Shepard v. Hansford Cnty.

• Decision Date: 22 May 2015
• Docket Number: No. 2:14–CV–00147–J.,2:14–CV–00147–J.
• Citation: 110 F.Supp.3d 696
• Parties: Jonathan David SHEPARD, individually as representative of the Estate of Lacy Dawn Cuccaro, and as Next Friend for A.L.S. and N.L.S., Minor Children, Plaintiffs, v. HANSFORD COUNTY and Brenda Vera, individually, Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Northern District of Texas

110 F.Supp.3d 696

Jonathan David SHEPARD, individually as representative of the Estate of Lacy Dawn Cuccaro, and as Next Friend for A.L.S. and N.L.S., Minor Children, Plaintiffs,

v.HANSFORD COUNTY and Brenda Vera, individually, Defendants.

No. 2:14–CV–00147–J.

United States District Court, N.D. Texas, Amarillo Division.

Signed May 22, 2015.

Christopher J. Gale, The Gale Law Group, Corpus Christi, TX, James L. Abbott, Jr., Abbott Law Office, Amarillo, TX, for Plaintiff.

Matt D. Matzner, Mark W. McBrayer, Crenshaw Dupree & Milam, Lubbock, TX, for Defendants.

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

MARY LOU ROBINSON, District Judge.

Before the Court is Defendants' Motion for Summary Judgment, filed on March 9, 2015. In that Motion, Defendants Brenda Vera ("Vera") and Hansford County ("the County") request that the Court grant summary judgment in their favor on all of Plaintiffs' 42 U.S.C. § 1983 claims. Plaintiffs filed a response on April 16, 2015, arguing that genuine issues of material fact exist as to both Vera's entitlement to the defense of qualified immunity and the County's liability for alleged Fourteenth Amendment violations. Defendants filed a reply on May 14, 2015. Defendants' Motion is GRANTED IN PART and DENIED IN PART.

BACKGROUND

This case arises out of the suicide of a pretrial detainee housed in the Hansford County jail. Lacy Dawn Cuccaro ("Lacy") was a twenty-eight-year-old resident of Gruver, Texas with a history of psychological problems and suicidal behavior. On July 16, 2012, Lacy was arrested for assault and was brought to the Hansford County Jail, located in Spearman, Texas. Three days later, Lacy committed suicide by hanging herself from a shower curtain rod using a towel that was given to her by jail officials. Jonathan David Shepard—Lacy's husband and the representative of the Estate of Lacy Dawn Cuccaro—filed a lawsuit in this Court on June 23, 2014 on behalf of himself and his two minor children, alleging that Brenda Vera and Hansford County violated Lacy's right, under the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, to adequate protection from her known suicidal tendencies.

Lacy was brought to the Hansford County jail at 1:43 PM on July 16, 2012. Brenda Vera was the jailer on duty. In addition to her jailer duties, Vera was also a telecommunications supervisor for Hansford County. These two jobs imposed numerous responsibilities on Vera, including booking inmates into the jail, maintaining inmate observation logs and schedules, administering medication to inmates, preparing meals for inmates, arranging for visitation with inmates, handling inmate mail, delivering commissary items to inmates, providing clothing, shoes, and hygiene products to inmates, scheduling medical appointments for inmates, answering 911 calls, and dispatching radio calls for two local police departments, three local fire departments, Emergency Medical Services, and the Texas Department of Public Safety.

As part of the standard booking process, Vera asked Lacy several questions about her mental health and suicidal tendencies. Lacy answered "Yes" when asked if she had ever attempted suicide in the past, and informed Vera that she had tried to commit suicide in January of 2011. Lacy also answered "Yes" when asked if she had thoughts of killing herself in the past year. However, Lacy answered "No" when asked if she currently felt depressed and also answered "No" when asked if she was thinking about killing herself that day. Based on these responses, Vera indicated on the screening form for suicide and medical and mental impairments that Lacy was at risk due to a mental illness or medical condition. However, Vera did not state that Lacy was a suicide risk.

Nevertheless, jail administrator Debbie Hornsby placed Lacy on suicide watch at 4:00 PM on July 16, 2012 and moved Lacy to a cell by herself, where she could be observed via video camera. There was a blanket and a towel in the cell, as well as a frosted shower curtain. Because Lacy had been placed on suicide watch, Vera understood that she was required to comply with Hansford County's suicide watch policy. Although the County's written policy established different observation frequencies for different degrees of suicide risk, it was apparently the County's unwritten policy that all inmates on suicide watch be observed face-to-face every fifteen minutes. Each observation was to be recorded in an "Inmate Observation Suicidal Log." Jailers at the Hansford County jail were able to remotely observe inmates in Lacy's cell through a video monitor, because there were two cameras trained on the cell. However, Vera stated that it was her understanding that Hansford County policy required observations of inmates on suicide watch to be made face-to-face—observations solely via the video monitors were not sufficient.¹

Vera reported for duty on the morning of Thursday, July 19, 2012 at 8:00 AM. On a typical Thursday morning, there were two jail employees on duty. However, on this particular morning, Vera was the only jailer on duty. One jailer was out sick, another was absent due to a death in the family, and a third jailer was not scheduled to report to duty until 4:00 PM. Hansford County Sheriff Gary Evans was also on duty on the morning of July 19, 2012. However, he was apparently not present in the jail that morning.

Consistent with Hansford County's suicide watch policy, Vera made face-to-face observations of Lacy at 8:00 AM, 8:15 AM, and 8:30 AM and recorded those observations in the suicide log. Vera observed that Lacy was sleeping in her bed. However, as the morning progressed, Vera soon became busy with her other duties. As a result, her observations at 8:45 AM, 9:00 AM, and 9:15 AM were all made via the video monitor rather than face-to-face. Vera was aware that these observations were not in compliance with County policy. Vera's 9:30 AM observation was face-to-face. However, the observations at 9:45 AM, 10:00 AM, 10:15 AM, and 10:30 AM were once again made solely through the video monitor. At the 10:30 AM observation, Vera noted that Lacy had finally awoken. At 10:35 AM, Lacy called Vera via the jail's intercom system. Vera asserted that Lacy appeared calm and upbeat, and displayed no obvious suicidal tendencies during this brief interaction.

After the 10:30 AM observation, Vera states that she failed to record any further fifteen-minute observations because she was busy with other duties and was the only jailer on staff who could handle those duties. However, this statement is contradicted by Vera's later statement that while performing general inmate observations, she observed Lacy standing in her cell at 10:50 AM and recorded this observation in the suicide log as the 10:45 AM observation. The suicide log does indeed reflect this 10:45 AM observation. It is the last observation recorded in the suicide log. Vera states that she did not make the 11:00 AM observation because she was filling out arrest forms and answering phone calls. At 11:25 AM, Vera began the process of preparing lunch for the inmates. Preparing lunch required Vera to leave the area where the video monitors were located. Because Vera was the only jail employee on duty that morning, there was no one else to observe the video monitors while she prepared lunch. Consequently, Vera did not observe Lacy's conduct in the cell for a period of about twenty-three minutes. At 11:48 AM, Vera again performed general inmate observations. During these observations, Vera saw Lacy via the video monitor and recorded this observation on the inmate observation log, but not on the suicide log. From 11:48 AM to 12:07 PM, Vera continued to prepare lunches and deliver them to the inmates; again preventing her from viewing Lacy's conduct either in person or in the video monitor. At 12:07 PM, Vera brought a lunch tray to Lacy's cell. Vera did not see Lacy in the cell, but saw what appeared to be the top of Lacy's head above the showercurtain. Vera called out to Lacy, but, after receiving no response, Vera concluded that Lacy had hung herself in the shower.

Hansford County policy prohibits a jailer from entering a cell alone, for any reason. If a jailer found herself in a situation where she needed to enter a cell, County policy required that the jailer call another jail employee so that both could enter the cell together. Sheriff Gary Evans explained that the purpose of this unwritten policy was to prevent a possible escape or assault on a jailer by an inmate who was feigning a suicide attempt.

Vera complied with this cell-entry policy and did not enter the cell to cut Lacy down, to check to see if she was still alive, or to attempt to resuscitate her. Vera also failed to call EMS, stating that she believed Lacy was already dead. Instead, Lacy called Sheriff Evans, who was eating lunch five blocks from the jail. Sheriff Evans arrived no more than two or three minutes after receiving the call and entered the cell while Vera stood by the door. Sheriff Evans found that Lacy had no pulse and was cool to the touch. He did not cut her body down from the shower curtain rod but instead left the cell to notify the Texas Rangers and the Hansford County Justice of Peace. Lacy's suicide was the first suicide at the Hansford County jail that either Vera or Sheriff Evans could recall. However, Vera stated that Hansford County placed a detainee on suicide watch roughly once every month.

Vera stated that she never saw or heard anything from Lacy on July 19, 2012 that would indicate a substantial risk that Lacy would commit suicide. Video from the jail shows that for a period of roughly ten to fifteen minutes prior to her suicide, Lacy was performing actions strongly suggestive of suicidal intent, including wrapping a towel around her neck, measuring the towel against the bars of the cell, and walking in and out of the shower stall. Had Vera been observing the video monitors at that time, she would have seen Lacy's suicidal actions. The time stamp on the video...