Miga v. City of Holyoke

Page 1

497 N.E.2d 1

398 Mass. 343

Dolores MIGA, individually and as administratrix,¹ v. CITY OF HOLYOKE et al. ²

Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts Hampden.

Argued May 5, 1986.

Decided Sept. 2, 1986.

Harold F. Brunault, City Sol., Harry Zarrow, Worcester, with him, for defendants.

Harold Resnic, Springfield, for plaintiff.

Before HENNESSEY, C.J., and WILKINS, LIACOS, ABRAMS and LYNCH, JJ.

HENNESSEY, Chief Justice.

The city of Holyoke and two of its police officers, Joseph Dudek and John J. McMullan, appeal from Superior Court jury verdicts awarding compensatory and punitive damages for the suicide-by-hanging of the plaintiff's decedent while in the defendants' protective custody.

The plaintiff, the mother of the decedent, brought suit against the city of Holyoke, its chief of police, and various police officers, seeking recovery for wrongful death, G.L. c. 229, § 2 (1984 ed.), and for the deprivation of the decedent's civil rights, 42 U.S.C. § 1983 (1982). ³ Motions by the defendants for directed verdicts and judgments notwithstanding the verdicts were made and denied. On special questions, the jury found that the city was responsible for the death of the plaintiff's decedent and awarded $20,000 damages for wrongful death and $2,100 for funeral and burial expenses. In addition, the jury found that the city was sixty per cent negligent and, therefore, the damage awards were reduced to $12,000 and $1,260, respectively. The jury also found defendants Dudek and McMullan liable under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 (1982), and assessed compensatory damages of $20,000 and punitive damages of $50,000 against each of these defendants. ⁴

On appeal, the defendants challenge the denial of their motions for directed verdicts and judgments notwithstanding the verdicts and the damage awards. Specifically, the defendants contend that the evidence was not legally sufficient to establish a constitutional violation under § 1983, that the existence of an adequate State remedy foreclosed the right to sue for violation of civil rights under § 1983, and that the issue of punitive damages should not have been submitted to the jury. ⁵ We transferred the case here on our own motion and affirm the judgments.

We summarize the facts. The decedent, Sandra Smigiel (Sandra), had poor mental health and was under care for mental illness continuously from 1974 until her death in September, 1979. She was a certified nurse's aide. Sandra married Daniel Smigiel (Daniel) in February, 1978.

On September 10, 1979, Sandra went to the Holyoke police station and informed a police detective that her husband was threatening to kill himself with a gun. As the detective accompanied Sandra to her home, she informed him that she had a drinking problem and that earlier on the same evening she had been a patient at a local detoxification center. When they arrived at Sandra's residence, the police disarmed Daniel. Daniel then advised the detective to be careful with Sandra, told the detective that Sandra had suicidal tendencies and that she had been hospitalized for that reason. The detective wrote a report regarding Sandra, which was read and signed by Lieutenant James Sullivan of the Holyoke police department.

Eleven days later, on September 21, 1979, Sandra tried unsuccessfully to obtain a drink from a drinking establishment as it was closing. The proprietor followed as Sandra drove away from the bar and observed that Sandra's car was weaving as it proceeded along the road. When Sandra pulled over to the side of the road, the proprietor stopped behind her. He then hailed a passing cruiser, occupied by Lieutenant Sullivan and another officer.

The police officers asked Sandra to get out of her car. Sandra did not respond. The officers turned off the ignition and removed Sandra from the car. She was unable to stand or walk by herself, her breath smelled of alcohol and her speech was slurred. Sandra was able to tell the officers her name and the street where she lived. The officers then drove her there, but went to the wrong house and were told that she did not live at that address. The officers made no attempt to search her pocketbook or otherwise determine her correct address, but instead radioed for another cruiser to take Sandra to the police station. On the way to the police station in the second cruiser, Sandra lapsed into unconsciousness. An officer carried her into the police station, but made no attempt to obtain medical attention for her.

The commanding officer at the police station was defendant John J. McMullan, who had been a police officer for twenty-eight years. He had been off-duty, but had been called to the station to administer a breathalyzer test. McMullan remained while Lieutenant Sullivan, who otherwise would have been commanding officer, was out of the station. The defendant Joseph Dudek was the house officer at the police station on the midnight to 8 A.M. shift. He was responsible for checking on prisoners, including female prisoners, although in practice a female dispatcher usually checked on female prisoners.

There was testimony that, at the time Sandra was taken into protective custody, rules and regulations promulgated by the chief of police required: that an attempt be made to bring such a person home prior to calling the treatment center; that at no time should an unconscious person be placed in a cell except on orders of a physician; and that prisoners with known suicidal tendencies be checked at least every half hour.

Sandra arrived at the police station at 3 A.M. McMullan observed her to be in a "very drunken condition," and filled out a protective custody form with her name and address and her husband's name. McMullan made no attempt to communicate with Sandra's husband. There was evidence that McMullan did not notify the nearest detoxification center. McMullan took no action to obtain proper care and treatment for Sandra even though she was obviously intoxicated and had lapsed into unconsciousness periodically since being taken into custody by the police. There was evidence that McMullan knew that his failure to take these actions was contrary to department regulations. Shortly thereafter, Lieutenant Sullivan returned to the station and McMullan departed.

After Sandra was booked, she again lapsed into unconsciousness. Two other officers carried her, unconscious, downstairs to a cell. Because she thrashed about when they attempted to place her on a bench, they placed her on the concrete floor. An officer removed her belt, eyeglasses, and necklace, and checked her pockets.

Subsequently, Sandra began banging on the cell wall, asking for belts or shoelaces from other prisoners, and stating that she would commit suicide with her shirt. A woman in another cell began calling for the police to come down to the cell area to help with the situation. There was evidence that a police officer responded from the stairs with an obscene, racial epithet and that Dudek was the police officer who uttered the response. The woman yelled that Sandra was trying to kill herself; other prisoners also yelled for help. No one came. Defendant Dudek heard the yelling, but made no attempt to find out what was happening. At one point Dudek testified that he told the prisoners to quiet down. At 6 A.M. Sandra's body was discovered hanging from the bars of her cell.

1. Sufficiency of the Evidence Under 42 U.S.C. § 1983.

In evaluating the judge's denial of the defendants' motions for directed verdicts, and for judgments notwithstanding the verdicts on the § 1983 claims, we view the evidence in the light most favorable to the plaintiff. ⁶ Michnik-Zilberman v. Gordon's Liquor, Inc., 390 Mass. 6, 7 n. 1, 453 N.E.2d 430 (1983). Uloth v. City Tank Corp., 376 Mass. 874, 876, 384 N.E.2d 1188 (1978). We must determine whether "anywhere in the evidence, from whatever source derived, any combination of circumstances could be found from which a reasonable inference could be drawn in favor of the plaintiff." Poirier v. Plymouth, 374 Mass. 206, 212, 372 N.E.2d 212 (1978), quoting Raunela v. Hertz Corp., 361 Mass. 341, 343, 280 N.E.2d 179 (1972). "That the inferences be reasonable requires that they be based on 'probabilities rather than possibilities' and not the result of 'mere speculation and conjecture.' " Poirier v. Plymouth, supra, quoting Alholm v. Wareham, 371 Mass. 621, 627, 358 N.E.2d 788 (1976).

To establish a claim based on 42 U.S.C. § 1983, ⁷ a plaintiff must show that the conduct complained of was committed by a person acting under color of State law and that the conduct deprived a person of rights, privileges, or immunities secured by the Constitution or laws of the United States. Parratt v. Taylor, 451 U.S. 527, 535, 101 S.Ct. 1908, 1912, 68 L.Ed.2d 420 (1981). Temple v. Marlborough Div. of the Dist. Court Dep't, 395 Mass. 117, 122, 479 N.E.2d 137 (1985). There is no question that defendants Dudek and McMullan were acting under color of State law when Sandra was in the custody of the Holyoke police. Thus, the focus of our inquiry is on whether the defendants violated a right secured by the Constitution or laws of the United States.

The plaintiff claims that the conduct of Officers Dudek and McMullan in placing Sandra in a cell unattended when she was obviously intoxicated and unconscious, in failing to attempt to transfer her to a detoxification facility, and in failing to check her every half hour, in violation of the department rules, resulted in a violation of Sandra's constitutional rights. Further, she alleges that those acts, along with the failure of Dudek to respond to the cries of other prisoners for help, constituted deliberate indifference to serious medical needs of a person in police custody. We conclude that there was sufficient evidence to permit a jury to find a violation of § 1983.

In Estelle v. Gamble, 429 U.S. 97, 97 S.Ct. 285, 50 L.Ed.2d 251 (1976), the Supreme Court of the United States held that deliberate...