United States District Court, N.D. Alabama, Jasper Division
ANTHONY G. HUNT, JR., Plaintiff,
v.
WALKER COUNTY JAIL et al., Defendants.
MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER
Chief
United States Magistrate Judge John E. Ott filed a
“Report and Recommendation” on October 16, 2019,
recommending that the defendants' special reports be
treated as if they were motions for summary judgment, and
further recommending that such motions be granted in part and
denied in part. See doc. no. 48 (Magistrate
Judge's Report & Recommendation). The defendant, who
identifies himself as “Roger Childers, MSN, PhD,
”[1] filed a timely response to that report,
objecting to the Magistrate Judge's conclusion that
genuine issues of material fact remained on the
plaintiff's claim that defendant Childers acted with
deliberate indifference to plaintiff's serious medical
needs, and recommending that Childers's motion for
summary judgment on that claim be denied. See doc.
no. 49 (Objection of Defendant Roger Childers). The plaintiff
filed a reply to Childers's objections. See doc.
no. 50 (Plaintiff's response to Roger Childers's
objections).[2]
Defendant
Childers disputes the Magistrate Judge's finding that
medical records from the University of Alabama in Birmingham
(“UAB”), which indicate that “the plaintiff
suffered from a shoulder separation and a small join effusion
at his elbow” (for both of which follow-up care was
recommended), [3] demonstrated that plaintiff suffered from
an objectively-serious medical need. See Id. at 1.
Childers also disputed the existence of records indicating
that plaintiff sought medical treatment for his shoulder
while incarcerated in the Walker County Jail, or that he
failed to provide plaintiff proper medical attention.
Id. at 1-2.
Contrary
to those contentions, the “spartan records”
produced by defendants “show only that the plaintiff
sought treatment for his shoulder on more than one occasion
and that defendant Childers either ignored [plaintiff's]
requests or refused care.” Doc. no. 48
(Magistrate's Report & Recommendation), at 17
(alteration supplied). Indeed, there are no records
indicating that plaintiff was either examined by a physician,
or received any other medical care for his shoulder
separation or small join effusion of the elbow while housed
in the Walker County Jail. Defendant Childers's claim
that plaintiff failed to provide any information concerning
his need for medical care on his shoulder (see doc.
no. 49 (Objection of Defendant Roger Childers), at 2) is
refuted by multiple records, including the Jail's intake
record. The evidence of record, together with defendant
Childers's callous comments (such as his statement in
response to a nurse's notation that plaintiff described
his arm as “feel[ing] like fire & then ice”:
i.e., “Great he will ‘try anything'
to get to prison sooner”), [4] raises a genuine issue of
material fact concerning the plaintiff's claim of
deliberate indifference.[5]
The
issue of whether plaintiff has demonstrated an objectively
serious medical need and, if so, whether defendant
Childers's response to that need was deliberately
indifferent, are questions of material fact which preclude
summary judgment.[6] See e.g., Anderson
v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 255 (1986)
(“Credibility determinations, the weighing of the
evidence, and the drawing of legitimate inferences from the
facts are jury functions, not those of a judge”);
Sears v. Roberts, 922 F.3d 1199, 1205 (11th Cir.
2019) (“[a]t the summary judgment stage the judge's
function is not himself to weigh the evidence and determine
the matter but to determine whether there is a genuine issue
for trial” (citation omitted)); Farrow v,
West, 320 F.3d 1235, 1247 (11th Cir. 2003 (noting a
lengthy delay in treatment for injuries which do not require
immediate care may also give rise to constitutional claims
given a recognized need for treatment, the nature of the
continuing problems, the length of the delay involved and the
lack of any reasonable explanation for the delay) (citing
McElligot v. Foley, 182 F.3d 1248, 1258 n.6 (11th
Cir. 1999) (“Although Elmore's needs were not so
serious that a delay of a day or so would have been
constitutionally intolerable, the week long delays he
endured, a jury could conclude, were the product of
deliberate indifference.”)).
Having
carefully reviewed and considered de novo all the
materials in the court file, including the Magistrate
Judge's Report and Recommendation and defendant
Childers's objections thereto, this court hereby
ADOPTS the Magistrate's report, and his
recommendations are ACCEPTED. Accordingly,
it is ORDERED. ADJUDGED, and DECREED that
the motion for summary judgment jointly filed by the
defendants identified as Walker County, Alabama, Sheriff Jim
Underwood and Chief Deputy Sheriff Daren Bridges (doc. no.
17) be, and the same hereby is, GRANTED, and
plaintiff's claims against those defendants are
DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE.
Further,
for the reasons stated herein, and at greater length in the
Magistrate Judge's Report and Recommendation, it is
ORDERED that the motion for summary judgment
filed by the defendant who identifies himself as “Roger
Childers, MSN, Ph D” (doc. no. 25) be, and the same
hereby is, DENIED.
It also
is ORDERED that Huntsville attorney Rebekah
Keith McKinney be, and she hereby is, appointed to represent
plaintiff, Anthony G. Hunt, in all further proceedings
herein. The Clerk is directed to copy, at no expense to
plaintiff, any pleadings requested by his court-appointed
attorney. Further, Ms. McKinney will be allowed 60 days to
file any amended pleadings, and five months to conduct any
discovery that she deems appropriate.
The
plaintiff's sole remaining claim against defendant
Childers for deliberate indifference to plaintiff's
objectively serious medical needs is
REFERRED to the Magistrate Judge for all
further proceedings.
DONE
and ORDERED.
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Notes:
[1] “MSN” is an acronym
indicating that a person holds a Master of Science degree in
Nursing. As the Magistrate Judge noted in his Report and
Recommendation, defendant Childers “holds an Associate
degree and a Masters degree in nursing, as well as a Masters
in Health Care Administration and a Ph.D. in Business.”
Doc. no. 48 (Magistrate Judge's Report &
Recommendation), at 1 n.2 (citing doc. no. 25-1 (Affidavit of
Defendant Roger Childers), at 2)).
[2] Plaintiff's reply simply restates
his previous argument, stating “I pray the courts
see's the indifference and I was denied my right to have
adequate medical treatment.” Doc. no. 50.
[3] Doc. no. 48 (Magistrate's Report
and Recommendation), at 5. A footnote to the statement from
the Magistrate Judge's Report that is quoted in text
states that “[t]he UAB medical records describe this as
a ‘R Gr 3 AC joint separation . . . chronic injury,
acutely worsened pain' and as ‘at least a grade 3
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