H. Jinks, Respondent, v. RICHLAND COUNTY and Dr. Charles Eskridge, of whom Richland County is Defendants-Appellant.
• Docket Number: No. 25690.
• Decision Date: 11 August 2003

355 S.C. 341
585 S.E.2d 281

Susan JINKS, as Personal Representative of the Estate of Carl H. Jinks, Respondent,
v.
RICHLAND COUNTY and Dr. Charles Eskridge, of whom Richland County is Defendants-Appellant

No. 25690.

Supreme Court of South Carolina.

Submitted May 8, 2003.

Decided August 11, 2003.

355 S.C. 343

Andrew F. Lindemann, William H. Davidson, II, David L. Morrison, and Alice Price Adams, of Davidson, Morrison, and Lindemann, P.A., of Columbia, for appellant

Bradford P. Simpson, Theile Branham, and John D. Kassel, of Suggs & Kelly Lawyers, P.A.; and James Mixon Griffin, of Simmons and Griffin, L.L.C., all of Columbia, for respondent.

PER CURIAM:

Respondent Susan Jinks brought this wrongful death and survival action on behalf of her husband, Carl H. Jinks (Jinks), who died while incarcerated at Appellant Richland County's (County's) Detention Center. The jury returned a verdict in Jinks' favor.¹ County appeals.² We affirm.

355 S.C. 344

ISSUES

I. Did the trial judge err by denying County's motions for a directed verdict and judgment notwithstanding the verdict on the basis Jinks failed to present evidence of gross negligence and proximate cause?

II. Did the trial judge err by failing to hold collateral estoppel barred relitigation of certain issues?³

DISCUSSION

I.

County asserts the trial court erred by denying its directed verdict and judgment notwithstanding the verdict (JNOV) motions because Jinks failed to establish that its correctional officers acted in a grossly negligent manner or that their alleged negligence proximately caused Jinks' death. We disagree.

The South Carolina Tort Claims Act provides that the State, its agencies, political subdivisions, and other governmental entities are "liable for their torts in the same manner and to the same extent as a private individual under like circumstances," subject to certain limitations and exemptions with the Act. S.C.Code Ann. § 15-78-40 (Supp.2002). Section 15-78-60 sets out "exceptions" to this waiver of sovereign immunity. These exceptions act as limitations on the liability of a governmental entity. One exception provides:

355 S.C. 345

The governmental entity is not liable for loss resulting from: responsibility or duty including but not limited to supervision, protection, control, confinement or custody of any ... prisoner, inmate ... of any governmental entity, except when the responsibility or duty is exercised in a grossly negligent manner.

S.C.Code Ann. § 15-78-60(25) (Supp.2002).

Gross negligence is the intentional conscious failure to do something which it is incumbent upon one to do or the doing of a thing intentionally that one ought not to do. Etheredge v. Richland School Dist. 1, 341 S.C. 307, 534 S.E.2d 275 (2000). It is the failure to exercise slight care. Id. Gross negligence has also been defined as a relative term and means the absence of care that is necessary under the circumstances. Hollins v. Richland County School Dist. 1, 310 S.C. 486, 427 S.E.2d 654 (1993). Gross negligence is ordinarily a mixed question of law and fact. Clyburn v. Sumter County School Dist. 17, 317 S.C. 50, 451 S.E.2d 885 (1994).

"In ruling on motions for directed verdict and JNOV, the trial court is required to view the evidence and the inferences that reasonably can be drawn therefrom in the light most favorable to the party opposing the motions and to deny the motions where either the evidence yields more than one inference or its inference is in doubt." Strange v. South Carolina Dep't of Highways & Pub. Transp., 314 S.C. 427, 429-30, 445 S.E.2d 439, 440 (1994). "The trial court can only be reversed by this Court when there is no evidence to support the ruling below." Id. at 430, 445 S.E.2d at 440.

In his complaint, Jinks alleged County's correctional officers were grossly negligent in various ways. In particular, Jinks asserted County's employees failed to properly monitor inmates, failed to call for medical attention, and failed to provide adequate and proper medical care. At trial, Jinks argued the correctional officers' failure to properly monitor his medical condition proximately caused his death.

Viewing the evidence and its inferences in the light most favorable to Jinks, there was evidence that County was grossly negligent by failing to properly monitor Jinks' medical condition. The trial record establishes Jinks was arrested and

355 S.C. 346

booked on Friday, October 14, 1994, for failure to pay child support and spent the weekend at County's detention facility. On Monday morning, Officer Williams, a first shift correctional officer, and Walter Carlo, a detention center paramedic, observed Jinks shaking, sweating, laughing, and gripping the cell bars; Jinks did not respond to conversation. Officer Williams and Paramedic Carlo determined Jinks should be seen by the detention center physician

The detention center physician saw Jinks at noon. The medical assessment form notes Jinks' complaint as "? D.T.'s."⁴ The physician diagnosed Jinks as suffering from alcohol withdrawal, prescribed Librium, and ordered that Jinks be reevaluated in two days.

Officer Williams testified he placed Jinks in "tank one" for medical observation as directed by the paramedic. Officer Williams stated he was not instructed what symptoms or behavior to monitor. Jinks was alone in the cell. Officer Williams testified he checked on Jinks every fifteen to thirty minutes until he left work at 2:30 p.m. He did not recall speaking with Jinks. At 2:30 p.m., Jinks was still shaking, sweating, and laughing.

Officer Williams testified he returned to the jail at 6:00 the following morning. He saw Jinks lying on the cell floor at 6:30 a.m. Jinks appeared to be sleeping. Officer Williams looked in on Jinks every thirty minutes. At 9:30 a.m., he asked Jinks to get up off the floor; Jinks did so and sat on a bench.⁵ Officer Williams testified, because Jinks "appeared to be okay," two other detainees were placed in his cell. When Officer Williams looked in on Jinks after 10:00...