Sibley v. Lemaire
| Decision Date | 24 August 1999 |
| Docket Number | No. 98-30301,98-30301 |
| Citation | 184 F.3d 481 |
| Parties | (5th Cir. 1999) JAMES J. SIBLEY, SR., Plaintiff - Appellant-Cross-Appellee, v. RAYWOOD J. LEMAIRE, Sheriff; HUBERT P. TRAHAN; FREDDIE NOLAN, Defendants - Appellees-Cross-Appellants |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Fifth Circuit |
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Western District of Louisiana
Before REAVLEY, JOLLY, and EMILIO M. GARZA, Circuit Judges.
James J. Sibley appeals the dismissal of his claims that officers operating the Vermillion Parish Correctional Center ("prison") were liable for horrible injuries he inflicted on himself while a pretrial detainee. Sibley was arrested for assault and battery. He underwent a psychotic episode while being detained in an isolation cell. During this psychotic episode he physically blinded himself by plucking out his eyes. For this injury, he sued the sheriff, chief deputy, and a deputy under both 42 U.S.C. 1983 and Louisiana negligence claims. He won a jury verdict. The defendants then moved for a judgment as a matter of law ("JML") or new trial. The district court initially denied the motions, but then reconsidered in the light of two newly released opinions and granted a new trial. The defendants then moved for summary judgment. The district court granted the motion for summary judgment on the 1983 claims and dismissed without prejudice the remaining state claims. Sibley appeals the district court's rulings and the judgment dismissing his complaint. The defendants cross-appeal, arguing that the district court should have granted a JML instead of a new trial and that they were entitled to a JML on the state negligence claims. Finding no error on the part of the district court, we affirm.
As we have indicated, this case involves the particularly bizarre and shocking injuries Sibley inflicted upon himself during a psychotic episode while detained at the Vermillion Parish Correctional Center. Sibley was arrested on November 22, 1990, when the sheriff's department responded to a complaint made by Sibley's father-in-law. At the time he was arrested, his relatives pressed charges but requested that the charges be dropped as soon as he received medical attention. At that point, Sibley had developed severe psychological problems, which were exacerbated by his not taking prescribed medication. It is unclear the extent to which the sheriff's department was informed of his history of mental problems.
At the correctional center, Sibley was placed in a holding cell and then, after erratic behavior, he was placed in an isolation cell. Sibley could only be observed by looking through a slot in the door. There was no closed circuit camera in the room. The district court concluded at trial that there was evidence that Sheriff Lemaire, who was in charge of the correctional center, had a policy of placing violent prisoners in the isolation cell and, if necessary, placing them in shackles. There was also evidence that prisoners with mental problems who exhibited violent behavior were not treated differently from other violent prisoners. The evidence at trial further shows that Lemaire instituted a policy whereby prisoners in isolation cells were to be checked every ten to fifteen minutes.
The Parish Coroner, Dr. Ardley Hebert, examined Sibley on November 23, and concluded that he should be transferred to Acadiana Mental Health ("AMH"). Because AMH did not have any available beds, Dr. Hebert put Sibley on the waiting list and left him at the correctional institute.
On November 24, Deputy Nolan notified the correctional center's nurse that Sibley needed to see a doctor. Dr. Brian Amy, who was taking calls for Dr. Hebert, examined Sibley and also concluded that he should be transferred to AMH. Again, there were no beds available and Dr. Amy therefore left Sibley on the waiting list. During his visit, Dr. Amy filled out a Physician's Emergency Commitment form ("PEC").
Dr. Amy's notes on the PEC are telling. He noted that Sibley could be having delusions. In the section querying whether the patient is homicidal, suicidal, or violent, Dr. Amy wrote, "patient not violent on exam, did get arrested for battery." In dictated notes from his visit, Dr. Amy further noted: In a handwritten note at the bottom of the copy of Dr. Amy's typewritten, dictated notes, he wrote in hand: "He is on the list at Acadiana Mental Health & really needs to go there."
Dr. Amy left with instructions that he should be called if necessary. Sibley concedes that, up to that point, "[a]lthough [his] conduct was strange and indecorous, there was no suggestion of any potentially self-harming behavior prior to or during Dr. Amy's visit."
Throughout this time period, Sibley's behavior was erratic--he was observed holding his Bible upside down while appearing to read from it, cleaning the walls of his cell with toilet paper, and lying next to his toilet and staring into it. On Sunday, November 26, Sibley was found kicking the door to his cell. There is a factual dispute about what happened after that. Because of the procedural posture of this case, we present the facts in the light most favorable to Sibley's arguments. The testimony provides the basis for concluding that Sibley was placed in leg shackles and that the shackles were left on him until the evening of Monday, November 27.1 The reason for placing Sibley in shackles was either to punish him for disruptive behavior or to prevent him from hurting himself.
On Monday, November 27, a deputy discovered that Sibley had urinated on himself and his mattress, thrown his food around, and thrown his Bible and family pictures into the toilet. He was removed to another cell while his cell was cleaned. He was offered a shower but declined one because he apparently believed the devil would come up through the drain. He was then placed back in his cell and left there shackled and nude. A deputy testified that he checked on him at 9:15 p.m. and observed him sitting on his bed chanting. At 9:30 p.m. that evening, the same deputy discovered him plucking his eyes out with his fingers.
There was a delay of approximately an hour before Sibley was transported to a hospital. Deputy Nolan indicated that he believed he needed to speak to Dr. Amy before Sibley was moved and that his efforts to reach him were the cause for the delay. When Sibley was admitted to the hospital, his left eye was completely ruined and his right eye was severely damaged. He has not recovered any sight in his right eye.
The evidence at trial did not link either Lemaire or Trahan to any actions taken with respect to Sibley. Furthermore, there is no evidence in the record that anyone communicated to Lemaire information that might lead them to think that Sibley posed a risk to himself. Nor did Lemaire issue any orders with respect to how Sibley should be treated. Lemaire can therefore only be held responsible for policies that may have led to Sibley's self-mutilation. Similarly, Trahan can only be held responsible for either a policy or his failure to properly supervise the deputies handling Sibley.
With respect to Nolan, there is no evidence that he did anything that physically exacerbated Sibley's condition. Although he did put Sibley in shackles, there is no evidence that the shackles, in and of themselves, brought about Sibley's psychotic episode. Besides applying the shackles to Sibley, Nolan did nothing else that could have had any physical effect on Sibley. There is, however, evidence that he observed Sibley's apparently worsening condition without calling Dr. Amy for additional medical consultation. He therefore can only be liable for neglecting to seek additional medical help for Sibley, in the light of Sibley's increasingly erratic conduct--conduct which arguably led Nolan to shackle Sibley to protect himself from himself.
Sibley first filed a claim for damages under 42 U.S.C. 1983 against Sheriff Lemaire in federal district court in 1990. He asserted that Sheriff Lemaire was responsible for the Vermillion Parish Jail and that Sibley had been denied psychiatric care in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment. He also filed claims in state court asserting negligence claims under Louisiana Civil Code articles 2315, 2316, and 2320 against Sheriff Lemaire and others, including Dr. Hebert, Dr. Amy, and the Vermillion Parish Police Jury.2 The trial in district court was held in abeyance pending the state court proceedings. By late 1994, all state court actions against Dr. Hebert, Dr. Amy, and the Police Jury had been dismissed with prejudice.3
In 1996, Sibley amended his complaint in district court. In part, the amended complaint alleged that there was a persistent, widespread practice that amounted to a policy of using isolation cells and shackles against patients with mental problems. According to the amended complaint, that policy violated Sibley's right to substantive due process. The complaint also alleged that Lemaire failed to provide constant observation of mental patients or to train the prison staff to recognize symptoms of serious mental illness. Sibley's amended complaint also added Chief Deputy Hubert Trahan and Deputy Nolan as defendants. Sibley also successfully moved to consolidate the Louisiana state claims with the 1983 claims. The case was tried to a jury in September 1996.
Thus, the federal trial proceeded against Sheriff Lemaire and his two deputies Trahan and Nolan. At the close of Sibley's evidence, Lemaire moved for a JML under Fed.R.Civ.P. Rule 50(a), in part requesting dismissal of the policymaker claims. The district court held that the written and/or customary...
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