Source: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-ca10-04-07115/USCOURTS-ca10-04-07115-0/pdf.json

Nature of Suit Code: 550
Nature of Suit: Prisoner - Civil Rights (U.S. defendant)
Cause of Action: 

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j 

FILED 

United States Court of Appeals 

Tenth Circuit 

UNITED ST ATES COURT OF APPEALS 

TENTH CIRCUIT 

APR 11 2005 

PATRICK FISHER 

Clerk 

DA YID 0. McMAHAN, 

Plaintiff-Appellant, 

V. 

BOB WILDER, County Sheriff; 

LINDA VOYLES, Jail Administrator, 

Defendants-Appellees. 

No. 04-7115 

(Eastern District of Oklahoma) 

(D.C. No. 03-CV-166-W) 

ORDER AND JUDGMENT* 

Before BRISCOE, LUCERO, and MURPHY, Circuit Judges. 

After examining the briefs and appellate record, this court has determined 

unanimously that oral argument would not materially assist the determination of 

this appeal. See Fed. R. App. P. 34(a)(2); 10th Cir. R. 34.l(G). The case is 

therefore ordered submitted without oral argument. 

*This order and judgment is not binding precedent, except under the 

doctrines of law of the case, res judicata and collateral estoppel. The court 

generally disfavors the citation of orders and judgments; nevertheless, an order 

and judgment may be cited under the terms and conditions of 10th Cir. R. 36.3. 

Appellate Case: 04-7115 Document: 010110534188 Date Filed: 04/11/2005 Page: 1
David 0. McMahan appeals from the district court's grant of summary 

judgment in favor of the defendants on McMahan's 42 U.S.C. § 1983 civil rights 

complaint. In his complaint, McMahan asserted that defendants subjected him to 

cruel and unusual punishment when they placed him in a jail cell with an inmate 

known to be infected with Hepatitis C. 1 In a thorough order granting summary 

judgment to the defendants, the district court first set out the standard governing 

conditions-of-confinement claims from Farmer v. Brennan, 511 U.S. 825 (1994). 

Applying that standard, the district court concluded that McMahan had failed to 

demonstrate he was incarcerated under conditions that posed a substantial risk of 

harm. In particular, the district court noted the record demonstrated that Hepatitis 

C is not spread through airborne transmission or casual contact, but is instead 

spread only through an exchange of bodily fluids. Here, the record was devoid of 

any evidence that Mc Mahan' s infected cell mate had a history of violent or risky 

behavior that would increase the likelihood of transmission to other inmates. In 

fact, McMahan had not alleged any instances where he had come into contact with 

his cellmate's bodily fluids. Because McMahan failed to come forward with any 

1 It appears that Mc Mahan was a pretrial detainee at the time of the events 

giving rise to his civil rights complaint. As noted by the district court, however, 

the Eighth Amendment standard serves as the analytical benchmark for such 

claims. See McClendon v. City of Albuquerque, 79 F.3d 1014, 1022 (10th Cir. 

1996). 

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Appellate Case: 04-7115 Document: 010110534188 Date Filed: 04/11/2005 Page: 2
evidence that the defendants disregarded an excessive risk to his health, the 

district court concluded the defendants were entitled to summary judgment. 

This court has reviewed de novo2 the parties' briefs and contentions, the 

district court's order, and the entire record on appeal. That review demonstrates 

no reversible error. Accordingly, the district court is affirmed for substantially 

those reasons set out in its order dated October 20, 2004. 

AFFIRMED. 

ENTERED FOR THE COURT 

Michael R. Murphy 

Circuit Judge 

2

This court reviews a grant of summary judgment de nova, applying the 

same standards employed by the district court. Byers v. City of Albuquerque, 150 

F.3d 1271 , 1274 (10th Cir. 1998). Summary judgment is appropriate "if the 

pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, 

together with the affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine issue of material 

fact and that the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law." Fed. R. 

Civ. P. 56(c). The factual record and reasonable inferences therefrom are viewed 

in the light most favorable to the party opposing summary judgment. Concrete 

Works of Colo., Inc., v. City & County of Denver, 36 F.3d 1513, 1517 (10th Cir. 

1994). Although a prose plaintiff's pleadings are construed liberally and held to 

a less stringent standard than pleadings drafted by lawyers, McMahan must 

nevertheless set forth sufficient facts to support his claims. Hall v. Bellman, 935 

F.2d I 106, 1110-12 (10th Cir. 1991). 

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