Ryan v. Armstrong

• Decision Date: 05 January 2016
• Docket Number: Civ. No. 14-1776 (RHK/LIB)
• Citation: 154 F.Supp.3d 798
• Parties: Dennis Ryan, Jr., as trustee for the heirs and next of kin of Jerome Deon Ladette Harrell, Plaintiff, v. Officer Mary Armstrong, et al., Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Minnesota

154 F.Supp.3d 798

Dennis Ryan, Jr., as trustee for the heirs and next of kin of Jerome Deon Ladette Harrell, Plaintiff,

v.Officer Mary Armstrong, et al., Defendants.

Civ. No. 14-1776 (RHK/LIB)

United States District Court, D. Minnesota.

Signed January 5, 2016

Kenneth U. Udoibok, Kenneth Ubong Udoibok, P.A., Minneapolis, Minnesota, for Plaintiff.

Jason M. Hively, Jon K. Iverson, Iverson Reuvers Condon, Bloomington, Minnesota, for Defendants.

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

RICHARD H. KYLE

, United States District Judge

INTRODUCTION

During the evening of February 23, 2012, Jerome Deon Ladette Harrell turned himself in to the Stearns County Jail (the “Jail”) on two outstanding Hennepin County traffic warrants. After exhibiting odd and erratic behavior throughout the night, he was pronounced dead the following morning. The trustee of Harrell's estate, Dennis Ryan, Jr., brings this civil-rights action against Stearns County and several Stearns County Corrections Officers (“SCCOs”) in their individual and official capacities (collectively, “Defendants”), alleging violations of the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments. Presently before the Court is Defendants' Motion for Summary Judgment. For the reasons that follow, the Motion will be granted.

BACKGROUND

Viewed in the light most favorable to Ryan, the record reveals the following, largely undisputed, facts. On February 23, 2012, at around 7:10 p.m., Harrell arrived at the Stearns County Sherriff's Office to turn himself in for two outstanding Hennepin County warrants for failing to have proof of car insurance. (See Hively Aff. Ex. J, Captain Lahr Mem.) Hennepin County requested that Stearns County hold him until transport could be arranged. (Id. )

I. Harrell is booked into the Jail

Harrell was booked into the Jail at approximately 7:25 p.m. (Hively Aff. Ex. J, Detention Report; Boerger Incident Report, Dreher Incident Report.)¹ According to the Initial Classification Worksheet filled out by a booking officer—it is unclear who—Harrell did not express or indicate an intent to harm himself or others, and was initially cooperative and responsive. (Hively Aff. Ex. J, Initial Classification Worksheet and Questionnaire.) Yet, it was noted that Harrell “appeared high on something.” (Id. ) Harrell was asked questions about his medical history, including his current mental and physical health, to which he gave yes-or-no answers. (Id. ) He did, however, respond that he had been drunk and high two days earlier and that he used marijuana. (Id. ) SCCO Kellen Boerger, one of the booking officers on duty that evening, thought Harrell “appeared anxious and was unable to concentrate on [the] questions.”² (Boerger Incident Report.) After being finger-printed, Harrell began talking to himself and unsuccessfully attempted to enroll in the Jail's phone system. (Id. ) Because of the hold placed on him and the fact that he “appear[ed] high,” he was placed in the booking unit, where inmates who are under the influence of drugs or alcohol are placed. (See Initial Classification Worksheet; Armstrong Dep. at 88-89.)

SCCO's are required to conduct well-being checks (“WBCs”) on inmates twice an hour. (See Armstrong Dep. at 22, 31.) Boerger conducted several WBCs during the remainder of his shift, which ended at 11:00 p.m. (Culloton Dep. at 20, 35), and found Harrell lying down in his cell each time. (Boerger Incident Report).

II. Harrell exhibits odd behavior during the midnight shift

SCCOs Mary Armstrong and Patrick Culloton were assigned to the booking unit during the midnight shift (from 11:00 p.m. to 6:45 a.m.).³ (Armstrong Incident Report; Armstrong Dep. at 34, 39; Culloton Incident Report.) When they came on duty, they were informed that Harrell was high and acting strangely. (Culloton Incident Report; see Armstrong Dep. at 35.) Both officers conducted WBCs on Harrell throughout the night, in addition to some other midnight-shift SCCOs. (See Culloton Dep. at 25-26.)

During her WBCs, Armstrong observed Harrell “spring up from his bunk with lunging movements and start moving his body as though he was an animal and [ ] make loud howling and screaming vocals.” (Armstrong Incident Report.) Similarly, Culloton observed Harrell bang on his cell door and make loud noises, to the point where other inmates asked officers to make him quiet down. (Culloton Incident Report.) Culloton watched Harrell pace in his cell and stare out the window, and at one point, Harrell was lying down, covered by his blanket, and appeared to be sleeping. (Id. ) However, Culloton soon heard him making noises again. (Id. ) Later in the night, Harrell disrobed, flooded his cell, and started throwing water around. (Culloton Dep. at 48.)

Culloton repeatedly testified in his deposition that he did not have any contact, verbal or otherwise, with Harrell during his shift. (Id. at 40, 46; Culloton Incident Report.) Armstrong could not recall whether she had any verbal contact with Harrell. (Armstrong Dep. at 63.) Yet, there is no evidence in the record indicating that Harrell asked for help or medical attention.

(See id. at 49 (stating that she could not decipher what he was saying, except for “fuck you”), 72.)

Armstrong and Culloton did not believe Harrell's behavior indicated an emergency situation. (Culloton Dep. at 40, 47, 51; Armstrong Dep. at 40, 43, 47-48, 51-52, 60, 74, 87.) Hence, they did not alert their supervisor, Sergeant Salzer, and the on-call medical staff was not contacted. However, each officer informed the oncoming SCCOs of Harrell's behavior at the change-of-shift meeting at 6:45 a.m. (Culloton Dep. at 42; Armstrong Dep. at 42; Armstrong Incident Report; Culloton Incident Report.)

III. Shift turnover

Around 6:45 a.m. on February 24, 2012, Salzer advised the oncoming dayshift supervisors, Sergeants Pamela Gacke and Mark Maslonkowski, that Harrell was “acting very odd [and] making strange noises,” like monkey noises. (Gacke Incident Report; Gacke Statement; Maslonkowski Incident Report.) One of Gacke's duties at the beginning of a day shift was to report to medical staff—who came on duty at approximately 7:00 a.m.—the booking-unit inmates needing to be assessed. (Gacke Incident Report; Gacke Dep. at 20-21, 38, 55.) She advised Jail Nurse Lil Grandlund that she should see Harrell due to his odd behavior. (Gacke Incident Report; Gacke Statement; Gacke Dep. at 55.)

Meanwhile, SCCO Mark Hill, the booking-unit supervisor that day, performed the dayshift's first WBC on Harrell at 6:55 a.m. Hill observed him howling, pounding on the door, and splashing water from the sink all over his cell with a sheet. (Hill Statement; Hill Incident Report.) An hour later, Hill reported Harrell was still yelling, pounding, and had the wet sheet draped over his naked body. (Hill Incident Report.)

IV. Jail medical staff makes an initial assessment

The record reveals that by 7:30 a.m., medical staff was informed that Harrell was pounding and hollering continually and flooding his cell; it is unclear, however, whether they personally observed this behavior. (Hively Aff. Ex. J, Medical Staff Note.) Based on this information, Grandlund informed Maslonkowski that Harrell should be placed in a restraint chair and would be assessed when his behavior permitted her to safely conduct an evaluation.⁴ (Id. ; Maslonkowski Incident Report.)

Based on Grandlund's request for restraint, SCCO Gilbert Michalski was ordered to perform a one-on-one observation of Harrell until staff was available to move him. (Michalski Incident Report; see also Maslonkowski Incident Report.) Harrell was “vocalizing a lot of nonsense ... just yelling out odd things. And he was splashing in the water, [and] splashing water on him[self] inside the cell.” (Michalski Statement.) SCCO Craig Stowell, an experienced EMT, also observed Harrell in his cell after Grandlund made her request. (See Stowell Dep. at 9-10.) Harrell was naked, yelling inaudible animal noises, kicking and banging on his cell door, and jumping. (Stowell Statement.)

Meanwhile, Maslonkowski relayed Grandlund's request to Gacke, and both went to Harrell's cell. (Maslonkowski Incident Report; Gacke Incident Report.) Maslonkowski videotaped Harrell to document his behavior while Gacke, thinking Harrell might be faking his symptoms, attempted to talk to him and calm him down. (Maslonkowski Statement; Gacke Statement; Gacke Dep. at 24, 51-52.) At this time, Harrell had a blanket and sheet wrapped around his head and naked body, and was kicking and hitting the door, putting his head over by his sink and jumping in the water, and making a number of screaming type noises that were not verbal language. (Maslonkowski Statement; see also Udoibok Aff. Ex. 2, Stearns County Jail Video.) He continued to kick and yell, despite Gacke's attempts to calm him down. (Gacke Incident Report; see also Jail Video.)

V. Harrell is extracted from his cell

Based on Harrell's agitated behavior and Grandlund's request, Maslonkowski and Gacke decided to assemble a cell-extraction team, called a Special Operations Response Team (“SORT”), composed of four specially-trained SCCOs. (Gacke Dep. at 45.) The SORT included SCCOs Stowell, Michalski, Joseph Klebs, and Adam Seifermann. The SORT officers were to don protective gear, enter Harrell's cell, restrain him, and put him in the restraint chair for medical assessment. (Maslonkowski Statement; Gacke Incident Report; Stowell Dep. at 16-18.) While they were gearing up, the SORT members discussed Harrell's behavior, the general procedure for the extraction—what order they would enter, who would restrain which body parts—and, after he was restrained, that they were to walk him down the stairs for placement in the restraint chair waiting on the lower-level. (Gacke Statement; Klebs Dep. at 51.) Some of the SORT officers were given handcuffs and shackles to use during the extraction, per standard procedure. (Gacke Dep. at 44-45.)

The extraction was recorded by SCCO Shance Newland.⁵ (Newland Incident Report; Gacke Dep. at 69-70.)...