Williamson v. Larpenter
| Decision Date | 15 July 2019 |
| Docket Number | CIVIL ACTION NO. 19-254 SECTION "B" (2) |
| Parties | GARLAND W. WILLIAMSON, JR. v. JERRY LARPENTER ET AL. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Eastern District of Louisiana |
Plaintiff, Garland W. Williamson, Jr., is a prisoner formerly incarcerated in the Terrebonne Parish Criminal Justice Complex ("Terrebonne") in Houma, Louisiana. He filed this complaint pro se and in forma pauperis pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 ("Section 1983") and the Americans With Disabilities Act ("ADA"). 42 U.S.C. § 12101 et seq. The named defendants are Terrebonne Parish Sheriff Jerry Larpenter; Terrebonne Parish President Gordon Dove; Terrebonne Medical Director Richard Neal; Terrebonne Warden Bergeron; and Dr. William Lo, a psychiatrist at Terrebonne. Williamson alleges that he was provided inadequate medical care and subjected to unconstitutional conditions of confinement, which aggravated his mental condition. He seeks monetary damages, injunctive relief "mandated by law and the American Disability Act (sic)" and, alternatively, transfer to a hospital facility. Record Doc. No. 1, Complaint at ¶ V.
On March 18, 2019, I conducted a telephone conference in this matter. Participating via telephone were plaintiff, pro se; and William Dodd and Brian Marceaux, counsel for defendants. Plaintiff was sworn and testified for all purposes permitted by Spears v. McCotter, 766 F.2d 179 (5th Cir. 1985), and its progeny.
Williamson's original complaint, which is sworn under penalty of perjury, Record Doc. No. 1 at p. 9, was submitted on a form for use in pursuing claims under Section 1983, but Williamson specifically invoked the ADA three times in his pleading. Id. at pp. 5, 7, 8. He alleged that he has been "diagnosed suicidal and depressed . . . involving substance abuse." Id. at p. 6. He stated that he was "placed on life support [at Leonard J. Chabert Medical Center ('Chabert Hospital') in Houma, Louisiana] on or about 11/28/18 due to suicide attempt by overdose . . . ." Id. He wrote that shortly after his release from the hospital, "on 12/3/18 [he] drove [a] vehicle into a tree full of alcohol and drugs and failed in [another] suicide attempt." Id. at p. 7. He alleged that the incident resulted in his arrest and placement in Terrebonne jail on charges of driving while intoxicated, hit and run and theft. Id.
Williamson stated in his original complaint that he advised prison officials, including defendants Neal and Dr. Lo, "via kiosk machine" of his mental conditions and asserted "my objection to the denial of my anti-psychotic medications of Serequel (sic) and Remron (sic), . . . replaced with Celexa." Id. He wrote that the Celexa he was provided at Terrebonne did not address his depression, suicidal tendencies or mood and behavior alterations. Id. He alleged that prison officials' "inhumane and torturous treatments of inmates [like himself] of diagnosed mental illness" violated the ADA, particularly in that he was not provided with "properly prescribed medications andhousing and treatments and living conditions and therapies." Id. He complained specifically that, when placed on suicide watch in the jail, he Id. at p. 8.
In his statement of facts filed as a supplement to his complaint in response to the court's order, Record Doc. Nos. 5, 7, Williamson clarified that he was then in jail serving three consecutive six-month prison sentences imposed separately on December 22, 2018, and January 22, 2019, arising from the incident in which he drove a vehicle into a tree while intoxicated. Record Doc. No. 7 at p. 1. He complained specifically that "therapy and groups and programs [are] not being provided" at Terrebonne, including no access to "a mental health facility" for inmates like himself with long histories of "obvious substance abuse issues." Id. at pp. 4, 8.
During his Spears testimony, Williamson repeated that he currently is incarcerated in Terrebonne based upon a December 21, 2018 conviction for driving while intoxicated and his related failure to comply with a program he was ordered to attend. He testified that he was arrested on December 3, 2018, shortly after his release from Chabert Hospital in Houma, where he was being treated for injuries after a suicide attempt. Williamsonconfirmed that he makes two kinds of claims in this case: (1) the conditions of his confinement are not appropriate for his mental health condition and; (2) the treatment he has received for his mental health condition has been inadequate or improper.
Williamson testified that he was first brought to Terrebonne on December 3, 2018, when he was arrested on the charges for which he was subsequently sentenced. He testified that before he was arrested, he had just been released at the end of November 2018 from Chabert Hospital after a suicide attempt. He said his arrest occurred "just days" after he tried again to commit suicide by driving a vehicle into a tree.
He confirmed that he had received and reviewed the medical records produced by the Terrebonne Parish Sheriff in response to my order, Record Doc. Nos. 6, 10, and he confirmed that they are accurate.
As to his complaints about his housing in Terrebonne jail, he complained that he is being housed with other prisoners in "general population" with no access to a separate mental health clinic operated by Terrebonne Parish. He said the jail has no psychiatrist on staff, just one who visits the prisoners with mental health issues once a week on Wednesdays for 30 minutes. He identified this psychiatrist as defendant Dr. Lo. Williamson said he has been seen by Dr. Lo at the jail, but not upon request. He testified that he was first seen by Dr. Lo in the jail "when I was placed on suicide watch . . . ." He said that when he has bouts with depression, feels suicidal or has "mood issues," jail personnel "just dress you up in a green smock and throw you in a holding cell with fouror five other people until you see Dr. Lo on Wednesdays [or] until you tell [him]. . . that you're not feeling suicidal anymore and you're not going to hurt anybody and you're okay." He said jail personnel returned him to general population after he was released from suicide watch without getting "any type of help for diagnosed treatments."
He testified that he has seen Dr. Lo twice while in Terrebonne, once on December 17, 2018, when he was placed on suicide watch and again "not too long ago," sometime in February 2019, when he talked to Dr. Lo about his medications. He complained that in the jail he is getting only Celexa, while the medications he had previously been prescribed at the hospital before his arrest were Remeron and Seroquel, which jail personnel say he is not allowed to have. He confirmed that he has been receiving Celexa in the jail since January 2019, after he was prescribed the medication in December 2018 while on suicide watch. He confirmed that he was removed from suicide watch on Dr. Lo's orders on December 19, 2018.
When asked to specify the conditions about which he complains, Williamson testified that when placed on suicide watch, his possessions were taken away, he was dressed in a green smock and placed in a holding cell with four other inmates in what should be a one-man cell. He stated that he was kept there for "two or three days," until he saw Dr. Lo, and he would have been kept there if he had not told Dr. Lo that he was okay and no longer feeling that he would hurt himself or others. He testified that the conditions in the holding cell were "dirty, with food trays all around," overcrowded andcold. He said the cell was about ten-by-ten feet with a toilet and sink and one slab where a mattress was supposed to be located, but there was no mattress. He testified that he saw no medical personnel during those two or three days until he told Dr. Lo he was no longer suicidal and was returned to general population.
He said he receives Celexa for his mental health conditions daily while in the jail, but that he is also supposed to be receiving some additional medications, including Remeron and Seroquel, that were prescribed by the physicians at the psychiatric ward in Chabert Hospital, from which he was released in November 2018 before his arrest. He testified that he spoke to Dr. Lo at the jail about these additional medications and being transported to Chabert Hospital's mental health clinic, but was told that the additional medications are not allowed in the jail and that trips to the mental health clinic were "not allowed anymore . . . I know that years ago, we used to go there" during his previous stays in the jail. He said he understands that Celexa is provided for depression and as a mood stabilizer but that he was not taking Celexa before he was incarcerated and that it is a different medication than what he was taking for his depression and mood issues before his arrest. He said he asked to see Dr. Lo again "about a week ago" and was told he was on the list to see him, but he had not seen him again at the time of the hearing.
Williamson confirmed the notation in his medical records that he was prescribed Gabapentin on January 10, 2019, and that he began receiving it in the jail shortly thereafter. He stated that he was still receiving it in the jail and that it is being given tohim for a previous wrist injury. He said he is also receiving ibuprofen at the jail "three times a day." He said that except for the nurses who deliver his medications daily, the last time he had seen any medical personnel at the jail was Dr. Lo in February 2019.
Williamson stated that during his current stay in Terrebonne, he has been...
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