Webb v. Lawrence County

• Decision Date: 18 March 1996
• Docket Number: No. Civ. 94-5086.,Civ. 94-5086.
• Citation: 950 F.Supp. 960
• Parties: Douglas D. WEBB, Plaintiff, v. LAWRENCE COUNTY; Charles Crotty, in his individual capacity and official capacity as Lawrence County Sheriff; John Doe, in his individual capacity; and Jim Doe, in his individual capacity, Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of South Dakota

950 F.Supp. 960

Douglas D. WEBB, Plaintiff, v. LAWRENCE COUNTY; Charles Crotty, in his individual capacity and official capacity as Lawrence County Sheriff; John Doe, in his individual capacity; and Jim Doe, in his individual capacity, Defendants.

No. Civ. 94-5086.

United States District Court, D. South Dakota, Western Division.

March 18, 1996.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Steven C. Beardsley, Lynn Jackson Shultz & Lebrun, Rapid City, SD, for Plaintiff.

Thomas E. Brady, Spearfish, SD, for Defendant.

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

BATTEY, Chief Judge.

PROCEDURAL HISTORY

On December 2, 1994, plaintiff Douglas Webb (Webb) filed a complaint with this Court. Count I of Webb's complaint alleged a civil rights violation under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. Count II of Webb's complaint alleged a negligence cause of action. Webb's complaint sought relief in the form of compensatory and punitive damages and an award of attorney's fees. Defendants answered on December 23, 1994.

On November 15, 1995, defendants filed a motion for summary judgment on Count I of Webb's complaint, a motion to dismiss Count II of the Webb's complaint, and a motion to dismiss Webb's punitive damages claim. Webb filed his responses to the motions to dismiss on December 5, 1995. Webb filed his response to the motion for summary judgment on January 5, 1996.

FACTS

In 1992 or 1993, Webb and accomplice Shannon Tighe committed a burglary in Lawrence County. They then traveled to Wyoming where they held a trucker up at gunpoint and stole his logging vehicle. While fleeing from authorities Webb stated that he "fired his weapon once straight out as a warning shot" to the pursuing law enforcement officers. (See Webb's response to defendant's statement of facts ¶ 6). After Webb was apprehended, he spent four or five months in a Wyoming jail. He was then transferred to the Lawrence County Jail on October 22, 1993, to face pending South Dakota charges.

When Webb was transferred to the Lawrence County Jail, he was placed in maximum security. Webb stated that he told one of the jailers that he should not be in maximum security. Shannon Tighe was placed in Minimum I. Defendants stated Shannon Tighe was not placed in maximum security because they were attempting to keep the crime partners separate. Webb stated that there was no requirement that he be placed in maximum security. He claimed he could have been placed in either the Minimum I or II sections. Defendants stated that Minimum II was full. On Webb's third night in the jail, at his request, Webb moved into a cell with inmate Greg Wyman. Webb moved because Wyman asked him to and because his other cellmate was leaving and he did not want to be in a cell with incoming federal prisoners. Wyman was being incarcerated for convictions of rape and sexual contact with a minor. The jailers were aware of this fact. None of the jail staff told Webb the crimes for which Wyman was incarcerated. In the maximum security section of the jail, the inmates are locked down in their cells at night and allowed to move freely through the commons area during the day.

The jail does have an emergency button; however, it is in the commons area so inmates do not have access to it when they are locked down in their cells at night. The maximum security section has a security camera, but it does not provide a view into the individual cells. The defendants stated that jailers were in the cells approximately every thirty minutes. Webb, however, stated that the jailers only came into the cell block once a day. The jailers did not receive any specific training regarding which inmates may be more likely to be sexually assaulted and which inmates may be more likely to sexually assault others.

On the second night Webb was celled with Wyman, Wyman forced Webb to perform oral sex on him. Webb stated that Wyman told him he had a shank in the cell and that he would rather die than serve the three life sentences he was facing. Webb stated that Wyman also told him he was going to be Wyman's "bitch and little girl." Webb was subsequently forced to perform oral sex for the following three nights. On the fourth night, Wyman attempted to have anal intercourse with Webb. Wyman also once attempted to make Webb perform oral intercourse on him during the day but was interrupted when jailers entered the cell block. Prior to lockdown on October 31, 1993, the fifth night in Wyman's cell, Webb left jailers a note stating that he had been raped on the previous nights. Thirty minutes after the note was found, Webb was removed from Wyman's cell. Webb did not notify the jailers of the rape sooner because he could not think of a way to give them a note without Wyman finding out. At the time the incident occurred, Webb was five foot four inches tall and weighed 120 pounds.

COUNT I — CIVIL RIGHTS CLAIM

Count I of Webb's complaint is based on a civil rights claim under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. Webb alleged that the following acts and omissions by the defendants demonstrated a reckless disregard for his civil rights:

1. Defendants and other guard and penitentiary employees knowingly and negligently transferred Webb to Wyman's cell even though they were aware of the severe danger to Webb;

2. Defendants failed to properly supervise the cell block and failed to provide for the safety and well-being of Webb;

3. Defendants knew or should have known of the existence of attacks and sexual assaults upon inmates, and defendants failed to develop adequate protection or policies to minimize or eliminate such assaults;

4. Defendants evidenced a callous and reckless disregard for Webb's constitutional right to be free from cruel and unusual punishment by permitting double-celling of inmates;

5. Defendants failed to provide adequate segregation and classification of inmates; and

6. Defendants failed to provide adequate rounds or watch to prevent such assaults from taking place.

Defendants have moved for summary judgment on Count I.

A. Summary Judgment Standard

Under Rule 56 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, a movant is entitled to summary judgment if he can "show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that [he] is entitled to judgment as a matter of law." Poller v. Columbia Broadcasting System, Inc., 368 U.S. 464, 467, 82 S.Ct. 486, 488, 7 L.Ed.2d 458 (1962). In determining whether summary judgment is appropriate, the facts and inferences are viewed in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party. Because Webb is the party opposing summary judgment in this case, all factual inferences will be drawn in his favor, and summary judgment may not be granted if he presents a triable issue. Grinder v. Gammon, 73 F.3d 793, 795 (8th Cir.1996). The burden is placed on the moving party to establish both that there are no genuine issues of material fact and that it is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c); Matsushita Elec. Indus. Co. v. Zenith Radio Corp., 475 U.S. 574, 586-90, 106 S.Ct. 1348, 1356-57, 89 L.Ed.2d 538 (1986). Once the moving party has met this burden, the nonmoving party may not rest on the allegations in the pleadings. The nonmoving party must then set forth specific facts by affidavit or other evidence showing that a genuine issue of material fact exists.

In examining the evidence in summary judgment motions, the Court must apply the appropriate substantive evidentiary burden, in this case a preponderance of the evidence. Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 253-55, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 2513, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986). The Supreme Court has noted that "summary judgment procedure is properly regarded not as a disfavored procedural shortcut, but rather as an integral part of the Federal Rules as a whole, which are designed to `secure the just, speedy, and inexpensive determination of every action.'" Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 327, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 2555, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986). The nonmoving party "must do more than show that there is some metaphysical doubt as to the material facts," Matsushita, 475 U.S. at 586, 106 S.Ct. at 1356, and "[w]here the record as a whole could not lead a rational trier of fact to find for the nonmoving party, there is no `genuine issue for trial.'" Id.

B. Discussion

Prison officials have a duty to protect prisoners from assaults by other prisoners. Farmer v. Brennan, 511 U.S. 825, 831, 114 S.Ct. 1970, 1976, 128 L.Ed.2d 811 (1994). As the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals has stated, "The Eighth Amendment prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment imposes upon correctional officers the obligation to protect inmates from harm by other inmates." Williams v. Mueller, 13 F.3d 1214, 1216 (8th Cir.1994).

In order for a prisoner injured by another prisoner to be able to recover against prison officials for failing to protect him, two requirements must be met. Farmer, 511 U.S. at 833, 114 S.Ct. at 1977. First, the deprivation of the plaintiff's constitutional rights must be "sufficiently serious." Id. In order to satisfy this element in failure to protect cases, "the inmate must show that he is incarcerated under conditions posing a substantial risk of serious harm." Id. The Court need not determine whether or not the conditions in the Lawrence County jail posed a substantial risk of serious harm to Webb because he fails to meet the second prong of the test.

The second requirement to state a valid failure to protect claim is that the prison official must have a culpable state of mind. Id. In cases involving intra-inmate violence, the official must be deliberately indifferent to inmate health or safety. Id. It is clearly established that a negligent state of mind is not sufficient to constitute deliberate indifference. Id. at 835, 114 S.Ct. at 1978. In defining deliberate indifference the Supreme Court in Farmer held, "[A] prison official cannot be found liable under the Eighth Amendment for denying an inmate humane conditions of confinement unless the official knows of and disregards an...