92 results for 'cat:"Civil Rights" AND cat:"Wrongful Death"'.
J. Pechman declines to dismiss the personal representative's federal claims that the sheriff's deputy shot and killed Joshua Sarrett on Sep. 19, 2020, while Sarrett was "unarmed, intoxicated and was only suspected of being a harm to himself." The personal representative adequately alleges that the deputy's decision to seize Sarrett was unreasonable because the deputy did not investigate any crime at the time and the deputy did not ask Sarrett if he was armed.
Court: USDC Western District of Washington, Judge: Pechman, Filed On: April 22, 2024, Case #: 2:23cv1316, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: civil Rights, wrongful Death, Police Misconduct
J. Rice denies the county summary judgment for the family member's claim that the regional justice center's medical staff did not properly check on or care for the detainee, leading to her death. The family member can hold the county liable under a Monell theory of liability, specifically for its ratification of a policy that does not train its staff to treat and monitor inmates for detox and withdrawal. Also, the death of another inmate, who died under similar circumstances in the county's custody, is admissible evidence.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Washington, Judge: Rice, Filed On: April 19, 2024, Case #: 2:22cv308, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: civil Rights, Evidence, wrongful Death
J. St. Eve finds that the lower court properly found for the county in a family's suit following a man's suicide in jail. The deceased gave jail staff no indication that he was a threat to himself. The staff's delay in waiting for 20 minutes to tell the man to take down a bedsheet obscuring the view of his bed was not unreasonable given that many inmates put sheets up just for privacy and the jail had never had a suicide before. Affirmed.
Court: 7th Circuit, Judge: St. Eve, Filed On: April 17, 2024, Case #: 23-2141, Categories: civil Rights, wrongful Death
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J. Foschio rules in part for police and corrections officers in claims contending police falsely arrested a drug addict and failed to prevent him from committing suicide while detained, even though he had expressed suicidal ideation, as corrections officers failed to place the detainee in special medical housing under close monitoring. However, evidence did not indicate the decedent provided support or services to surviving family in order to justify pecuniary or compensatory damages, or that any officer intended to interfere with the decedent's familial relationships.
Court: USDC Western District of New York, Judge: Foschio , Filed On: April 11, 2024, Case #: 1:22cv766, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: civil Rights, Negligence, wrongful Death
J. Thapar finds the lower court properly dismissed the estate's Eighth Amendment and wrongful death claims against the prison. It failed to show the inmate had "unfettered access" to illegal drugs prior to his overdose, while the complaint also lacked details about drug use by inmates and, therefore, failed to show the inmate faced an "objectively excessive risk of harm." Affirmed.
Court: 6th Circuit, Judge: Thapar, Filed On: April 10, 2024, Case #: 23-5410, Categories: civil Rights, Evidence, wrongful Death
J. Beckerman grants the estate's motion to compel the Department of Human Services to produce documents in the estate's complaint that DHS placed the child in a home where the foster parent did not properly administer the medication for the child's congenital heart defect and did not take him to a cardiac rehabilitation appointment, resulting in the child's death. DHS is to produce all tort claim notices about alleged abuse, neglect or deaths of foster children in District 1's custody from 2013 to the present, because the existence of persistent violations are relevant to a case involving the death of a foster child as the result of alleged neglect from his foster parent and the agency that placed him with the foster parent.
Court: USDC Oregon, Judge: Beckerman, Filed On: April 9, 2024, Case #: 3:23cv705, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: civil Rights, wrongful Death, Discovery
J. Kleeh grants in part the motion of the Lewis County Commission and three deputy sheriffs for partial summary judgment in the deceased parolee’s estate's suit claiming the deputies caused the parolee's death, when following a foot pursuit in the course of serving a warrant for his arrest, the deputies tased, then held him face-down for an extended period until paramedics arrived. The deputies are granted qualified immunity on the estate's excessive force claims, finding it has failed to demonstrate the deputies violated a clearly established right by using their Taser to subdue the parolee, and on its Monell claim of municipal liability against the commission for violating a clear custom and practice, since prior to their apprehension of the parolee they have never been accused of either excessive force or failing to render medical assistance.
Court: USDC Northern District of West Virginia, Judge: Kleeh, Filed On: April 4, 2024, Case #: 2:20cv47, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: civil Rights, wrongful Death, Police Misconduct
J. Larimer allows heirs of a parole officer who had been shot in the arm, head, and abdomen by police colleagues, allegedly during a "wellness check," to continue certain claims in an action alleging wrongful death, excessive force, and other causes of action, because police were acting in their official roles, not as private citizens, when they called in the wellness check. However, the heirs failed to plausibly allege police officials conspired to punish the parole officer for having brought discrimination and harassment claims against the department of corrections and department employees.
Court: USDC Western District of New York, Judge: Larimer, Filed On: March 27, 2024, Case #: 6:18cv6712, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: civil Rights, wrongful Death
J. White grants the EMT defendants' motion for summary judgment in this lawsuit arising from a driver's alleged detention and death following a traffic stop. The court finds that the EMT defendants acted reasonably when they "briefly" assisted the deputies while the driver was still "actively resisting arrest." Also, the medical negligence and wrongful death claims "cannot be pursued against individual employees of a political subdivision of the State of Oklahoma."
Court: USDC Eastern District of Oklahoma, Judge: White, Filed On: March 26, 2024, Case #: 6:21cv44, NOS: Civil Rights - Habeas Corpus, Categories: civil Rights, wrongful Death
J. Chen allows some wrongful death claims to continue against an ambulance company and officials from Richmond in a dispute stemming from the death of a man who was injected with a chemical restraint after he was arrested. There is conflicting evidence on the record as to whether decedent was complying with commands when he was injected with the restraint, so several of the claims can proceed on the grounds that the injection may have been unnecessary and given without consent.
Court: USDC Northern District of California, Judge: Chen, Filed On: March 15, 2024, Case #: 3:22cv2130, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: civil Rights, wrongful Death
J. Jenkins partially grants a motion for summary judgment from an Illinois village and its police, on claims the police used fatally excessive force during an arrest. The arrestee died of choking-related injuries he sustained after swallowing a plastic bag while police were on top of him and holding him down. The court grants judgment to the police on the excessive force claim as to the allegation that they stuck a plastic bag in the arrestee’s mouth, finding it is not sufficiently backed by evidence, but allows the excessive force claim to stand regarding other elements of the arrest.
Court: USDC Northern District of Illinois, Judge: Jenkins, Filed On: March 5, 2024, Case #: 1:21cv3236, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: civil Rights, wrongful Death, Police Misconduct
J. Kleeh denies in part the motion to dismiss a civil rights suit claiming deputies caused a man's death, after responding to a 911 call from the couple he was living with while he was experiencing a "mental health issue." The deputies allegedly tazed the nude man in the back and left him handcuffed face down on the floor of the home, causing him to go into cardiac arrest because of his obesity and inability to breathe properly. The court denies the deputies qualified immunity since the man, despite his size, was unarmed, not resisting arrest and not attempting to flee from the deputies.
Court: USDC Northern District of West Virginia, Judge: Kleeh, Filed On: February 26, 2024, Case #: 3:23cv177, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: civil Rights, wrongful Death, Police Misconduct
J. Major grants the children's motion for limited discovery concerning claims that San Diego County violated their father's civil rights by failing to prevent him from dying from pneumonia, malnutrition and dehydration while incarcerated. The county must produce surveillance video of decedent in the 72 hours leading up to his death. The children already have the names of the officers in the video, so protecting their identity is not an issue. The county has failed to explain why a protective order regarding the video would be insufficient to protect any contemplated harm.
Court: USDC Southern District of California, Judge: Major, Filed On: February 26, 2024, Case #: 3:23cv1357, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: civil Rights, wrongful Death, Discovery
J. Murphy finds the lower court erroneously denied the jail officers' motion for qualified immunity on civil rights claims filed by the estate of the WWE wrestler. It applied the Sixth Circuit's current caselaw standard, not the standard applicable in 2018 at the time of the inmate's suicide. Although current precedent requires prison guards "recklessly overlook" a pretrial detainee's strong likelihood of suicide, the standard applicable at the time of the incident in question required proof that guards "subjectively believed" there was a strong likelihood of suicide. Because all testimony from the guards in this case indicates the decedent never seemed suicidal, was not experiencing any drug or alcohol withdrawals, and was nearly two decades removed from a previous suicide attempt, they had no reason to believe he would kill himself and are entitled to immunity. Reversed.
Court: 6th Circuit, Judge: Murphy, Filed On: February 16, 2024, Case #: 22-5898, Categories: civil Rights, Immunity, wrongful Death
J. Hall partially grants the individuals' motions to dismiss a civil rights and wrongful death action brought by the children of the decedent. The civil rights claim is dismissed due to the children's failure to allege a violation of a federal right. The children's motion to remand the action is denied because the individuals established there was unanimous consent to remove the action at the time of removal. The remaining state law claims are remanded to the state court of Tattnall County.
Court: USDC Southern District of Georgia, Judge: Hall, Filed On: February 13, 2024, Case #: 6:23cv16, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: civil Rights, wrongful Death
J. Vitter grants summary judgment to a sheriff, dismissing the wrongful death and excessive force claims brought by the sister of a transgender inmate who alleges he died in custody after being beaten in his cell by deputies. There is no evidence to support her allegations the deputies used force on or before his death. The undisputed evidence, contained in the autopsy report, shows that the inmate died of natural causes, specifically a Covid-19 infection. The autopsy further states that there was no evidence of trauma.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Louisiana , Judge: Vitter, Filed On: February 1, 2024, Case #: 22cv3734, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: civil Rights, Evidence, wrongful Death
J. Nagala denies the prison doctor's motion for summary judgment, ruling his failure to timely address the prisoner's history of hearing loss coupled with the onset of facial numbness and dizziness could be considered deliberately indifferent by a reasonable jury, which precludes the application of immunity on wrongful death and civil rights claims brought after the prisoner died from surgical complications. However, because the evidence brought to support the claims against the nurses consists almost entirely of inadmissible hearsay, the claims against all three nurses will be dismissed.
Court: USDC Connecticut, Judge: Nagala, Filed On: February 1, 2024, Case #: 3:21cv337, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: civil Rights, Immunity, wrongful Death
J. Simon dismisses claims against the jail healthcare company and a registered nurse for allegedly failing to provide a detainee with adequate medical or mental health care, leading to his death by suicide. Decedent's advocate does not sufficiently allege how the healthcare company denied adequate medical services in a way that caused the detainee's death, nor does the advocate show what policies the registered nurse was supposed to implement in this matter.
Court: USDC Oregon, Judge: Simon, Filed On: January 3, 2024, Case #: 3:23cv911, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: civil Rights, Negligence, wrongful Death
J. Illston allows medical malpractice and civil rights claims to continue against Contra Costa county officials in a dispute stemming from a young child who died in foster care from septicemia, a completely treatable illness with antibiotics, after he was left alone at night while appearing unwell and vomiting. Some claims against a handful of the individuals are tossed with leave to amend for being too broad, but the bulk of the wrongful death claims against Contra Costa proceed on the grounds that they can still be held liable for the negligent care of their foster care employees.
Court: USDC Northern District of California, Judge: Illston, Filed On: December 21, 2023, Case #: 3:21cv370, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: civil Rights, wrongful Death
J. Huffaker dismissed and directs this suit to be closed in favor of the county commission, other departments and community in this racial wrongful death claim brought by the father of his decedent. The father alleges the county’s E-911 department failed to provide equal and non-discriminatory services to Black residents after he heard gunshots in the area where the decedent was shot. He fails to show any evidence that the official county policy would hold the commission liable and failed to cure his deficiencies in the original complaint to state a plausible claim to any of the claims.
Court: USDC Middle District of Alabama, Judge: Huffaker, Filed On: December 11, 2023, Case #: 1:22cv693, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: civil Rights, Negligence, wrongful Death