Storey v. Effingham Cnty.
| Decision Date | 31 January 2022 |
| Docket Number | CV415-149 |
| Parties | KEITH STOREY, as Executor of the Estate of Valerie Storey and Executor of the Estate of Kenneth Cartee, Plaintiff, v. EFFINGHAM COUNTY; JIMMY MCDUFFIE, individually and in his official capacity as Effingham County Sheriff; TRANSFORMHEALTHRX, INC.; EFFINGHAM COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS; ASHBY LEE ZYDONYK, Deputy; BRYAN SHEAROUSE, Corporal; CORA MAE GAINES, Jailer; DOROTHY HOPF, Jailer; GARETT BUCKLES, Jailer; JOHNNY REINHART, Jailer; LATONYA COOPER, Sergeant; LESLIE MINOR, Jail Corporal; PAUL DAVIS, Officer; ROBERT L. BROWN, Jail Captain; TIFFANY TISBY, Jail Officer; JOHN DOES 1-20; ANISA GRANTHAM, LPC, NCAC; REBECCA RANSOM, LPN; JANE DOES 1-10; JOHN DOES PHYSICIANS 1-5; and ALI RAHIMI, M.D.; Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Southern District of Georgia |
Before the Court is the Motion for Summary Judgment of Defendants Effingham County, the Effingham County Board of Commissioners, (collectively "the County") [1] and Jimmy McDuffie, individually and in his official capacity as Sheriff of Effingham County. (Doc. 159.) Plaintiff has opposed this motion. (Doc. 219.) For the following reasons Defendants' motion for summary judgment (Doc. 159) is GRANTED.
This case arises out of the 2012 incarceration of Kenneth Cartee at the Effingham County Jail. Early in the morning on September 9, 2012, Cartee called his daughter Valerie Storey and told her that he planned to commit suicide.[3] (Doc. 159, Attach. 2 at ¶ 1; Doc. 219, Attach. 1 at ¶ 6; Doc. 159, Attach. 3 at 55.) Ms. Storey called 911 and drove to her father's home. (Doc. 159, Attach. 2 at ¶ 2; Doc. 219, Attach. 1 at ¶ 7.) Two police officers and Jonathan Williams, a family friend, were with Cartee when Ms. Storey arrived. (Doc. 159, Attach. 3 at 56.) The officers attempted to persuade Cartee to be sent for a mental evaluation, which Cartee refused. (Id. at 58.) The police officers spoke to Cartee "for a very long time," but eventually, the officers left the scene for their shift change. (Id. at 56-57.) Ms. Storey and Mr. Williams remained with Cartee after the officers left. (Id. at 59.) Ms. Storey attempted to calm her father, but Cartee responded by putting a knife to her throat and saying, "If I'm going to go, you're going to go." (Doc. 159, Attach. 2 at ¶ 3; Doc. 219, Attach. 1 at ¶ 7.) Mr. Williams was able to separate Ms. Storey from Cartee, and the two drove to a neighbor's house to call 911. (Doc. 159, Attach. 3 at 60.)
An officer of the Effingham County Sheriff's Office ("ECSO"), Sergeant Bryan Shearouse, responded to the scene at approximately 5:00 a.m. and was apprised that Cartee appeared to be suicidal. (Doc. 159, Attach. 2 at ¶ 4; Doc. 219, Attach. 1 at 5 8; Doc. 159, Attach. 4 at 41-42.) Sgt. Shearouse and Deputy Heather Shaffer made conversation with Cartee. (Doc. 159, Attach. 4 at 34, 45.) When asked if he was suicidal, Cartee would respond, "It doesn't matter." (Id. at 45.) At some point, Cartee handed Sgt. Shearouse a bottle containing different pills but refused to answer whether he had taken any pills. (Id. at 47.) Based on Cartee's behavior and the concern that he was at risk of harming himself or others, Sgt. Shearouse decided to call an ambulance and have Cartee checked out by EMT. (Doc. 159, Attach. 4 at 85-86.) Eventually, Cartee agreed to have EMT transport him to Effingham Hospital for a voluntary mental health evaluation. (Id. at 85.)
Cartee was transported to the hospital by ambulance, with Sgt. Shearouse following in his police cruiser. (Doc. 159, Attach. 2 at ¶ 7; Doc. 219, Attach. 1 at ¶ 11.) While in transit, Cartee attempted to escape from the ambulance. (Doc. 159, Attach. 2 at ¶ 8; Doc. 219, Attach. 1 at ¶ 12.) The ambulance stopped, and Sgt. Shearouse took Cartee into custody because he determined that Cartee was a danger to himself and others and needed to be taken for an involuntary evaluation. (Doc. 159, Attach. 2 at ¶ 9; Doc. 219, Attach. 1 at 5 13; Doc. 159, Attach. 4 at 88.) Sgt. Shearouse then transported Cartee to Effingham Hospital in his police cruiser. (Doc. 159, Attach. 2 at ¶ 9; Doc. 219, Attach. 1 at ¶ 13.)
Upon their arrival at Effingham Hospital, a nurse informed Sgt. Shearouse that she would need a urine sample from Cartee and asked that one of Cartee's handcuffs be removed so that he could provide the sample. (Doc. 159, Attach. 2 at ¶ 10.) Sgt. Shearouse removed Cartee's left handcuff. (Id. at ¶ 11.) Cartee then began walking towards Sgt. Shearouse while pulling on his zipper in a manner that caused Sgt. Shearouse to believe Cartee intended to urinate on him. (Id. at ¶ 12.) Sgt. Shearouse instructed Cartee not to come any closer, but Cartee ignored the directive and raised a closed fist at Sgt. Shearouse. (Id. at ¶¶ 13-15.) Fearing that Cartee would hit him, Sgt. Shearouse pushed Cartee against the wall to immobilize him. (Id. at ¶ 16.) Cartee then tried to hit Sgt. Shearouse with his left arm, and Sgt. Shearouse loudly commanded Cartee to stop fighting. (Id. at ¶ 17.) Sgt. Shearouse was eventually able to force Cartee to the ground. (Id. at ¶ 18.) Cartee continued to resist despite Sgt. Shearouse's instructions and attempts to restrain Cartee. (Id. at ¶ 19.)
Because Cartee refused to comply, Sgt. Shearouse pulled out his Taser and threatened to tase Cartee. (Doc. 159, Attach. 2 at ¶ 20; Doc. 219, Attach. 1 at ¶ 15.) The threat of the Taser caused Cartee to cease resisting momentarily; however, when Sgt. Shearouse attempted to handcuff him, Cartee resumed resisting. (Doc. 159, Attach. 2 at ¶¶ 21-22.) Sgt. Shearouse then placed his knee between Cartee's shoulder and neck to "garner a pain response" in order to get both of Cartee's hands behind his back and cuffed. (Id. at ¶ 23.) At this point, Sgt. Shearouse was able to stand Cartee up, and he generally ceased resisting. (Id. at ¶ 24.) Cartee suffered a minor skin tear to his right wrist during the altercation, and the wound was checked and cleaned by a doctor at the hospital. (Id. at ¶ 25.) Following the altercation, the hospital staff medically cleared Cartee for release. (Id. at ¶ 27.) Sgt. Shearouse arrested Cartee for felony obstruction and transported him to the Effingham County Jail at approximately 11:45 a.m. on September 9, 2012. (Doc. 159, Attach. 2 at ¶ 27; Doc. 159, Attach. 6 at 24.)
At the jail, Sergeant Leslie Minor heard Cartee "hollering and cussing" over the dispatch radio as Sgt. Shearouse transported him to the jail. (Doc. 159, Attach. 2 at ¶ 28.) Sgt. Minor notified Officers Dorothy Hopf, Paul Davis, and John Reinhart that Cartee had been "fighting deputies" and instructed them to assist Sgt. Shearouse with bringing Cartee into the jail. (Id. at ¶ 29.) Based on her knowledge that Cartee had already been combative, Sgt. Minor instructed Officer Davis to get the Taser. (Id. at ¶ 30.)
Cartee was reportedly "out of control" when he entered the jail's booking area, screaming and referring to Sgt. Minor with a racial slur. (Id. at ¶ 31.) Officers Reinhart and Hopf removed Sgt. Shearouse's handcuffs from Cartee and instructed him to place his hands flat down on the booking desk. (Id. at ¶ 32.) At this point, Shearouse left the booking area to disinfect his handcuffs but was able to observe Cartee failing to follow the jail officers' commands from the doorway of the adjacent room. (Id. at ¶¶ 33-34.) Cartee refused the officers' commands to spread his feet. (Id. at ¶ 35.) When the officers attempted to put Cartee's hands on the table and told Cartee to keep them there, Cartee ''snatched them away" and told the officers, "I know what I'm doing." (Id. at ¶ 37.)
Plaintiff claims that at no point during this altercation did Cartee attempt to assault an officer. (Doc. 219, Attach. 1 at ¶ 25.) According to Sgt. Minor, however, whenever an officer attempted to restrain Cartee, he would swing his arms wildly and almost hit Officer Reinhart in the face at one point. (Doc. 159, Attach. 5 at 234-35.) Because the other officers were unable to restrain Cartee, Cartee was refusing the officers' commands, and Cartee had already fought Sgt. Shearouse at the hospital, Officer Davis deployed his Taser's prongs towards Cartee, which attached to his abdominal area. (Doc. 159, Attach. 2 at ¶ 41; Doc. 159, Attach. 7 at 10.) The shock from the Taser caused Cartee to fall onto Officer Reinhart, and they in turn fell together onto a row of plastic chairs. (Doc. 159, Attach. 2 at ¶¶ 42-43.)
The officers then gained control over Cartee, removed the Taser prongs, and placed Cartee in a restraint chair in a holding cell to give him time to calm down. (Id. at ¶ 44.) Sgt. Minor called the on-call telephone number for the jail's contracted medical provider TransformHealthRX's ("THRX") and requested that a nurse come to the jail to examine Mr. Cartee. (Id. at ¶ 46.) Nurse Marilyn Spikes arrived soon thereafter, but Cartee refused to allow her to examine him. (Id. at ¶ 47.) Officer Reinhart and Sgt. Minor removed Cartee from the restraint chair later that day, around 1:45 p.m. (Doc. 159, Attach. 6 at 59.) According to Officer Reinhart, Cartee appeared normal and did not complain of injuries at this time. (Id. at 60.) Cartee's combative behavior continued through Monday, September 10, 2012, and as a result, jail staff were unable to fully book him into the jail.[4]
At approximately 6:00 p.m. Monday, September 10, 2012, Nurse Rebecca Ransom, THRX's weekday nurse, assessed Cartee. (Doc. 159, Attach. 2 at 5 51.) Cartee indicated that he had previously taken illicit drugs, and Nurse Ransom concluded that his behavior was possibly drug-induced as opposed to the result of a mental illness. (Id. at ¶ 52.) ...
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