Moulton v. Desue

• Decision Date: 16 October 2012
• Docket Number: Case No. 3:11–cv–382–J–37JBT.
• Citation: 966 F.Supp.2d 1298
• Parties: Jason R. MOULTON, Plaintiff, v. Carla DeSUE, Amanda Mixon, Charles Hendrix, Lance Hollingsworth and Gordon Smith, Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Middle District of Florida

966 F.Supp.2d 1298

Jason R. MOULTON, Plaintiff,

v.Carla DeSUE, Amanda Mixon, Charles Hendrix, Lance Hollingsworth and Gordon Smith, Defendants.

Case No. 3:11–cv–382–J–37JBT.

United States District Court,

M.D. Florida,

Jacksonville Division.

Oct. 16, 2012.

Daniel M. Soloway, Soloway Law Firm, PA, Pensacola, FL, Jeannette M. Andrews, Joe Longfellow, III, Andrews, Crabtree, Knox & Andrews, LLP, Tallahassee, FL, Deborah I. Mitchell, Debeaubien, Knight, Simmons, Mantzaris & Neal, LLP, Orlando, FL, for Plaintiff.

Jeannette M. Andrews, Joe Longfellow, III, Andrews, Crabtree, Knox & Andrews, LLP, Tallahassee, FL, Deborah I. Mitchell, Debeaubien, Knight, Simmons, Mantzaris & Neal, LLP, Orlando, FL, for Defendants.

ORDER

ROY B. DALTON JR., District Judge.

This cause is before the Court on the following motions:

1. Defendant Charles Hendrix's (“Hendrix”) Motion for Summary Judgment (Doc. No. 71), filed on July 20, 2012;

2. Defendant Carla DeSue's (“DeSue”) Motion for Summary Judgment (Doc. No. 76), filed on July 20, 2012;

3. Defendant Gordon Smith's (“Sheriff”) Motion for Summary Judgment (Doc. No. 77), filed on July 20, 2012;

4. Defendant Lance Hollingsworth's (“Hollingsworth”) Motion for Summary Judgment (Doc. No. 78), filed on July 20, 2012;

5. Defendant Amanda Mixon's (“Mixon”) Motion for Summary Judgment (Doc. No. 79), filed on July 20, 2012; and

6. Plaintiff's Motion to Strike Defendants DeSue, Hollingsworth, and Mixon's Argument Regarding Medical Causation Raised for the First Time in These Defendants' Reply Briefs or in the Alternative, Motion for Leave to Amend Answer Brief (Doc. No. 118), filed on October 1, 2012.

On September 7, 2012, Plaintiff, Jason R. Moulton, filed an omnibus response (Doc. No. 109) to Hendrix's (Doc. No. 71), DeSue's (Doc. No. 76), Mixon's (Doc. No. 79), and Hollingsworth's (Doc. No. 78) motions for summary judgment. That same day, he filed a separate response to the Sheriff's motion for summary judgment. (Doc. No. 108.) On September 21, 2012, all Defendants filed replies to Plaintiff's responses. (Doc. Nos. 112, 113, 114, 115, & 116.) On October 12, 2012, Defendants DeSue, Mixon, and Holingsworth filed a response to Plaintiff's motion to strike. (Doc. No. 119.) The motions are now ripe for the Court's disposition.

BACKGROUND¹

This action arises out of events that transpired while Tia Marie Sloama Ritch (“Ritch”), the deceased, was detained in the Bradford County Jail. On June 28, 2009, Ritch was arrested and admitted to the jail for child neglect. At the time of Ritch's booking, the then twenty-one-year-old informed the booking officer that she was pregnant. During the days that followed, the jail's movement log indicates that Ritch engaged in church and recreation activities without incident. In fact, there was no indication that she was having any pregnancy or other health-related issues until July 2 and July 3, 2009.

Early in the evening of July 2, 2009, Ritch became sick to her stomach. After having eaten dinner around 5:00 p.m. she ran to the bathroom complaining of abdominal pain. Because she was assigned the top bunk bed, her cellmate pulled Ritch's mattress to the floor where she, visibly in pain, laid down. According to the other inmates housed in the A pod with Ritch, she was holding her stomach, had vomited, and had become very pale. By 5:30 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. ² that day, some of the inmates began repeatedly calling for help on behalf of Ritch via the intercom system at the jail.

The intercom calls from the inmates are received by the pod control officers. Working in the pod control room at that time were Officers Black and Williams. Upon Officer Williams's request, Officer DeSue, who was a central control room officer that night, went to check on Ritch at approximately 6:00 p.m. DeSue observed Ritch lying on the mattress on the floor of her cell. Ritch told DeSue that she was pregnant and was having stomach cramps. Upon receiving this information, DeSue returned to the control room to inform Sergeant Hendrix, the officer in charge. Either on her own initiative or following an order from Sergeant Hendrix, Officer DeSue called the jail nurse, Karen Kinder, who had already left the premises for the day. DeSue told the nurse that a pregnant inmate was complaining of stomach cramps, and the nurse advised to give Ritch Tylenol and a pitcher of ice water. DeSue administered the water and Tylenol to Ritch at about 6:15 p.m. This was the only time that night that anyone spoke to the jail nurse or any other medical professional regarding Ritch.

Sometime between 7:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m., two “church ladies” who regularly visit the inmates in the A pod at the Bradford County Jail prayed for Ritch as her condition seemed to have worsened. Ms. Lisa Bruno, another inmate, describes Ritch as unresponsive around this time. (Bruno Dep. 37:8–12, June 8, 2012 (“[S]he couldn't sit up, ... she looked lethargic.... She looked yellow and she looked weak, couldn't sit up. Like she would sit—Ms. Pam would sit her up and she would fall back down.”).) As the Tylenol and water proved ineffective, some of the inmates began calling for help again. Some inmates thought Ritch had an infection and that it could have been contagious. She was starting to look yellow, her lips were changing color, and she never stood back up on her feet.

Despite numerous cries for help, no correctional officer came to see Ritch until sometime between 11:00 p.m. and 1:00 a.m.³ Because the inmates were loud and complaining, Hendrix ordered Mixon and DeSue to the A pod to see whether they should move Ritch from general population to a medical cell. Because Ritch was weak and could not stand up on her own, they helped her rise off of her mattress on the floor onto the bottom bunk bed where she laid down again. Ritch told Mixon and DeSue that she could not walk to the medical cell and that she was dizzy. Shortly after, DeSue went to Hendrix and told him that she is not sure what is wrong with Ritch and that he should go see her and decide what to do. (Hendrix Dep. 21:10–12, Mar. 20.2012.) According to a couple of inmates, Hendrix came to the A pod shouting and calling Ritch “drama queen of the year.” Mixon and Hollingsworth, whose shift started at 11:00 p.m., were with him at that time. Hendrix called for a wheelchair so that they could transport Ritch to the medical cell. As Ritch could not get up on her own, Mixon and Hollingsworth helped her get up from the bottom bunk bed to the wheelchair. She was holding her stomach and crying.

Sergeant Hendrix pushed the wheelchair out of Ritch's cell and inmate Bruno could see Ritch's head positioned completely back, her eyes rolled back in her head, and her feet dragging on the floor. Midway through the journey out of the A pod, Ritch slid out of the wheelchair as if she lost consciousness. The video surveillance footage shows Ritch's body collapsed in an uncontrolled manner. Mixon and Hollingsworth hurried to pick her back up to a sitting position. So that she did not slide out again, the entire way to the medical cell Mixon and Hollingsworth had to hold her legs in the air as Hendrix pushed the wheelchair. Ritch kept complaining of abdominal pain. Upon arrival to the medical cell, Ritch was picked up and thrown on the bed, her head hitting the wall.

Inmate Hammontree, housed in a medical cell next to Ritch's, was the last person to talk to her before she died. Through a vent above the sink, Hammontree was able to see and talk to Ritch from the time she was transferred into the medical cell until the early hours of July 3, 2009. Ritch complained to Hammontree that she was in a lot of pain and that she was scared and worried about her baby. Hammontree observed Ritch in a really bad shape; it was obvious she was in a lot of pain. A few times throughout the night, Hammontree witnessed Ritch make vomiting sounds. She asked Hammontree to keep talking to her because she was afraid to fall asleep. Around thirty minutes before breakfast was served, Ritch stopped talking and Hammontree thought she fell asleep. No correctional officer came to check on Ritch during the night. She was found dead around 7:30 a.m. The cause of her death was determined to be intra-abdominal bleeding caused by a ruptured ectopic pregnancy.

PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

On April 21, 2011, Jason R. Moulton, as Personal Representative of the Estate of Ritch, brought the present action against Correctional Officer Carla DeSue, in her individual capacity; Correctional Officer Amanda Mixon, in her individual capacity; Correctional Sergeant Charles Hendrix, in his individual capacity; Correctional Officer Lance Hollingsworth, in his individual capacity; Correctional Nurse Karen Kinder, in her individual capacity; and Sheriff Gordon Smith, in his official capacity. (Doc. No. 1, pp. 1–2.) Subsequently, on April 9, 2012, Plaintiff filed a Stipulation of Dismissal as to his claims against Karen Kinder. (Doc. No. 36.)

This case is now before the Court on five separate motions for summary judgment filed by the remaining Defendants in this action. Also before the Court is Plaintiff's Motion to Strike Defendants DeSue, Hollingsworth, and Mixon's Argument Regarding Medical Causation Raised for the First Time in These Defendants' Reply Briefs or in the Alternative, Motion for Leave to Amend Answer Brief (Doc. No. 118), filed on October 1, 2012. The Court now turns to these motions.

STANDARD ON SUMMARY JUDGMENT

Summary judgment is appropriate when the movant can show that there is no genuine issue of material fact and that the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Fennell v. Gilstrap, 559 F.3d 1212, 1216 (11th Cir.2009) (citing Welding Servs., Inc. v. Forman, 509 F.3d 1351, 1356 (11th Cir.2007)). Which facts are material depends on the substantive law applicable to the case. Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 248, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986). The moving party bears the burden of showing that no...