Woodson v. City of Richmond

• Decision Date: 12 February 2015
• Docket Number: Civil Action No. 3:13cv134.
• Parties: Stefan WOODSON, Plaintiff, v. CITY OF RICHMOND, VIRGINIA, et al., Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Eastern District of Virginia

88 F.Supp.3d 551

Stefan WOODSON, Plaintiff

v.CITY OF RICHMOND, VIRGINIA, et al., Defendants.

Civil Action No. 3:13cv134.

United States District Court, E.D. Virginia, Richmond Division.

Signed Feb. 12, 2015.

Seth R. Carroll, Elyse Hamilton Stiner, Commonwealth Law Group, Richmond, VA, Andrew Lucchetti, Benjamin Martin Andrews, Jonathan Eric Halperin, Halperin Law Center LLC, Glen Allen, VA, for Plaintiff.

David P. Corrigan, Jeremy David Capps, Maurice Scott Fisher, Jr., Harman Claytor Corrigan & Wellman, Kyle Reese Elliott, Office of the Richmond City Attorney, Edward Joseph McNelis, III, Elizabeth Martin Muldowney, Glen Howard Sturtevant, Jr., Grace Morse Brumagin, Isaac Abraham McBeth, Rachel Lynne Procopio, Rawls McNelis & Mitchell PC, Mark Richard Colombell, Thompson McMullan PC, Kimberly Ann Satterwhite, Ashley Catherine Dobbin, Todd David Anderson, Herbert & Satterwhite PC, Ruth Thomas Griggs, Sands Anderson PC, Richmond, VA, Melissa Yvonne York, Harman Claytor Corrigan & Wellman, Glen Allen, VA, Jeff Wayne Rosen, Jeffrey A. Hunn, Pender & Coward PC, Virginia Beach, VA, for Defendant.

MEMORANDUM OPINION

ROBERT E. PAYNE, Senior District Judge.

This matter is before the Court on DEFENDANT'S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT (Docket No. 295) filed by C.T. Woody (“Woody”). For the reasons set forth below, this motion will be granted in part and denied in part.

BACKGROUND

I. Circumstances Leading Up To And On July 9, 2012

On March 27, 2012, Stefan Woodson (“Woodson”) was committed to the Richmond City Jail (the “Jail”) for service of sentence. Woodson was housed in the Jail's Medical Tier because of several medical conditions ascertained on admission. The Medical Tier consists of twelve separate cells, each housing one inmate, and a long open common area. In the early morning hours of July 9, 2012 Woodson was transported to the emergency room after being found unresponsive in his cell on the Medical Tier at the Jail. MCV Emergency Room Records. The circumstances surrounding Woodson's illness are the subject of this action.

During the first nine days of July 2012, the city of Richmond experienced a severe heat wave. Affidavit of Kalkstein, at ¶¶ 12–14, 17. During this period, the National Weather Service issued many heat-related advisories. Id. at ¶¶ 11–14. These high temperatures were further exacerbated by high humidity levels. Id. at ¶ 25. Inmates on the Medical Tier at the Jail were subjected to very high temperatures. There was a barrel fan on the Medical Tier. There was limited access to ice water. There was an exhaust fan, of disputed efficacy, in Woodson's cell.

In the days leading up to July 9, 2012, Woodson complained to Jail employees that he was not feeling well. On July 5, Woodson was examined by Dr. Motsumi Moja and employees of Correct Care Systems, LLC¹ , who recorded a temperature of 102.3 degrees. Chronic Care Periodic Exam Record. Dr. Moja recommended that Woodson have his temperature checked again that night and in the morning and prescribed the use of Motrin and advised Woodson to follow up next week. Id. The doctor's recommendations notwithstanding, Woodson's temperature was not checked again before July 9, and no other care or treatment was offered to him before that date.

During the course of the day on July 8, 2012, Woodson interacted with several Jail employees and informed them that he was feeling ill. The extent and frequency of that interaction is disputed. Deputy Sheriff Donald Palmer was on duty on the Medical Tier of the Jail from 0800 until 1600. He testified that Woodson informed him “that he was hot and not feeling well” in “the morning hours at some time” before lunch. Palmer Dep. at 34:1–7. In response, Palmer gave Woodson two Styrofoam cups of water and told the nurse performing morning pill pass that Woodson was hot and not feeling well. Id. at 30:17–21; 35. Palmer testified that he observed Woodson during the day interacting “normally” with other inmates. Id. at 36:3–5. At some point after lunch, Woodson drug his mattress out of his cell, laid in front of the fan, where he slept there until the dinner hour. Caballero Dep. at 46–47.

The next shift of Jail employees worked from 1600 until 2400. The deputies working on the Medical Tier during this shift included Deputy John Whitaker and Deputy Tristan Brown. Whitaker performed his duties on the Medical Tier from 1600 until around 1730 and directly interacted with Woodson once during a head count. Woodson did not speak to Whitaker during this interaction, but Whitaker testified that Woodson did nod at him. Whitaker Dep. 113: 8–13. Brown performed at least two security checks on the Medical Tier during the period spanning approximately 1730 until 2200. Brown Dep. at 9. During that period of time at least two inmates advised Brown that Woodson was feeling lightheaded. Id. When so advised, Brown claims that he spoke with Woodson who “responded, spoke clearly, and did not mumble” and he subsequently contacted the medical department. Id. at 10: 18–23. However, after his round, Brown reported to Robert Cushionberry in the medical department that Woodson was not feeling well. Id. at 16:4–10. Cushionberry told Brown to give Woodson water and have him lie down. Id. at 17:15–16. Brown followed these instructions. Id. at 17:18–22.

A little before 2200, Whitaker returned to duty on the Medical Tier. Whitaker Dep. at 90:1–3. He was informed by Brown that Woodson was not feeling well and that Brown had informed the medical department. Id. at 95:21–96:6. In addition, several other inmates told Whitaker that Woodson was hot and not feeling well. Id. at 90:4–14. When informed of this, Whitaker asked Woodson if he was “all right” and he says that Woodson responded by nodding his head. Id. At this point, Whitaker contacted the medical department and Robert Cushionberry to inform him that Woodson was hot and not feeling well and needed to be seen by the medical department. Id. at 96:20–25. Cushionberry told Whitaker that everyone was feeling hot and to have Woodson drink water and lie down. Id. at 104:1–10, 108:5–8. Whitaker relayed this advice to Woodson and the other inmates. Id. at 109: 1–6. However, the inmates informed the staff that the water that was made available to them was hot. Id. at 3–6. Whitaker then went to the deputy dining room, filled up two Styrofoam cups of ice water, and handed the cups to the other inmates to give to Woodson. Id. at 109: 7–23.

For the rest of the shift, Whitaker claims that he performed the required twice hourly security checks and did not notice Woodson in any distress. Id. at 111:6–8; 101:2–13. However, Woodson disputes that the twice-hourly security checks required by jail policy were performed on the evening of July 8 and presents testimony from inmates that support that allegation. E.g., Caballero Dep. at 24:5–14. Thus, the parties dispute whether the deputies were performing the “required” 30 minute security checks in compliance with Jail policy on the evening in question. As the non-moving party, Woodson is entitled to the reasonable inference that the checks were not performed as required on the evening of July 8 and morning of July 9, 2012.

Woodson's condition deteriorated further during the course of the evening of July 8. While the exact timeline of events is not discernable from the evidence in the record, it is clear that, at some point before being sent to the hospital, Woodson defecated and threw up on himself (Caballero Dep. at 25:3–15), was bleeding from the head (Id. at 25:9–15), and was gagging (Id. at 25:9–13). Additionally there is testimony that residents notified a Jail employee of Woodson's condition and “cursed” at this employee for not doing more to help Woodson. Id.; Pinkston Dep. at 25:1–26:13. The only identified Jail employees to have been on the Medical Tier that evening were Whitaker and Brown.

The next shift at the Jail ran from 2400 on July 8 to 0800 on July 9. Deputy Anthony Perry and Corporal Edward Moody were assigned to the Medical Tier for that shift and were told that Woodson had been feeling ill during previous shift. At this point, all inmates had been locked down into their cells for the night. Perry Dep. at 109:4–13. Perry stated that he performed security checks at 12:23 AM and 12:45 AM. Id. 109:17–21, 110:20–25. During each of these checks, Perry claims that Woodson indicated that he was “okay” by nodding his head to Deputy Perry when asked. Id. at 113: 7–25, 114:1–3. Moody stated that he performed security checks and noted that Woodson was breathing and lying in a normal sleeping position. Moody Dep. at 24:6–15. Woodson disputes that these checks occurred, and again is entitled to the reasonable inference that they did not. Caballero Dep. at 25:16–36:16. Woodson has offered evidence that inmates also told an unidentified Jail employee that Woodson was sick and needed to be seen by medical. At this stage, the record is unclear whether those communications occurred only on the shift manned by Whitaker and Brown or also on the shift managed by Perry and Moody.

At 2:17 AM, Moody performed a security check and “observed [Woodson] lying across his bunk, in an awkward position, and appearing to be unresponsive.” Moody Dep. at 32: 6–33:23, 48:7–11. A medical alert was called and Woodson was taken first to the medical clinic area. Id. Woodson was then transferred to MCV, where he was diagnosed with hyperthermia and was discovered to have an elevated body temperature of 105.8 degrees. MCV Hospital Records. An Emergency Department record estimated that Woodson's core body temperature reached a maximum of 108.5 degrees. Id.

II. Heat–Related Precautions

The adverse conditions at the Jail have been well documented in previous cases before this court. Sleeper v. City of Richmond, No. 3:12cv441, 2012 WL 3555412 (E.D.Va. Aug. 16, 2012) ; Brown v. Mitchell (Brown I ), 308 F.Supp.2d 682 (E.D.Va.2004). According to Virginia state law, Woody is responsible for the day-to-day operations and maintenance at...