Short v. Hartman

87 F.4th 593

Charles Willis SHORT, individually and as Administratorof the Estate of Victoria Christine Short, Plaintiff - Appellant, v. J. D. HARTMAN, Sheriff of Davie County, in his individual and official capacity;Cameron Sloan, Captain, Chief Jailer with the Davie County Sheriff's Department,in his individual and official capacity;Dana Kelly Recktenwald, Lieutenant, Operations Supervisor of the Detention Centerwith the Davie County Sheriff's Department, in her individual and official capacity;Teresa Morgan, a/k/a Teresa M. Godbey, Sergeant, Jailer-Detention Officerwith the Davie County Sheriff's Department, in her individual and official capacity;Crystal Cook Meadows, Sergeant, Detention Officerwith the Davie County Sheriff's Department, in her individual and official capacity;Matthew Travis Boger, Jailer-detention OfficerWith the Davie County Sheriff's Department, in His Individual and Official Capacity;John or Jane Does 1-5, Jailers-Detention Officerswith the Davie County Sheriff's Department, in their individual and official capacities;Western Surety Company; Andrew C. Stokes, Sheriff of Davie County,in his individual and official capacity, Defendants - Appellees.American Civil Liberties Union; American Civil Liberties Union of North Carolina Legal Foundation; American Civil Liberties Union of South Carolina; Rights Behind Bars; Roderick & Solange MacArthur Justice Center, Amici Supporting Appellant.

No. 21-1396

No. 21-1397

United States Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit

Argued: September 19, 2023

Decided: December 8, 2023

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina, at Greensboro. N. Carlton Tilley, Jr., Senior District Judge. (1:18-cv-00741-NCT-JLW)

ARGUED: William Ellis Boyle, WARD & SMITH, PA, Raleigh, North Carolina, for Appellant. James R. Morgan, Jr., WOMBLE BOND DICKINSON (US) LLP, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, for Appellees. ON BRIEF: Rudolf Garcia-Gallont, WOMBLE BOND DICKINSON (US) LLP, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, for Appellees.

Before GREGORY and HEYTENS, Circuit Judges, and Deborah L. BOARDMAN, United States District Judge for the Maryland District, sitting by designation.

Reversed and remanded by published opinion. Judge Gregory wrote the opinion, in which Judge Heytens and Judge Boardman joined.

GREGORY, Circuit Judge:

On the morning of August 24, 2016, Victoria Short¹ attempted suicide while in custody at the Davie County Detention Center ("Jail"). She died of her injuries about two weeks later. Her husband, Charles Short, individually and as the administrator of her estate, filed suit, bringing claims under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 against the Davie County Sheriff's Department, which is responsible for the care and custody of inmates in the Jail, and several employees of the Sheriff's Department individually. He also alleged violations of state law. Defendant-Appellees moved for judgment on the pleadings pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(c). The district court dismissed all of Mr. Short's claims, including the claim under the Fourteenth Amendment for the detention officer's deliberate indifference to Ms. Short's risk of suicide, which is at issue in this appeal. Because the district court erred in concluding that the Complaint failed to state a claim, we reverse.

I.

On July 6, 2016, Victoria Short attempted suicide for the first time.² A deputy of the Davie County Sheriff's Department, who had been dispatched to her home, called EMS and had Ms. Short transported to Forsyth County Hospital for emergency mental health treatment. At the hospital, it was determined that Ms. Short had taken between 50 and 100 prescription medicine pills during her suicide attempt. She remained in the hospital for four days to receive in-patient treatment.

About six weeks later, on August 22, 2016, at approximately 11:45 p.m., two officers in the Sheriff's Department responded to another call at the Shorts' home—this time because of a domestic disturbance between Ms. Short and her husband. Ms. Short told one of the officers that "she used a syringe found in the kitchen to 'shoot up on Xanax pills,' " that "she was having withdraw[al]s from shooting up," and that "she had not shot up since yesterday." J.A. 145. The deputy's report also noted that Ms. Short was "extremely upset and appeared to be on some type of narcotic as she was shaking uncontrollably, twitching from the neck area, and had needle marks all down both her arms." Id.

The deputies took both Mr. and Ms. Short into custody and transported them to the Jail. On the way to the Jail, Ms. Short's brother and Mr. Short told the deputies that Ms. Short was suicidal and had recently attempted suicide. Ms. Short appeared before a magistrate upon arriving at the Jail, and he placed her on a forty-eight-hour domestic hold. Mr. Short was released from custody after approximately four or five hours.

The Amended Complaint alleges that, at 12:09 a.m. on August 23 (approximately half an hour after the deputies responded to the Shorts' home), Ms. Short was examined by licensed practical nurse Linda Barnes.³ Following the examination, Nurse Barnes placed Ms. Short on the Jail's withdrawal protocol, which included detoxing medications and heightened monitoring by Jail staff. However, Jail staff did not comply with the protocol's monitoring requirements, which included checking on the inmate every fifteen minutes. Instead, a member of the Jail staff conducted walk-by observations, usually lasting only a few seconds, 30 minutes or more apart.

Also in the early morning hours of August 23, Sergeant Teresa Morgan completed two forms evaluating Ms. Short's health. On the first form, some of the questions are addressed to the inmate (e.g., "Are you diabetic?"), while others are addressed to the officer (e.g., "Is the inmate . . ."). J.A. 221-22. Both Ms. Short and Sergeant Morgan signed the form. J.A. 223. One question, directed at the inmate, asks whether the inmate ever considered or attempted suicide. The response states "yes," and the comment "last month" was added. J.A. 221. In response to the question of whether she uses drugs and, if so, how much, Ms. Short responded "yes" and "what ever can [sic] get my hands on." J.A. 222. With respect to alcohol, she commented that she uses alcohol "every other day." Id. Another question, directed at the officer, asks, "does the inmate appear to be under the influence of, or withdrawing from drugs or alcohol? If yes explain." Id. The response states "yes" and "drugs." Id.

The second form required Ms. Short to check "yes" or "no" in response to several questions relating to her mental health. J.A. 225. She checked "yes" for questions 5 and 6: "Do you currently feel like you have to talk or move more slowly than you usually do?" and "Have there currently been a few weeks when you felt like you were useless or sinful?" Id. She checked "no" for "have you ever been in a hospital for emotional or mental health problems?" (question 8), but in the adjacent comment box she wrote, "when I tried to com[mit] suicide stayed in hospital [sic] 4 days." Id. The second section of the form provides a space for the officer's comments and impressions, including a line to indicate whether the detainee is under the influence of alcohol or drugs, but nothing is marked in this section. Id. The form then states that the detainee "should be referred for further mental health evaluation" if they answered "yes" to question 7, "yes" to question 8, or "yes" to at least two of questions 1 to 6. Id. Based on these instructions, Ms. Short should have been referred. The next line of the form, which provides space for an officer to indicate whether the detainee was referred, is blank, but Sergeant Morgan signed on the appropriate signature line at the bottom of the page. Id. At the conclusion of these evaluation processes, in the early morning hours of August 23, Ms. Short was placed in an isolation cell.

Detention Officer Sarah Cook arrived for her shift at around 6:45 a.m. on August 24. She overheard Officer Michael Brannock tell another detention officer that he had responded to the Shorts' home in July following Ms. Short's first suicide attempt. Based on what she overheard, Officer Cook realized that Ms. Short was at risk of attempting suicide and, upon learning that Ms. Short was in an isolation cell and was not being observed as often as the Jail policy mandated, asked why Ms. Short was in isolation. She was told that Lieutenant Dana Recktenwald had ordered that Ms. Short be placed in isolation because Ms. Short was "being mouthy." Ms. Short remained in isolation.

At 9:30 a.m. on August 24, Detention Officer Matthew Boger conducted a walk-by observation in the female isolation unit to check on Ms. Short. He observed her sitting on her bed in the cell. According to the complaint, the CCTV footage shows that Ms. Short attempted suicide by hanging herself from the cell door with a bedsheet between 9:49 and 9:56 a.m. During his next walk-by observation at 10:10 a.m., Officer Boger discovered Ms. Short hanging from the door. She was rushed to Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center and died on September 7, about two weeks later. She never regained consciousness.

Davie County Detention Center Policy ("Policy" or "Prison Policy") Section 4.10 provides that inmates "identified as a suicide risk" must be "place[d] in a populated cell, never . . . in a single cell" and prison guards must check on inmates every ten to fifteen minutes and log their rounds. J.A. 227; see also J.A. 228 ("It is important to begin 10-15 minute checks on a suicidal inmate, even if he or she is in a multi-occupant cell. This must be documented."). For inmates identified as a suicide risk, the Policy also instructs officers to "remove all articles that the inmate has that may be used to commit suicide" and requires evaluation by a mental health professional. J.A. 168. The Policy also provides that all detention officers will receive "training to...