Townsend v. Jefferson County

• Decision Date: 30 March 2010
• Docket Number: No. 08-15583.,08-15583.
• Citation: 601 F.3d 1152
• Parties: Sherika TOWNSEND, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. JEFFERSON COUNTY, as persons under 42 U.S.C. 1983, et al., Defendants-Cross-Defendants, Arlene Chambers, individually and in her capacity as a Jailer for the Jefferson County Jail, Defendant-Cross-Claimant-Appellant.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Eleventh Circuit

601 F.3d 1152

Sherika TOWNSEND, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. JEFFERSON COUNTY, as persons under 42 U.S.C. 1983, et al., Defendants-Cross-Defendants, Arlene Chambers, individually and in her capacity as a Jailer for the Jefferson County Jail, Defendant-Cross-Claimant-Appellant.

No. 08-15583.

United States Court of Appeals, Eleventh Circuit.

March 30, 2010.

Robert R. Riley, Jr., Keith Jackson, Riley & Jackson, Birmingham, AL, for Chambers.

Gregory J. Reid, Gardendale, AL, for Townsend.

Before CARNES and PRYOR, Circuit Judges, and STAGG,^* District Judge.

PRYOR, Circuit Judge:

We sua sponte vacate and reconsider our original opinion in this matter. We substitute the following opinion for our original opinion.

This interlocutory appeal presents the question whether two deputies at a county jail were deliberately indifferent to the serious medical need of a pregnant detainee who had used crack cocaine daily. The undisputed evidence proves that both deputies knew that a nurse at the jail had seen and spoken with the detainee, and it is undisputed that the nurse determined that the detainee's medical need was not an emergency. Sherika Townsend suffered a miscarriage while detained in the Birmingham jail of Jefferson County, Alabama, and Townsend complained that Deputies Arlene Chambers and Brandy Daniels violated her civil rights under the Fourteenth Amendment by acting with deliberate indifference to her serious medical need. The deputies moved for summary judgment on the basis of qualified immunity, and the district court denied the motion. We reverse and render a judgment in favor of the deputies.

I. BACKGROUND

Our discussion of the background of this appeal is divided in two parts. We first discuss the facts leading to Townsend's complaint against the deputies. We then discuss Townsend's complaint and the deputies' motion for summary judgment.

A. Facts Leading to Townsend's Complaint

This case arises from Townsend's confinement in the Birmingham jail on September 24, 2004. The parties offer conflicting accounts of the events in question, but we "set forth the facts, drawn from the evidence presented, in the light most favorable to Townsend." Snow ex rel. Snow v. City of Citronelle, 420 F.3d 1262, 1265 (11th Cir.2005). Townsend has adopted the facts described in the opinion of the district court, so we accept those findings as the version of the facts that favors Townsend.

In the early morning hours of September 24, 2004, Townsend was arrested for failure to appear on the charge of possession of a controlled substance. Townsend was pregnant and under the influence of crack cocaine. Townsend knew that she was pregnant and that using cocaine daily during her pregnancy could cause a miscarriage, but she both used crack cocaine and smoked cigarettes every day of her pregnancy.

Townsend was admitted at the Birmingham jail at 1:08 a.m. At about 4:50 a.m., Townsend met with a nurse who completed a health screening form. Townsend told the nurse that she was pregnant. Townsend testified that she told the nurse that she was four or five months pregnant, but the receiving screening form states that Townsend was three months pregnant.

Between 6:00 a.m. and 7:00 a.m., Townsend was taken to Level 5 of the jail and placed in cell F-9 with two other inmates, April Nix and Catarina Mejia. Townsend initially testified that Deputies Chambers, Daniels, and Suzann Isaacs were working on Level 5 when she arrived, but Townsend later admitted that Deputies Isaacs, Cathy Cargle, and Diane Preston were on duty on Level 5 at that time. Townsend admits that Daniels and Chambers reported for duty on Level 5 that day at about 2:00 p.m. and 3:15 p.m., respectively.

Townsend alleges that at about 10:00 a.m. she began to experience abdominal pain and vaginal bleeding. The parties dispute when Townsend first advised the deputies of her condition, as well as how often Townsend contacted the deputies. Townsend was not wearing a watch during her detention at the jail.

Townsend provides conflicting accounts of her contacts with the deputies. Townsend first testified that, when she began to experience pain and bleeding at about 10:00 a.m., she contacted "Daniels at first and then Ms. Chambers." Townsend testified that she used the intercom inside her cell to contact Daniels. Townsend testified that she told Daniels that she was pregnant and "spotting," and that Daniels responded that she would get the nurse as soon as possible. Townsend testified that she used the intercom to contact Chambers within "the next hour" after she first contacted Daniels. Townsend testified that she told Chambers "the same thing" that she had told Daniels. Townsend testified that she was not given anything in response to her reports that she was spotting, that her cell already contained sanitary pads, and that she used the pads. Townsend testified that she used the intercom five more times to notify Daniels of her condition after her initial call at about 10:00 a.m. Townsend testified that she never went "to the pod" to talk to either Chambers or Daniels, but that she yelled from her cell to request help constantly from about 10:00 a.m. until that evening. Townsend testified that the deputies ignored her and that it took more than eight hours for her to get help.

Townsend later testified that she was lying on the floor outside her cell when she "experienced the first pain" and that she used the intercom outside her cell to contact both Chambers and Daniels. Townsend testified that she contacted the deputies by intercom a second time to notify them of her condition, but that she did not know how long after her first call she made the second call. Townsend also testified that she did not know with whom she spoke during the second call.

Townsend testified that her cellmates also used the intercom outside their cell to contact the deputies about her condition. Townsend testified that she heard her cellmates report that "this pregnant lady is bleeding and hurting," but Townsend did not state what time her cellmates made this call or with whom they spoke. Townsend was unable to hear the deputy's response. Nix stated that she and Mejia used the intercom to "tell Daniels of the problem" at "about 6-6:30 pm," when Townsend "was complaining of pain and bleeding." Townsend estimated that she, Nix, and Mejia made ten more intercom calls after her cellmates contacted the deputies and before a nurse arrived.

An inmate in the cell next to Townsend's cell, Kiana Brown, stated that Nix and Mejia used the intercom at least eight times to contact the deputies. Brown stated that she also used the intercom to contact the deputies three times, but Brown did not state with whom she spoke or when she used the intercom. The first time Brown called, the deputy who answered stated "`they had it,'" but "no one came to check on Townsend." The second time she called, the deputy who answered "responded `don't ring the damn buzzer again.'" The third time she called, no one responded "in any way."

Chambers began checking the F-Block of Level 5 at about 7:00 p.m. Chambers used a wand that electronically recorded her "progression through the cell block check" and "maintained a log of the cells and rooms inspected by Chambers and the time of the inspection of the cells and rooms." The report from the wand states that Chambers checked Townsend's cell at 7:18 p.m.

While Chambers was checking the F-Block, Townsend told Chambers that she was pregnant, spotting, and did not feel well. Townsend was not wearing a sanitary pad when Chambers spoke with her. Chambers told Townsend to use a pad so that the nurse could see it. Chambers denies hearing or receiving any intercom calls from Townsend during her shift.

Daniels testified that she first learned of Townsend's condition between 7:30 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. when Townsend's cellmates used the intercom to report that Townsend was bleeding, vomiting, and suffering abdominal pain. Daniels testified that she then spoke to Townsend and that Townsend confirmed her symptoms and that she was about four months pregnant. Daniels testified that she told Townsend that her condition could be normal, but "to be on the safe side" she needed to see the nurse, Sallie Langston, who was currently conducting a "pill pass" near Townsend's cell. Daniels testified that this conversation was the only time she spoke to Townsend on the intercom. Townsend testified that Langston did not arrive at her cell until three or four hours after she first notified Daniels of her condition at about 10:00 a.m., but the parties do not now dispute that Langston reported for duty at 3:00 p.m.

As the district court stated, "All parties agree that Townsend saw Nurse Langston for the first time after 7:30 p.m., when the nurse arrived at the slider door of Level 5 to administer medication." Townsend testified that Langston "came up and ... asked to see my pad and I showed it to her... at the door to my cell unit." Townsend testified that she showed Langston the first pad that she had used that day and that the pad "had spots on it." Langston testified that Townsend showed her a piece of tissue with a pink spot, not a pad, and that Townsend was calm and did not exhibit any outward signs of pain, such as grabbing her abdomen or bending over in pain.

Townsend testified that Nurse Langston told her that she was overreacting and needed to calm down. Langston testified that she recognized that Townsend needed further examination, but that because Townsend's condition was not an emergency, she told Townsend that she would return in about 90 minutes when she finished administering medication. Both Chambers and Daniels knew that Langston visited Townsend while she was conducting a "pill pass," and "heard Langston advise Townsend that she would see her after her `pill pass' duties."

Townsend testified that "an hour or two" later, after she failed to "calm down," she was taken away from the other...