Thomas v. County Com'Rs of Shawnee County

• Decision Date: 12 December 2008
• Docket Number: No. 98,586.,98,586.
• Citation: 40 Kan. App. 2d 946,198 P.3d 182
• Parties: Cathy THOMAS, Administratrix of the Estate of Anthony D. Stapleton, et al., Appellants, v. The COUNTY COMMISSIONERS OF SHAWNEE COUNTY, Kansas, et al., Appellees.
• Court: Kansas Court of Appeals

198 P.3d 182

40 Kan. App. 2d 946

Cathy THOMAS, Administratrix of the Estate of Anthony D. Stapleton, et al., Appellants, v. The COUNTY COMMISSIONERS OF SHAWNEE COUNTY, Kansas, et al., Appellees.

No. 98,586.

Court of Appeals of Kansas.

December 12, 2008.

Robert R. Laing, Jr., of Kansas City, for appellants.

William A. Larson, of Larson & Blumreich, Chartered, of Topeka, for appellees.

Before MARQUARDT, P.J., STANDRIDGE, J., and BUKATY, S.J.

STANDRIDGE, J.

In this jail suicide negligence action, the plaintiffs appeal the district court's decision to grant summary judgment in favor of the defendants. We affirm in part, reverse in part, and remand with directions.

Facts

On October 22, 2002, Anthony D. Stapleton was taken into custody at the Shawnee County Department of Corrections Adult Detention Center (DOC). Stapleton was placed on suicide watch after he told jail staff that he had attempted suicide a few months prior to being incarcerated, that he felt he had "lost everyone," and that he wanted to die. Inmates in the suicide watch unit were considered an imminent risk for suicide and were required to be observed on a nearly continuous basis.

Jail staff moved Stapleton from suicide watch to the close observation unit after Stapleton reported that he was feeling much better and denied having any current suicidal ideation or plans. The close observation unit was intended for those inmates who were not imminently suicidal, but who possessed one or more suicide risk factors. DOC policy required officers in the close observation unit to conduct health and well-being checks every 15 minutes. Although close observation guards were not required to know whether an inmate had been suicidal in the past, guards were trained to treat all inmates in the close observation unit as if they possessed risk factors for suicide. Officers were also told that placement in the close observation unit represented that "someone possesses a risk factor, one or more risk factors, for suicide, but are not considered imminently suicidal."

After being placed in close observation, Stapleton was evaluated three times for risk of suicide, with the last evaluation occurring November 25, 2002. Each time he was evaluated, jail staff recommended that Stapleton remain in the close observation unit.

David Tipton was the guard on duty in the close observation unit on November 29, 2002. At approximately 9:05 a.m., Stapleton started an argument with another guard, Curtis Jones, over the size of Stapleton's jumpsuit. Jones called Matthew Biltoft, Tipton and Jones' supervisor, and stated that he thought Stapleton should be moved to suicide watch because Stapleton was a disciplinary problem. Jones' recommendation was consistent with the suicide prevention policy, which provided that a close observation inmate should be transferred to suicide watch if the inmate becomes seriously insubordinate or violent.

In addition to Jones, Tipton also told Biltoft that Stapleton should be transferred out of the close observation unit. In an affidavit filed after Stapleton's death, Tipton maintained that he—like Jones—thought Stapleton should have been moved to suicide watch because Stapleton was a disciplinary problem. Tipton's stated reason for the transfer was disputed by Father Joseph Chontos, who spoke with Tipton after the suicide occurred. According to Chontos, Tipton thought the move to suicide watch was necessary not because Stapleton was a disciplinary problem, but because Stapleton was a threat to himself.

After speaking with Tipton and Jones, Biltoft arrived at the close observation unit and talked with Stapleton about the incident. Although Stapleton appeared to almost begin crying during the conversation, Stapleton later seemed to calm down and relax. Without conducting a formal suicide screening, Biltoft determined that Stapleton did not need to be transferred to suicide watch. Biltoft left the close observation unit.

At 10 a.m., Tipton saw that Stapleton had completed a shower and was proceeding to his room. According to Darrell Myrick, another inmate in the close observation unit Stapleton was walking towards his room from the shower and, when he was about 15 feet from Tipton, Stapleton stated out loud that he was going to kill himself. Tipton stated he did not hear Stapleton's statement. Myrick claimed that Tipton was watching television and was not paying attention to the inmates at the time.

Once inside his cell, Stapleton obstructed his cell window with an artificial screen, which violated DOC policy. Tipton stated that every module at the DOC in which Tipton worked had permitted the inmates to briefly cover their cell windows when the inmates were using the restroom; thus, Tipton took no action to remove the screen from Stapleton's window.

Between 10:16 a.m. and 10:20 a.m., Stapleton's roommate reported that he was unable to open the door to his room. Tipton checked the door and found that Stapleton had hanged himself with a sheet. Tipton notified emergency personnel and immediately administered first aid to Stapleton. Stapleton ultimately was pronounced dead.

After Stapleton's death, three suicide letters were found in Stapleton's cell. The earliest was dated November 3, 2002. According to the suicide prevention policy, frequent shakedowns of each cell, at least one time per shift on the first and second shifts, were required in the close observation unit. There was no record that a shakedown of Stapleton's cell was ever completed.

Following the suicide, Cathy Thomas, the administratrix of Stapleton's estate, and Jennifer Mendez, next of kin and guardian of Stapleton's son (collectively "Thomas"), filed a lawsuit grounded in negligence against Biltoft, Tipton, and Betsy Gillespie (Director of the DOC), as well as County Commissioners Ted Ensley, Marice Kane, and Victor Miller individually and the Board of Shawnee County Commissioners as an entity ("Shawnee County") (collectively "Defendants"). Defendants ultimately filed a motion for summary judgment, which the district court granted. Thomas appeals, arguing the district court erred in determining that each of the defendants were entitled to immunity from liability for any negligent acts.

Analysis

The parties are well acquainted with the standards for summary judgment, and we will not repeat them here. See Bracken v. Dixon Industries, Inc., 272 Kan. 1272, 1274-75, 38 P.3d 679 (2002) (setting forth the standards for summary judgment). Where there is no factual dispute, appellate review of an order granting summary judgment is de novo. Cooke v. Gillespie, 285 Kan. 748, 754, 176 P.3d 144 (2008).

In order to establish liability for negligence against a defendant, including a governmental agency, the plaintiff must establish: (1) The defendant owed a duty to the plaintiff; (2) the duty was breached; (3) the breach was the proximate cause of the plaintiff's injury; and (4) the plaintiff sustained damages. Burney v. Kansas Dept. of SRS, 23 Kan.App.2d 394, 397, 931 P.2d 26 (1997). Whether a duty exists is a question of law, and our review is unlimited. See Nero v. Kansas State University, 253 Kan. 567, 571, 861 P.2d 768 (1993). If a duty exists, breach and causation are questions for the factfinder. See Calwell v. Hassan, 260 Kan. 769, 776, 925 P.2d 422 (1996).

A. Defendants' Duty To Stapleton

There is no affirmative duty to protect an individual unless one can establish a special duty is owed to the injured individual. See Potts v. Board of Leavenworth County Comm'rs, 39 Kan.App.2d 71, 80-81, 176 P.3d 988 (2008) (governmental agency owes duty to public at large and not to individual unless special relationship exists); Restatement (Second) of Torts § 314A (1964) (an individual has no duty to act for the protection of others unless a special relationship exists). Numerous Kansas cases have recognized that a custodial relationship is a special relationship which imposes on the custodian a special duty of care. Relevant to the issue of duty here, many of these cases relied on various sections within the Restatement (Second) of Torts to support the existence of such a relationship. A brief review of these cases will be helpful to our determination regarding whether Defendants owed a special duty of care to Stapleton under the facts presented here.

In Cansler v. State, 234 Kan. 554, 675 P.2d 57 (1984), one of seven inmates who escaped from the penitentiary shot and severely wounded a police officer. The police officer sued the government, and the Kansas Supreme Court considered whether the government owed the officer a special duty to protect him from the escaped convicts. The court cited Restatement (Second) of Torts § 319 (1964), which provides that custodians who take control of a dangerous person owe a duty of reasonable care to prevent the dangerous person from harming others. Finding no Kansas decisions precisely on point, the court relied heavily on cases from outside jurisdictions to conclude that, pursuant to Restatement (Second) of Torts § 319, the State owed a duty of reasonable care to prevent the inmate from escaping and harming the officer. 234 Kan. at 559-64, 675 P.2d 57.

In Washington v. State, 17 Kan.App.2d 518, 839 P.2d 555, rev. denied 252 Kan. 1095 (1992), Washington was in custody at the Lansing Correctional Facility when he got into a fight with Vaughn, another inmate. Both men were placed in special confinement. Vaughn made several threats against Washington in the presence of the prison guards. Upon release from special confinement, both men were assigned to the same cell block four cells away from each other, even though other empty cells were available. On this same day, Vaughn stabbed Washington in the eye, causing irreparable damage.

Washington sued the State for negligence, alleging that as agents of the State, the prison guards knew Vaughn would try to harm Washington, yet they assigned the two to the same cell block without warning and did not try...