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COURT OF APPEALS OF GEORGIA,
SECOND DIVISION
MIDDLEBROOKS et al.
v.
BIBB COUNTY et al.
A03A1098.
261 Ga. App. 382; 582 S.E.2d
539
May 22, 2003, Decided
ELDRIDGE, Judge.
Joseph V.
Middlebrooks ("Middlebrooks") committed suicide while detained in the
Bibb County Law Enforcement Center ("LEC"). James J. Middlebrooks
filed this wrongful death action as the administrator of the estate and as the
surviving son of Middlebrooks against Bibb County, County Board Chairman Larry
Justice, Sheriff Robbie Johnson, Major of Corrections Walter Mitchum, Chief
Deputy Grant, Captain Clifton Spires, four Bibb County lieutenant sheriffs,
four Bibb County deputy sheriffs, and Sandra White, a nurse employed at the Bibb
County LEC, to recover for the wrongful death of his father. n1 This appeal
arises out of the trial court's order granting summary judgment to all
defendants on the grounds of sovereign and official immunity. n2 Finding no
error we affirm.
On appeal from the grant of summary judgment,
the moving party must demonstrate that there is no genuine issue
of material fact and that the undisputed facts, viewed [*383] in the light most
favorable to the nonmoving party, warrant judgment as a matter of law. . . .
This Court applies a de novo standard of review and must draw all inferences in
favor of the non-moving party.
(Punctuation and footnotes
omitted.) Talbot County Board of Commissioners v. Woodall, 275 Ga. 281 (565
S.E.2d 465) (2002). See O.C.G.A. § 9-11-56 (c); Lau's Corp. v. Haskins, 261 Ga.
491 (405 S.E.2d 474) (1991).
Viewed in
the light most favorable to plaintiffs, the record reveals the following facts:
On August 24, 1993, Middlebrooks was discovered with second and third degree
burns at his home. He had allegedly burned down his house after killing his
wife. Middlebrooks had cuts on both sides of his neck, slits on both of his
wrists, and several puncture wounds in his chest. Middlebrooks was [**542]
initially transported to Grady Hospital's burn unit and then transferred to
Georgia Regional Hospital. Middlebrooks was subsequently transferred to Charter
Lake Hospital for psychiatric treatment. In late September 1993, Middlebrooks
was booked into the Bibb County LEC on the charge of malice murder.
While
incarcerated at the Bibb County LEC, Middlebrooks attempted to harm himself by
swallowing a bar of soap. Middlebrooks was transported to the emergency room of
the Medical Center of Central Georgia for treatment and then transferred to
Central State Hospital in Milledgeville for psychiatric evaluation.
Middlebrooks was rebooked into the Bibb County LEC on December 9, 1993, with
the notation he was a suicide risk based on his attempt to swallow the bar of
soap. Pursuant to the policy of the Bibb County Sheriff's Office for dealing
with possible suicidal inmates, he was permanently housed in the booking area
in a cell with a barred door, as opposed to a solid door, where he was in open
view and could be routinely monitored by personnel working in that area.
On January
9, 1994, Middlebrooks broke his leg, which resulted in his leg being placed in
a cast. After his injury, Middlebrooks was allowed to keep a set of crutches in
his cell as they were necessary for him to walk. Sometime after 2:00 a.m. on
January 14, 1994, Middlebrooks committed suicide by using one of his bed sheets
to fashion a tourniquet, which he placed around his neck; using a portion of a
crutch he had disassembled, he twisted the bed sheet until he asphyxiated. He,
apparently, lay down on the piece of the crutch in order to keep the tourniquet
from loosening.
Prior to
Middlebrooks' death, the last time any sheriff's office personnel spoke with
him was on January 14, 1994, at 2:00 a.m. when he was allowed to use the
telephone. At such time, he did not appear to be in any distress and gave no
indication he was upset or [*384] contemplating suicide. After he was returned
to his cell, several deputies checked on him on numerous occasions by visually
looking at him through the barred door, and he appeared to be sleeping with his
back to the door. When Middlebrooks placed the tourniquet around his neck, he
had positioned himself on his bed with his back to the barred door and had
pulled his blanket up over his neck. However, this was Middlebrooks' usual
sleeping position because it kept the lights, which were on, out of his eyes.
The deputies did not attempt to wake Middlebrooks. When Lieutenant Wheat reported to work at 6:00 a.m. on January 14,
1994, he visually checked Middlebrooks, and he appeared to be sleeping.
Lieutenant Wheat visually checked Middlebrooks six to seven times each hour
and, each time, assumed he was still sleeping. Middlebrooks' death was not
discovered until approximately 9:00 a.m., when Nurse White entered Middlebrooks'
cell to dispense his medication. Held:
1. There
was no error in the trial court's grant of summary judgment to Bibb County.
A 1991 amendment to our constitution provides, "The sovereign immunity of the state
and its departments and agencies can only be waived by an Act of the General
Assembly which specifically provides that sovereign immunity is thereby waived
and the extent of such waiver." Ga. Const. of 1983, Art. I, Sec. II, Par.
IX (e). The Supreme Court of Georgia held that sovereign immunity extends to
counties under the 1991 constitutional amendment. Gilbert v. Richardson, 264
Ga. 744, 747 (2) (452 S.E.2d 476) (1994). See also O.C.G.A. § 36-1-4 ("[a]
county is not liable to suit for any cause of action unless made so by
statute"). "While O.C.G.A. §
42-5-2 (a) imposes the duty and the cost for medical care of inmates in the
custody of a county upon the county, such statute did not waive sovereign
immunity of the county or its agents and employees." Howard v. City of
Columbus, 239 Ga. App. 399, 410 (2) (a) (521 S.E.2d 51) (1999).
However, a county has legislative duty to provide an inmate in
its custody and care with medical care. See O.C.G.A. §§ 42-5-2 (a); 42-4-4 (a)
(2); 42-4-32 (d). As the right to medical care is a fundamental right, it is
not discretionary, and therefore, the violation of such right "is not
subject to either sovereign immunity or official immunity." Cantrell v.
Thurman, 231 Ga. App. 510, 514 (4) [**543] (499 S.E.2d 416) (1998); Howard v.
City of Columbus, supra at 411 (2) (b). In this case, there is no evidence that Bibb County
breached its duty to provide medical care to Middlebrooks. The evidence is
uncontroverted that the Bibb County Sheriff's Department had an oral policy which
provided adequate procedures for caring for potentially suicidal inmates. Under
such policy, inmates believed to be a suicide risk were to be housed in the
booking area of the Bibb County LEC, which was [*385] manned 24 hours per day,
in cells with barred doors in order to provide easy observation by deputies
working in the area. The policy required that such inmates be routinely
monitored and directed that deputies use their discretion in determining the
frequency and method of monitoring, and what type of items the inmates were
allowed to have in their cells. Under the policy, deputies were provided
on-the-job training and taught to exercise their best judgment on a
case-by-case basis in making these determinations based on the facts particular
to each case. Thus, the trial court's grant of summary judgment in favor of
Bibb County must be affirmed. n3
2. Plaintiffs allege that it was
error for the trial court to grant summary judgment to Sheriff Johnson, Chief
Deputy Grant, Major Mitchum, Captain Spires, and Lieutenant Pearce in that
training, supervision, and adoption of an official policy regarding supervision
of suicidal inmates are ministerial functions as opposed to discretionary ones.
We disagree.
The doctrine of official immunity, also known as qualified
immunity, offers public officers and employees limited protection from suit in
their personal capacity. Qualified immunity protects individual public agents
from personal liability for discretionary actions taken within the scope of
their official authority, and done without wilfulness, malice, or corruption.
Under Georgia law, a public officer or employee may be personally liable only
for ministerial acts negligently performed or acts performed with malice or an
intent to injure.
(Citation omitted.) Clark v.
Prison Health Services, 257 Ga. App. 787, 791 (572 S.E.2d 342) (2002).
A ministerial act is commonly one that is simple, absolute, and
definite, arising under conditions admitted or proved to exist, and requiring
merely the execution of a specific duty. A discretionary act calls for the
exercise of personal deliberation and judgment, which in turn entails examining
the facts, reaching reasoned conclusions, and acting on them in a way not
specifically directed. Procedures or instructions adequate to cause an act to
become merely ministerial must be so clear, definite and certain as merely to
require the execution[*386] of a relatively simple, specific duty. Happoldt v.
Kutscher, 256 Ga. App. 96 (567 S.E.2d 380) (2002). n4
Id. at 792.
Contrary to
plaintiffs' assertion, there was not a "complete lack of policy and
training concerning suicidal inmates." As we held in Division 1, the Bibb
County Sheriff's Department had an adequate policy concerning the care of
inmates believed to be a suicide risk. Further, the evidence is uncontroverted
that the employees of the Bibb County LEC were made aware of the policy and
received on-the-job training in what was a proper exercise of their personal
judgment in making case-by-case decisions on the type and frequency of
monitoring and what items should be left in an inmate's cell. Moreover, this
Court has consistently held that
the operation of a police department, including the degree of training
and supervision to be provided its officers, is a discretionary [**544]
governmental function of the [county] as opposed to a ministerial, proprietary,
or administratively routine function. McDay v. City of Atlanta, 204 Ga. App.
621 (1) (420 S.E.2d 75) (1992). Liability may be imposed as a result of the
exercise of such a discretionary function only when the acts complained of are
done within the scope of the officer's authority and with wilfulness, malice or
corruption. Id.
(Citation and punctuation
omitted.) Carter v. Glenn, 249 Ga. App. 414, 417 (2) (548 S.E.2d 110) (2001).
See also Harvey v. Nichols, 260 Ga. App. 187, 191 (1) (a) (581 S.E.2d 272),
2003 Ga. App. Lexis 303 (2003); Bontwell v. Dept. of Corrections, 226 Ga. App.
524, 527-528 (4) (486 S.E.2d 917) (1997).
In this
case, there was no showing of any conduct by any of these defendants which
would amount to wilfulness, malice, or corruption. Therefore, they all are
entitled to official immunity as a matter of law. See Id.; Lowe v. Jones
County, 231 Ga. App. 372, 373 (3) (499 S.E.2d 348) (1998); McDay v. City of
Atlanta, supra at 621 (1) .
3. Plaintiffs
allege that the trial court erred in granting summary judgment to Lieutenants
Wheat and Gunnels on the basis of official immunity in that providing proper
supervision of a suicidal [*387] inmate is a ministerial function. Plaintiffs
argue that Lieutenants Wheat and Gunnels failed (1) to inform their
subordinates of Middlebrooks' suicidal tendencies, and (2) to give them clear
directions on how to monitor them.
In this
case, Lieutenants Wheat and Gunnels followed the Bibb County Sheriff's
Department's policy of dealing with suicidal inmates. The evidence is
uncontroverted that, as each shift came on duty, the officers were made aware
that Middlebrooks was being housed in the booking area due to suicidal
tendencies and that there was a need to routinely monitor him. Each of the
deputies on duty during the morning hours of January 14, 1994, averred that he
had been informed that Middlebrooks was housed in the booking area because he
was a suicide risk; that Middlebrooks should be routinely monitored; and that
the officer should exercise his discretion in determining the frequency and
method of monitoring based on Middlebrooks' behavior and the surrounding
circumstances. Each of the deputies further averred that he was aware that he
should exercise his discretion in a common sense case-by-case basis in determining what items should be taken out
of Middlebrooks' cell to insure his safety, taking into consideration what
appeared to be a risk to the particular inmate because of his situation.
To the
extent plaintiffs allege that Lieutenants Wheat and Gunnels should have
established more definite policies that left the deputies without discretion in
deciding the method and frequency of monitoring and what items could be left
within an inmate's cell, the decision on whether to adopt other or additional
requirements was, by policy, left to their personal judgment and was,
therefore, discretionary and not ministerial. Further, such failure to adopt
other or additional requirements does not amount to wilfulness, malice, or
corruption. See Woodard v. Laurens County, 265 Ga. 404, 407 (2) (456 S.E.2d
581) (1995). It follows that the trial court correctly granted summary judgment
in favor of Lieutenants Wheat and Gunnels.
4.
Plaintiffs allege that the trial court erred in granting summary judgment to
Deputies Morgan, Smith, Osgood, and Rachel, since providing proper supervision
is a ministerial function.
"Whether the acts
upon which liability is predicated are ministerial or discretionary is
determined by the facts of the particular case. Nelson v. Spalding County, 249
Ga. 334, 336 (2) (a) (290 S.E.2d 915) (1982)." Woodard v. Laurens County,
supra at 407 (2).
In this
case, the uncontroverted evidence shows that Deputies Morgan, Smith, Osgood,
and Rachel followed the policy of the Bibb County Sheriff's Office by routinely
monitoring Middlebrooks. On January 14, 1994, Middlebrooks gave deputies no
indication he was upset or contemplating suicide. He exhibited no unusual
behavior, did not appear upset, was not exhibiting any obvious signs of
anxiety, [*388] and appeared to be in good spirits. The uncontroverted evidence
further shows that each deputy frequently checked [**545] on Middlebrooks
during the time in question. Each of these deputies averred that they visually
checked on Middlebrooks by looking through the barred cell door numerous times
between 2:00 a.m. and 9:00 a.m. and that Middlebrooks appeared to be asleep,
due to the unique methods Middlebrooks had used to keep his actions undetected. There is no
evidence the deputies failed to comply with the simple, specific duties that
were clear, certain, and definite under the policy regarding potentially suicidal
inmates and were ministerial in nature.
To the extent plaintiffs
allege that the
deputies should have
checked Middlebrooks more frequently or should have gone into his cell and
attempted to wake Middlebrooks, there was no clear, definite, and certain
policy which required them to do so. They were allowed to exercise their
discretion and did so, electing not to awaken Middlebrooks who appeared to be
in no distress and sleeping. Likewise, as the policy for regarding potentially
suicidal inmates did not specify which items were to be taken out of a
potentially suicidal inmate's cell and left such decisions to each deputy's
discretion based on a common sense case-by-case basis based on the facts
particular to each case, the deputies' decision to allow Middlebrooks, a
recovering burn patient, to have sheets on his bed and crutches, which he
needed to walk because of his broken leg, was a discretionary function.
Plaintiffs assert in their brief that pursuant to our holdings
in Clark v. Prison Health Services, supra, and Washington v. Dept. of Human
Resources, supra, all of the deputies'
actions or failures to act must be classified as ministerial. We disagree. In
Clark, the duties the employees of the sheriff's office failed to perform were specifically
set out in the sheriff's office policy and were "so clear, definite and
certain as merely to require the execution of a relatively simple, specific
duty, leaving no room for examining the facts, reaching reasoned conclusions,
and acting on them in a way not specifically directed." (Citation and
punctuation omitted.) Clark v. Prison Health Services, supra at 793 (4) (a). In
Washington v. Dept. of Human Resources , supra, the plaintiff, a mentally
retarded and mute adult, through her guardian, alleged she suffered second
degree burns on her feet as a result of being placed in a bathtub filled with
scalding water. Bathing someone requires merely the execution of a simple,
specific duty and therefore is a ministerial act. The fact that the employees
had to regulate the temperature of the water does not make it discretionary.
There having been no showing of any conduct by any of these
defendants which would amount to wilfulness, malice, or corruption, they are
entitled to official immunity as a matter of law. There was [*389] no error in
the trial court's grant of summary judgment to Deputies Morgan, Smith, Osgood,
and Rachel.
Judgment affirmed. Johnson, P. J., and Mikell, J., concur.
FOOTNOTES:
n1
Plaintiffs initially filed suit in federal court. However, pursuant to a motion
filed by defendants, on December 12, 1996, the district court severed the state
law claims from the federal claims, and plaintiffs filed this action on June
11, 1997, under the Georgia renewal statute, O.C.G.A. § 9-2-61.
n2
Plaintiffs do not enumerate as error the trial court's grant of summary
judgment to Nurse White and Lieutenant Smallwood. Additionally, plaintiffs
appeal the grant of summary judgment to Bibb County Chairman Justice only to
the extent that Bibb County is subject to suit through its Commission Chairman
and have not enumerated as error the grant of summary judgment to him in his
individual capacity.
n3 While
sovereign immunity is not a bar to an action brought pursuant to 42 USC § 1983
for violations of Eighth Amendment rights, plaintiffs have not asserted a §
1983 claim in this Court. See Howard v. City of Columbus, supra.
n4
Although in Edwards v. Dept. of Children & Youth Services, 271 Ga. 890 (525
S.E.2d 83) (2000); Brantley v. Dept. of Human Resources, 271 Ga. 679 (523
S.E.2d 571) (1999); and Dept. of Transportation v. Brown, 267 Ga. 6 (471 S.E.2d
849) (1996), the Supreme Court has drawn a more narrow definition of
discretionary functions in the context of the Georgia Tort Claims Act, the
Supreme Court specifically noted in Brantley that county employees fall outside
the scope of the Georgia Tort Claims Act. See also Washington v. Dept. of Human
Resources, 241 Ga. App. 319, 322 (2) (526 S.E.2d 354) (1999).