Penn v. Knox Cnty.
| Decision Date | 30 September 2013 |
| Docket Number | Civil No. 2:11-cv-00363-NT |
| Parties | CATHY PENN, in her capacity as guardian of Matthew Lalli, Plaintiff, v. KNOX COUNTY, et. al., Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — District of Maine |
CATHY PENN, in her capacity as guardian of Matthew Lalli, Plaintiff,
v.
KNOX COUNTY, et. al., Defendants.
Civil No. 2:11-cv-00363-NT
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT DISTRICT OF MAINE
Dated: September 30, 2013
Before the Court is the Defendants' Motion for Summary Judgment, ECF No. 89, on all counts of the First Amended Complaint. The Plaintiff's son Matthew Lalli was injured when he attempted suicide while in custody at the Knox County Jail. Cathy Penn, in her capacity as guardian of Mathew Lalli, has sued the following Defendants: Knox County; Knox County Jail; Knox County Sheriff's Department; John Hinkley, in his capacity as administrator of the Knox County Jail; Kathy Carver, in her capacity as assistant administrator of the Knox County Jail; Donna Dennison, in her capacity as Knox County Sheriff (together, the "Municipal Defendants"); and corrections officers Angela Escorsio, Warren Heath III, Warren Heath IV, Julie Stilkey, Christopher Truppa, Dane Winslow, Bradley Woll, and Robert Wood. Penn seeks money damages under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution and under state law. The Defendants claim that the Plaintiff cannot prove that Mr. Lalli's injuries were a result of any deliberate indifference on their part and that the Maine Tort
Page 2
Claims Act bars all of the Plaintiff's state law claims. For the reasons that follow, the Court GRANTS the Defendants' motion in part and DENIES the motion in part.
The following facts are either undisputed or construed in the light most favorable to the Plaintiff. See Scott v. Harris, 550 U.S. 372, 381 n.8 (2007).
On Saturday, October 3, 2009, Matthew Lalli, a 22-year-old single father and landscaper, was arrested for allegedly being intoxicated and for committing assault in violation of the terms of his release. Pl.'s Resp. to Defs.' Statement of Material Facts ¶¶ 79-80, ECF No. 93 ("PRDSMF"); Defs.' Reply to Pl.'s Statement of Additional Material Facts ¶¶ 321-323, ECF No. 101 ("DRPSAMF"). That evening, he was transported to Knox County Jail. PRDSMF ¶ 79. Lalli's arraignment on these charges was set for Monday, October 5, 2009, and he was to be held at the jail until that time, after which a judge would determine whether to release him on bail or hold him in jail pending the resolution of his case. See PRDSMF ¶¶ 122, 170; DRPSAMF ¶¶ 361, 384-85.
Lalli's mental health was tenuous. See DRPSAMF ¶¶ 323A-324. He had struggled with mental health and substance abuse problems for years. Id. Just weeks earlier, in September, he was involuntarily committed to a psychiatric ward. Id. at ¶ 325. He and his three-year-old daughter lived with his mother, Cathy Penn. Id. at ¶ 323.
Page 3
Saturday, October 3, 2009: Lalli's Intake at the jail
When Lalli arrived at the jail, Sergeant Winslow1 was on duty as the jail's shift supervisor and Corrections Officer Stilkey was staffing the jail's intake desk. PRDSMF ¶¶ 81, 88. Sergeant Winslow and Officer Stilkey began processing Lalli at around 7:20 p.m. DRPSAMF ¶ 320. Sergeant Winslow met Lalli in the jail's sallyport, escorted him into the jail's intake area, and completed paperwork documenting Lalli's arrival. 2 PRDSMF ¶ 82. Once Lalli was inside, Officer Stilkey
Page 4
assumed responsibility for booking and processing him. PRDSMF ¶ 88. In accordance with the jail's standard procedures, Officer Stilkey filled out both a suicide risk assessment form and a medical screening form for Lalli, asking him questions prompted by the forms and recording his answers. PRDSMF ¶¶ 89, 92A.
The suicide risk assessment form has a short message at the top of the first page instructing that "if the response given by the inmate is not a definite 'Yes' or 'No' the answer defaults to a 'Yes' answer." DRPSAMF ¶ 330; Suicide Risk Assessment 1. Defs.' Exh. 2 at 1-3, ECF No. 88-17 ("Suicide Risk Assessment").
Pertinent questions and Lalli's answers, as Officer Stilkey memorialized them, are as follows:3
2.) WITHIN THE LAST SIX MONTHS HAVE YOU LOST A JOB, RELATIONSHIP, OR HAD A FAMILY MEMBER OR CLOSE FRIEND DIE?
Lost a relationship
. . . 4.) ARE YOUR FAMILY AND/OR FRIENDS ASHAMED BY WHAT HAS HAPPENED TO YOU AS A RESULT OF THIS ARREST?
yes
5.) ARE YOU CURRENTLY CONNECTED, OR HAVE YOU EVER BEEN CONNECTED, WITH A COUNSELOR, CASEWORKER, OR OTHER AGENCY FOR PSYCHIATRIC, SUBSTANCE ABUSE, OR SOCIAL SUPPORT (specify current providers)?
yes mid coast mental health for social support
Page 5
6.) HAVE YOU EVER BEEN ADMITTED TO A HOSPITAL FOR PSYCHIATRIC OR EMOTIONAL REASONS?
yes Park Unit two week ago
. . . 9.) HAS ANYONE IN YOUR FAMILY, OR A CLOSE FRIEND, ATTEMPTED OR COMMITTED SUICIDE? (spouse, parent, friend, lover, other)
2 close friends committed suicide 3 years ago
10.) HAVE YOU EVER ATTEMPTED SUICIDE? (If yes, When?)
2 years ago ran into legde 70 miles Per hr
11.) HAVE YOU EVER CONSIDERED SUICIDE? (If yes, When?)
yes 1 week ago
12.) ARE YOU CURRENTLY FEELING LIKE KILLING YOURSELF?
not sure feels that his life is over
. . . 14.) DO YOU HAVE THINGS TO LOOK FORWARD TO IN THE NEAR FUTURE?
yes has a daughter 3 yrs old
PRDSMF ¶ 90; DRPSAMF ¶ 328; Defs.' Exh. 2 at 1-3, No. 88-17 ("Suicide Risk Assessment").4
Page 6
Next, Officer Stilkey documented her own observations of Lalli on the form. The following excerpt shows questions from the form and Officer Stilkey's answers:
15.) DOES THE ARRESTING OR TRANSPORTING OFFICER BELIEVE THAT THE INMATE IS CURRENTLY A SUICIDAL RISK?
is very depressed I don't think he would if he talks to someone I think he'd be ok
. . . 18.) INDIVIDUAL SHOWS SIGNS OF DEPRESSION, ANXIETY, FEAR, ANGER, EMBARASSMENT OR SHAME (crying, flat emotions, pacing, yelling, etc)
yes very upset he disappointed his daughter
19.) INDIVIDUAL IS ACTING STRANGE (hearing or seeing things not there, disoriented, unable to focus, unintelligible or confused speech)
unable to focus for very long
DRPSAMF ¶ 329; PRDSMF ¶ 92A; DRPSAMF ¶ 329. Suicide Risk Assessment 3.
Next, the form provides somewhat ambiguous instructions about what actions the jail should take in response to the detainee's answers and the officer's observations:
If the questions above are answered in the following manner:
A: Yes to question 12, 13 AND/OR:
B: Yes to (3) or more questions on the suicide assessment5
Page 7
THE INMATE WILL BE PLACED ON "OBSERVATION" STATUS, SHIFT SUPERVISOR IS TO BE NOTIFIED AND REVIEW THIS QUESTIONNAIRE, UPON DOING SO HE/SHE WILL MAKE THE FINAL DECISION ACCORDING TO POLICY OF ACTION TO TAKE.
IF ARCH MENTAL HEALTH6 IS ON DUTY, THEY WILL BE NOTIFIED OF SITUATION.
IF ARCH MENTAL HEALTH IS OFF DUTY, (MCMH) CRISIS WILL BE REQUESTED
Suicide Risk Assessment 4.
A final portion of the form calls for the booking officer to indicate with checkmarks which of five levels of intervention the detainee received. Common jail practice dictated that it was the shift supervisor's responsibility to fill out this section:
[ ] NO INTERVENTION / GENERAL POPULATION
[ ] BAILED / RELEASED
[ ] PLACED ON WELFARE WATCH
[ ] PLACED ON SUICIDE WATCH STEP 1
[ ] PLACED ON SUICIDE WATCH STEP 2
DRPSAMF ¶ 331; Suicide Risk Assessment 4-5. Neither Officer Stilkey, the booking officer, nor Sergeant Winslow, the shift supervisor, checked off any of the boxes.
Page 8
This form is signed and dated October 3, 2009, at 8:48 p.m., next to a line for the shift supervisor's signature. Suicide Risk Assessment 5.
Officer Stilkey then moved on to the next phase of the intake process: completing the jail's inmate medical assessment form. DRPSAMF ¶ 332. During this step, Lalli told Officer Stilkey that he suffered from attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder, depression, major anxiety disorder, and alcoholism and that he was using Oxycodone and Adderall. DRPSAMF ¶ 333. He also again informed her that he had attempted suicide once before. DRPSAMF ¶ 333.
Lalli's suicide risk assessment and medical assessment worried Officer Stilkey. DRPSAMF ¶ 334. As a result, after completing the forms, Officer Stilkey called Sergeant Winslow, who was in another part of the jail. PRDSMF ¶ 93; DRPSAMF ¶ 334. "[Y]ou need to look at this," Officer Stilkey told him. DRPSAMF ¶ 334.
Shortly afterwards, Sergeant Winslow came down to the intake area and reviewed the intake screening forms, reading each of the questions and answers. PRDSMF ¶ 94. He decided to place Lalli on "welfare watch," which required staff to make separate log entries regarding Lalli's condition when they conducted their regular fifteen-minute checks of his cell and ensured that a mental health care worker would speak with Lalli the next time one was scheduled to visit the jail. PRDSMF ¶¶ 100-103; DRPSAMF ¶¶ 337, 339-340. No mental health care worker visited the jail's premises until Tuesday, October 6th, three days later. DRPSAMF ¶
Page 9
340. Sergeant Winslow also decided to move Lalli into Cell 135. PRDSMF ¶¶ 101, 105.
To understand the significance of the placement in Cell 135, some description of the jail's physical layout is necessary. The inmate entrance leads into a hallway, which opens up into the jail's intake area, a room ringed by several jail cells. Stevens Decl. Exh. BB, ECF No. 94-1 ("Jail Floor Plan"). Within the intake area is an intake desk that faces Cells 111 and 112, the holding cells where new or returning inmates are housed, often two or more to a room, pending processing. DRPSAMF ¶ 268; Jail Floor Plan. Past the intake desk and opposite the hallway leading from the jail's entrance is a cluster of several more cells, including the jail's two suicide-prevention cells, Cells 124 and 127. DRPSAMF ¶¶ 271-72, 274; Jail Floor Plan. Unlike a regular cell, these cells are stripped of objects a detainee could use to harm himself. DRPSAMF ¶¶ 270-71. Cell 124 is the larger of the two suicide-prevention cells, and the only one that officers can observe directly from the intake desk. DRPSAMF ¶¶ 271-72, 274-75. Additionally,...
To continue reading
Request your trial