Smith v. Brenoettsy

• Citation: 158 F.3d 908
• Decision Date: 05 November 1998
• Docket Number: No. 97-30587,97-30587
• Parties: Eric SMITH, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Steve BRENOETTSY, Lieutenant, et al., Defendants, John P. Whitley, Warden, Defendant-Appellant. Summary Calendar.
• Court: United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (5th Circuit)

Page 908

158 F.3d 908

Eric SMITH, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Steve BRENOETTSY, Lieutenant, et al., Defendants, John P. Whitley, Warden, Defendant-Appellant.

No. 97-30587

Summary Calendar.

United States Court of Appeals,

Fifth Circuit.

Nov. 5, 1998.

Otha Curtis Nelson, Sr., Simmons, Nelson & Dunn, Baton Rouge, LA, for Plaintiff-Appellee.

Andre Charles Castaing, Baton Rouge, LA, for Defendant-Appellant.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Middle District of Louisiana.

Before WIENER, BARKSDALE and EMILIO M. GARZA, Circuit Judges.

EMILIO M. GARZA, Circuit Judge.

Eric Smith, an inmate at Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola ("LSPA"), brought suit pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and state tort law against LSPA guard Steve Brengettsy, ¹ LSPA Warden John Whitley and others after Brengettsy allegedly stabbed Smith. The magistrate judge denied summary judgment on Smith's failure-to-supervise claim against Whitley. Whitley now brings an interlocutory appeal from this denial of summary judgment, arguing that he is entitled to qualified immunity. We dismiss for lack of jurisdiction.

I

Brengettsy allegedly stabbed Smith in the stomach on January 10, 1993. ² Prior to the stabbing, Brengettsy also allegedly verbally abused and threatened Smith for approximately two weeks. In response to the verbal abuse and threats, Smith attempted to seek the help of another guard, Lt. Stanley Griffin, and Brengettsy's shift supervisor, Major Foster Andrews, but both refused to become involved. Smith also wrote several letters to Warden Whitley seeking assistance. Smith allegedly wrote his first letter to Whitley on December 6, 1992, but no letter written on that date appears in Smith's prison file, and Whitley denies ever receiving this letter. Smith sent, and Whitley admits to receiving, two other letters, dated December 23, 1992 (the "December 23 letter"), and December 31, 1992 (the "December 31 letter"). In the December 23 letter, Smith requested assistance from Whitley because he was "constantly being verbally abused by" Brengettsy. In the December 31 letter, Smith again requested Whitley's assistance in getting Brengettsy to "back off with his treats (sic), and verbal abuse to me." The December 31 letter also stated that "[m]y complaint was brought to his co-worker Lt. Griffin, after hearing what I had to say, Lt. Griffin, said to me it was between Lt. Brenocesty (sic) and me to work-out." Both letters concluded with a plea for Whitley to investigate Brengettsy. Smith also sent a fourth letter, dated January 6, 1993, but this letter did not arrive until January 12, 1993, after Brengettsy allegedly stabbed Smith. Whitley apparently took no action based upon these letters.

Smith thereafter brought suit pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 against Brengettsy, Griffin, Andrews, Whitley, and the State of Louisiana through the Department of Public Safety and Corrections, alleging violations of his rights under the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments of the U.S. Constitution and pendent state law claims. With regard to Whitley, Smith claimed that Whitley's failure to investigate and to supervise Brengettsy enabled Brengettsy to stab him ("failure-to-supervise claim"). The district court referred the case to a magistrate judge, and based upon the magistrate's recommendation, the court dismissed all claims and defendants except the failure-to-supervise claim against Whitley and the Eighth Amendment and state tort law claims against Brengettsy. Whitley then filed a motion for summary judgment, asserting qualified immunity, ³ which Smith failed to answer. The magistrate denied summary judgment because she found that the evidence Whitley attached to his summary judgment motion was not properly authenticated and because Whitley had failed to aver that he was not aware of Smith's complaints. Whitley timely appealed the magistrate's denial of summary judgment.

II

We review the denial of a summary judgment motion de novo, viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the nonmovant. See Nerren v. Livingston Police Dep't, 86 F.3d 469, 470 & n. 1 (5th Cir.1996). Summary judgment is appropriate where "there is no genuine issue of material fact and [ ] the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law." FED.R.CIV.P. 56(c). To win summary judgment, the movant must show that the evidence in the record would not permit the nonmovant to carry its burden of proof at trial. See Celotex v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 327, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 2554, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986). When the movant meets this burden, the nonmovant seeking denial of the motion must set forth specific facts showing a genuine issue for trial. See Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 250, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 2510, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986). A dispute over a material fact is genuine "if the evidence is such that a reasonable jury could return a verdict for the nonmoving party." Id. at 248, 106 S.Ct. at 2510. "Material facts" are those "that might affect the outcome of the suit under the governing law." Id.

III

Before looking at the merits of this interlocutory appeal, we first examine the basis for our jurisdiction. See Behrens v. Pelletier, 516 U.S. 299, 312-14, 116 S.Ct. 834, 842, 133 L.Ed.2d 773 (1996) (holding that where there are issues of law separable from the merits of a claim, a court of appeals has jurisdiction to review those issues of law on interlocutory appeal, even when the district court denied summary judgment on the basis that material disputes of fact remain); Johnson v. Jones, 515 U.S. 304, 313, 115 S.Ct. 2151, 2156, 132 L.Ed.2d 238 (1995) (holding that when the only issue presented on interlocutory appeal is whether the evidence could support a finding that an official's conduct violated clearly established law, a court of appeals lacks jurisdiction to review the denial of summary judgment). The magistrate denied Whitley's motion for summary judgment based on qualified immunity because she found that the evidence Whitley attached to his summary judgment motion was not properly authenticated and because Whitley had failed to introduce an affidavit averring that he was not aware of Smith's complaints. Assuming, arguendo, that these evidentiary problems can be overlooked, we have jurisdiction to consider Whitley's contention that issues of law separable from the merits exist. See Behrens, 516 U.S. at 312-14, 116 S.Ct. at 842; Cantu v. Rocha, 77 F.3d 795, 802 (5th Cir.1996).

IV

In the underlying suit in this case, Smith claims that Whitley's failure to supervise Brengettsy enabled Brengettsy to stab him. ⁴ A supervisory official may be held liable under section 1983 for the wrongful acts of a subordinate "when [the supervisory official] breaches a duty imposed by state or local law, and this breach causes plaintiff's constitutional injury." Sims v. Adams, 537 F.2d 829, 831 (5th Cir.1976). To hold a supervisory official so liable, the plaintiff must show that: (1) the supervisor either failed to supervise or train the subordinate official; (2) a causal link exists between the failure to train or supervise and the violation of the plaintiff's rights; and (3) the failure to train or supervise amounts to deliberate indifference. Hinshaw v. Doffer, 785 F.2d 1260, 1263 (5th Cir.1986). For an official to act with deliberate indifference, "the official must both be aware of facts from which the inference could be drawn that a substantial risk of serious harm exists, and he must also draw the inference." Farmer v. Brennan, 511 U.S. 825, 837, 114 S.Ct. 1970, 1979, 128 L.Ed.2d 811 (1994); Wilson v. Seiter, 501 U.S. 294, 111 S.Ct. 2321, 115 L.Ed.2d 271 (1991).

Whitley raises three legal arguments that are separable from the merits of this case. Whitley first argues that Smith's letters were not specific enough to apprise him that Brengettsy posed a "substantial risk of serious harm" to Smith. Whitley further argues that under Farmer, his failure to investigate Smith's letters was an objectively reasonable response to Smith's letters as a matter of law because over six thousand complaints are filed annually at LSPA. Finally, Whitley argues that because Smith bears the burden of proof on summary judgment of showing that Whitley actually drew the inference that Brengettsy posed a "substantial risk of serious harm" to Smith, Farmer, 511 U.S. at 837, 114 S.Ct. at 1979, he is entitled to summary judgment as a matter of law.

Whitley first argues that he is entitled to summary judgment because Smith's letters did not sufficiently apprise him that Brengettsy might stab Smith. Whitley contends that a complaint letter "must contain an unusually high degree of specificity and corroboration" in order to serve as the basis for a failure-to-supervise claim because over 6,000 complaints are filed at LSPA each year and that he cannot be expected to look into each and every complaint. As an initial matter, Whitley provides no legal support for this argument. Moreover, while a prisoner normally must complain about a specific threat to a supervisory official in order to give actual notice to that official, see, e.g., McGill v. Duckworth, 944 F.2d 344, 349 (7th Cir.1991), overruled on other grounds by Farmer, 511 U.S. 825, 114 S.Ct. 1970, 128 L.Ed.2d 811, we have never required that a supervisory official be warned of the precise act that the subordinate official subsequently commits. See, e.g., Rosa H. v. San Elizario Indep. Sch. Dist., 106 F.3d 648, 659 (5th Cir.1997). Rather, all that we (and the Supreme Court) have required is that "the official ... be aware of facts from which the inference could be drawn that a substantial risk of serious harm exists." Id. (citing Farmer, 511 U.S. at 837, 114 S.Ct. at 1979). On interlocutory appeal, however, we lack jurisdiction to resolve the factual question of whether Smith's letters were specific enough to satisfy this standard. See Johnson, 515 U.S. at 313, 115 S.Ct. at 2156.

Whitley next argues that his failure to investigate Smith's...