Ohio Magistrate Finds for Plaintiff in Prisoner’s Deliberate Indifference Death
Ohio Magistrate Finds for Plaintiff in Prisoner’s Deliberate Indifference Death
On November 21, 2012, a magistrate judge for the United States District Court Southern District of Ohio, hearing motions ancillary to a suit brought by the plaintiff, the mother of deceased Scioto County Jail prisoner William Marcum (Marcum), and administrator of Marcum’s estate, against Scioto County, Scioto County Sheriff Marty Donini, the jail doctor, Dr. David Walker, and three Sheriff’s Department jail employees, alleging 42 U.S.C. §1983 violations of Marcum’s Eighth Amendment rights, held or recommended in favor of Marcum on five of the seven issues weighed.
During the early morning hours of November 17, 2008, Marcum was taken from the jail by ambulance, suffering from an acute episode of asthma which proved fatal. The resultant litigation arose from plaintiff’s assertion that the system, from top to bottom, failed her son.
The magistrate judge first addressed a motion to strike evidence proffered by the plaintiff in support of her brief opposing the defendants’ motions for summary judgment. Defendants argued that plaintiff’s introduction of a telephone call between herself and Marcum the night before he died and corroborating statements made by a fellow prisoner after Marcum died were hearsay and moved to strike. The content of the telephone conversation and the unsworn statements by the fellow prisoner assembled a picture of a man struggling for every breath.
The judge held both instruments admissible inasmuch as they were not used to prove the truth of plaintiff’s claims against any of the named defendants, but rather to show that the jail staff was aware of Marcum’s condition at least twelve hours before his death.
The judge also recommended an adverse inference in the form of an instruction in regards to the defense’s loss of pertinent video and telephone recordings from the time under scrutiny.
The magistrate judge also addressed summary judgment motions. All defendants moved for partial summary judgment on the plaintiff’s federal and state law claims. Defendant Dr. Walker moved for summary judgment on plaintiff’s §1983 deliberate indifference claim, averring Marcum’s serious medical condition was not known until shortly before his death. Defendants Lute, Springs and Johnson, jail guards who were on watch between November 16 and 17, 2008, moved for summary judgment on plaintiff’s §1983 claim and state law wrongful death claim on the basis of qualified immunity and statutory immunity. The jail guards alleged that Marcum did not let them know he was in distress. Defendants Scioto County and Sheriff Donini moved for summary judgment on plaintiff’s §1983 claim for municipal liability on the part of Sheriff Donini and summary judgment on plaintiff’s state law wrongful death claims, alleging lack of an underlying constitutional violation on the liability claims and statutory immunity on the wrongful death claims.
The magistrate judge found sufficient evidence demonstrating genuine issues of material facts for trial and therefore recommended denying summary judgment for all defendants, with the exception of Sheriff Donini’s supervisory liability defense and Scioto County’s state law wrongful death claim defense. See: Marcum v. Scioto County, Ohio, U.S.D.C. (S.D. Ohio 2013) Case no. 1:10-CV-00790-HJW-KLL.
Related legal case
Marcum v. Scioto County
| Year | 2013 |
|---|---|
| Cite | U.S.D.C. (S.D. Ohio 2013) Case no. 1:10-CV-00790-HJW-KLL |
| Level | District Court |