Winters v. Arkansas Department of Health and Hum. Serv., 4:04-CV-00206 GTE.
| Decision Date | 02 June 2006 |
| Docket Number | NO. 4:04-CV-00206 GTE.,4:04-CV-00206 GTE. |
| Citation | 437 F.Supp.2d 851 |
| Parties | Darin WINTERS, as personal Administrator of the ESTATE OF Donald WINTERS, Plaintiff v. ARKANSAS DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES and Keith Ferguson, Sheriff, in his official capacity as Sheriff of Benton County, Arkansas, Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Eastern District of Arkansas |
Luther O'Neal Sutter, Harrill & Sutter, P.L.L.C., Little Rock, AR, for Plaintiff.
Rick D. Hogan, Arkansas Department of Human Services—LR Office of Chief Counsel, Michael R. Rainwater, Jason E. Owens, Rainwater, Holt & Sexton, Little Rock, AR, Jason W. Massey, Attorney at Law, Hensley, AR, for Defendants.
Page
No
I. INTRODUCTION................................................................. 854
II. PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND........................................................ 854
III. FINDINGS OF FACT............................................................. 855
1. Testimony of Darin Winters............................................... 855
2. The Last 4 Days and 16 Hours of Donald Winters' Life..................... 857
(a) The Arrest........................................................... 857
(b) First Visit to Bates Medical Center.................................. 858
(c) Arrival at Benton County Detention Center............................ 859
(d) Civil Commitment Hearing............................................. 864
(e) Ozark Guidance Center................................................ 866
(f) Second Visit to Bates Medical Center & Examination by Dr
Diadone............................................................ 869
(1) Dr. Paul Diadone's Testimony..................................... 869
(g) Return to Benton County Detention Center............................. 871
(1) Officer Pelray's Testimony....................................... 871
(2) Officer Martinez's Statement..................................... 871
(3) Deputy Center's Statement........................................ 872
(4) Officer Shane's Statement........................................ 872
(5) Sheriff Keith Ferguson's Testimony............................... 873
(6) Investigation Summary............................................ 875
3. Cause of Death........................................................... 875
4. Views of Mental Health Experts and Other Interested Parties.............. 877
(a) Dr. Robin Ross' Testimony............................................ 877
(b) Dr. Larry Miller's Testimony......................................... 879
(c) Dr. G. Rick Smith's Testimony........................................ 881
(d) Other Witnesses...................................................... 881
5. Aftermath of Closing of Highland Hall..................................... 882
IV. CONCLUSIONS OF LAW........................................................... 888
1. Elimination of Certain Claims............................................ 888
2. The Olmstead Decision.................................................... 892
3. Analysis of Remaining Legal Issues....................................... 896
(a) Official Capacity Liability.......................................... 896
(b) § 1983 Claims................................................... 897
(c) ADA and § 504 Liability......................................... 898
(d) Sovereign Immunity................................................... 900
4. Discussion of Critical Circumstances..................................... 900
(a) Donald Winters' Dual Status: Pre-trial Detainee & Civil
Committee.......................................................... 900
(b) Time-frame........................................................... 902
V. CONCLUSION................................................................... 904
Mr. Donald Winters, an acutely mentally ill person, died while in the custody of the Sheriff of Benton County, Arkansas. His son and the administrator of his estate, Darin Winters, brought this action on March 11, 2004, claiming, inter alia, that his father's death was caused by the acts and/or omissions of the Defendants.
This case focuses on society's efforts to deal with the acutely mentally ill who at some point end up in our jails. More particularly, this case deals with pre-trial detainees, that is, those who have been arrested on criminal charges and are awaiting trial; and it also deals more directly with persons under civil commitment orders issued by our state courts. Mr. Donald Winters occupied both of those statuses during the days between his arrest on December 28, 2002, for criminal trespass, and his death on January 1, 2003.
The original Complaint alleged three separate causes of action, all under federal law:1 (1) violations of Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA); (2) violations of Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973; and (3) violations of certain of the deceased's federal constitutional rights via 42 U.S.C. § 1983. An Amended Complaint was filed on October 1, 2004, and a Second Amended Complaint was filed on March 20, 2005. The Second Amended Complaint seeks: (1) compensatory damages against the Defendant Arkansas Department of Human Services (DHS) (the "State Defendant") on the Section 504 claim; (2) compensatory and punitive damages against Defendants Keith Ferguson, Timothy Brasuell, Walter Nelson, Maurice Helms, Toby Cranston, Roberta Martinez, Sergeant See, and Sergeant Montgomery (the "County Defendants") on the ADA claims; (3) "an order requiring the official capacity Defendants to complete a proper self-evaluation and to create a system under which persons with mental illnesses are properly screened and treated while incarcerated across the State of Arkansas"; (4) a Declaratory Judgment concluding that the Defendants' actions have violated Donald Winters' rights under federal law; (5) compensatory and punitive damages against all individual Defendants; (6) hedonic damages; and (7) reasonable attorneys fees and costs.
The County Defendants filed a Cross-Claim against the State Defendants on April 14, 2005, alleging that "any failure to provide proper mental healthcare for Donald Winters" was the result of the State's failure to fulfill its legal obligations. In the event a judgment is rendered against any County Defendant, the Cross-Claim seeks "a cross judgment in like amount, or requirement, over and against the Arkansas Department of Human Services (DHS) and its Executive Director, Kurt Knickrehm."2 (Answer to Second Amended Complaint & Cross-Claim, p. 10, Dkt. # 41).
Plaintiff filed a Motion for Partial Summary Judgment against Defendants Kurt Knickrehm and DHS on June 28, 2005. Defendants Knickrehm and DHS responded and filed a Cross-Motion for Summary Judgment on August 10, 2005.
The County Defendants filed a Motion for Summary Judgment against the Plaintiff on October 14, 2005. Plaintiff dismissed his claims against Defendants Timothy Brasuell, Walter Nelson, Maurice Helms, Toby Cranston, Roberta Martinez, Sgt. See and Sgt. Montgomery, leaving the County Defendants' motion pending solely as to the Defendant Sheriff Ferguson.
On November 10, 2005, the Court granted in part, and denied in part, the County Defendants' Motion for Summary Judgment. The Court granted summary judgment on all individual capacity claims, but denied summary judgment on the official capacity claims.
In a separate Order entered November 10, 2005, the Court denied Plaintiffs Motion for Partial Summary Judgment and the Cross-Motion for Summary Judgment pursuant to a telephone conference held on November 8, 2005. During the telephone conference, the Court discussed some of the applicable law and current developments therein to help set the stage for the trial.
The trial was held January 3 through January 6, 2006, after which the Court took the matter under advisement. Posttrial briefs were submitted by the parties. The Court, after careful consideration of the entire record and applicable law, is now prepared to enter its findings of fact and conclusions of law.
Before detailing the facts chronologically from the arrest of Mr. Donald Winters on December 28, 2002, until his death on January 1, 2003, the Court will review the testimony of the Plaintiff, Mr. Darin Winters, the son of the deceased, because that testimony provides important background information as well as the perspective of a vitally interested family member attempting to protect an acutely mentally ill relative and to obtain for that relative the medical and psychiatric services needed to return him to his prior level of functionality. The Court was impressed with Darin Winters' testimony.
Darin Winters is not the natural son of Mr. Donald Winters, but they treated each other as father and son from the time Donald Winters married Darin's mother when Darin was eight years old. Donald Winters was the only father Darin ever really knew. He testified that his father was an eccentric person, but a wonderful man who had some success in business. He stated his father never used drugs, was greatly interested in health, jogging ten or twelve miles a week, and that he loved life.
According to Darin Winters, his father had two prior psychotic episodes, one in 1996 and one in the year 2000.
In 1996 Mr. Donald Winters lived by...
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