Phelps v. Tuscarawas Cnty.
| Decision Date | 16 May 2018 |
| Docket Number | CASE NO. 5:16-cv-1936 |
| Parties | THOMAS PHELPS, PLAINTIFF, v. TUSCARAWAS COUNTY, OHIO/TUSCARAWAS COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS, et al., DEFENDANTS. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Northern District of Ohio |
MEMORANDUM OPINION
Before the Court are two motions for summary judgment. The first is the motion of defendant Jeremy Everett ("Everett"). Plaintiff Thomas Phelps ("Phelps") opposed the motion (Doc. No. 54 ["Opp'n Everett Mot."]), and Everett filed a reply (Doc. No. 55 ["Reply Everett Mot."]). The second is the motion of defendants Tuscarawas County (Tuscarawas County Commissioners) ("Tuscarawas County"), Sheriff Walter Wilson ("Wilson"), and Officer Vonda Hamilton ("Hamilton") (collectively "Tuscarawas County defendants"). (Doc. No. 47 [ ].) Phelps opposed the motion (Doc. No. 53 [ ]), and the Tuscarawas County defendants filed a reply (Doc. No. 56 [ ]).
For the reasons that follow, defendants' motions are granted.
Many of the background facts of this case are not in dispute. Wilson was the Tuscarawas County Sheriff at the time of the events at issue,1 and Everett was the administrator of the Tuscarawas County Jail.2 (Doc. No. 46-1 (Affidavit of Jeremy Everett ["Everett Aff."]) ¶ 1.) As administrator, Everett directed the day-to-day operations of the jail, including responding to emergency situations. (Id.) Hamilton was an employee of the Tuscarawas County Sheriff's Department at all relevant times. (Doc. No. 47-4 (Deposition of Vonda Hamilton ["Hamilton Dep."]) at 316 (5).) The specific events at issue in this case occurred on August 19, 2014, but defendants' interactions with Phelps prior to that date are relevant.
In the summer of 2014, Phelps was incarcerated at the jail as a pretrial detainee because of domestic violence allegations. (See Doc. No. 61 (Deposition of Thomas Phelps ["Phelps Dep."]) at 896; Doc. No. 54-1 at 485; Doc. No. 60 (Deposition of Nicole Peters3 ["Peters Dep."]) at 751.) The parties do not dispute that, at the jail on June 20, 2014, Phelps deliberately banged his head so hard that he cut it and was transported to Union Hospital to repair the cut. Nor do they dispute that, while being transported back to the jail from the hospital, Phelps banged his head against the window of the cruiser so hard that he reopened the repaired cut and broke the window. Phelps was returned to the hospital and thereafter admitted to Heartland BehavioralHealth Care Center ("Heartland"). (Opp'n Everett Mot. at 464; Everett Mot. at 234; Doc. No. 54-1 at 484; Doc. No. 54-5 at 581.) A nursing note from that day states that Phelps "[w]ill probably be placed on suicide watch here unless we can get Rx's that are current for inmate.'" (Opp'n Everett Mot. at 464-65, citing exhibits 1 and 54; Doc. No. 54-1 at 490.)
On July 14, 2014, Phelps harmed himself again at the jail by banging his head, and was transported to the hospital and then to Heartland. (See Phelps Dep. at 940; Opp'n Everett Mot. at 465.) On July 17, 2014, Phelps was discharged from Heartland and transported back to the jail. (Everett Aff. ¶ 3; Opp'n Everett Mot. at 465.) When Phelps was discharged, he reported as not being suicidal and ready to return to jail. Heartland found him to be stabilized and ready for discharge with "regular checks" and prescribed medication. (Doc. No. 55-1 at 592.)
Everett understood from Heartland that Phelps was self-injurious because of problems with his girlfriend and because he was incarcerated, not because he wanted to kill himself. (Everett Aff. ¶¶ 3, 6, 7; Doc. No. 55-1 at 592-93.) While Heartland did not find Phelps to be suicidal, he was diagnosed with a number of mental disorders.5 (See Doc. No. 54-2 at 534;Phelps Dep. at 946-47.)) Phelps has not provided any expert evidence disputing Heartland's assessment that Phelps was not suicidal when he was discharged from Heartland on July 17, 2014.
Everett considered Heartland's assessment of Phelps' mental health and decided not to house Phelps in the general population or place him on suicide watch. Rather, Everett determined to house Phelps in the classification unit where he could be observed more closely than the general population and maximum security area because there is direct visual observation by the booking desk and by officers on regular rounds. (Everett Aff. ¶¶ 4-7; Hamilton Dep. at 318 (15)); Milburn Dep. at 682 (45) (The classification unit is "pretty much a place where you go and they can view you, make sure that you ain't going to hurt yourself.").)
After Phelps returned to the jail on July 17, 2014, the staff administered his daily medications, which were adjusted as necessary in consultation with the doctor. For example, Phelps visited the jail clinic on July 24, 2014 stating that he felt depressed, and his medication was adjusted. (See Doc. No. 46-2 (Affidavit of Nicole Peters ["Peters Aff."]) ¶¶ 5-7; see also Everett Mot. at 235, 237 (dosage of Wellbutrin increased); Peters Dep. at 779.) During the time period from July 17, 2014 through August 18, 2014, Phelps received both medical and mental health care, was apparently doing well overall, and did not convey to the jail staff any thoughts of injuring himself or of suicidal ideation. (Peters Aff. ¶¶ 3-8; Everett Aff. ¶¶ 8-12.) Phelps does not contend that, during this time period, he conveyed to defendants or jail staff any thoughts of harming or killing himself. Indeed, Phelps described his mood as fair and that he was coping in the days leading up to August 19, 2014. (Phelps Dep. at 899-900.)
Everett visited with Phelps on August 18, 2014 concerning Phelps' complaints of pain possibly related to a hernia operation. Everett found Phelps to be lucid, and Phelps provided Everett with his medical history and signed an authorization so that Everett could obtain his medical records. Phelps made no mention to Everett of depression or thoughts of harming himself. (Everett Aff. ¶¶ 8-12.) Phelps does not dispute Everett's impression of Phelps' mental state on August 18, 2014, or dispute that he did not communicate any thoughts of self-harm to Everett during that visit.
On August 19, 2014, Phelps was housed in the jail's classification unit where he had been since July 17, 2014. Hamilton was on duty at the booking desk. An intercom system connects the classification unit with booking. (Hamilton Dep. at 318 (16).)
Phelps maintains that, on August 19, 2014, he pressed the intercom button and made multiple requests to Hamilton over the intercom to "see mental health." (Phelps Dep. at 901-02, 909, 913-14.) According to Phelps, Hamilton told him to sit down and deal with it. (Id. at 910.) Phelps also contends that he spoke with the individual who distributed morning medications about seeing mental health, and was told to send a kite, which Phelps admittedly did not do. (Id. at 911-12.) Two individuals in the classification unit with Phelps that morning, Milburn6 and Richard Jamerson, also maintain that Phelps requested to see mental health using the intercom, but Phelps did not say he wanted to kill himself (Milburn Dep. at 675 (15-17); Doc No. 58(Deposition of Richard Jamerson ["Jamerson Dep."]) at 629-31) or hurt himself. (Jamerson Dep. at 631 (28)). According to Milburn, when Everett walked by the classification unit, Phelps told Everett that he needed to talk with someone before he did "something stupid" but Everett told him it was "not my problem" and went to the booking area. (Milburn Dep. at 674 (11).)
Hamilton states that she was not aware that anyone in the classification unit rang the intercom on August 19, and did not know that there was an issue with Phelps until another inmate in that unit began pounding on the windows.7 At that time, Hamilton was at the booking counter talking to a probation officer from municipal court. When Hamilton heard the pounding, she walked over to the booking door and could see that Phelps had taken the TV off the wall, broken it, and had cut his arm with a piece of glass. Prior to hearing the pounding, Hamilton was not aware, and did not hear Phelps say, that he needed to talk with someone or that he was losing control. (Hamilton Dep. at 318-19 (16-21).) Jamerson estimates that about 10-15 minutes elapsed from the time Phelps first pressed the intercom button and when he removed the TV from the wall. (Jamerson Dep. at 630 (24-25).) Phelps is uncertain about the time frame of the events of August 19. (See Phelps Dep. at 912-13.)
As it must on summary judgment, the Court will view the evidence on this disputed issue in favor of Phelps. But, even assuming that Phelps requested to see mental health that morning and Hamilton heard his request, Phelps concedes that he "didn't say [he] was going to kill [him]self." (Id. at 949-50 ; see also Milburn Dep. at 675 (17) ( ).)
There is no dispute that an emergency presented itself when Phelps removed the TV from the wall and began cutting himself. When Hamilton saw that Phelps had cut his arm, she called for help. (Hamilton Dep. at 319 (20).) Jail personnel began arriving on the scene, and Peters was one of the first to arrive. When she arrived, Phelps was holding a piece of glass in his hand and had already cut his arm. (Peters Aff. ¶¶ 1, 9.) Peters tried to calm Phelps by talking with him through the open food pass chute in the cell door and asked him to put the glass down. (Peters Dep. at 724-28.) Peters believed Phelps to be suicidal at that time based on his conduct. (Id. at 757-58.) When Everett arrived, he kicked the food chute closed to...
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