This order and judgment is not binding precedent, except under the *

doctrines of law of the case, res judicata, and collateral estoppel. It may be cited,

however, for its persuasive value consistent with Fed. R. App. P. 32.1 and 10th

Cir. R. 32.1.

F I LED

United States Court of Appeals

Tenth Circuit

April 12, 2007

Elisabeth A. Shumaker

Clerk of Court

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

TENTH CIRCUIT

MARIE GASTON, Surviving Parent

and Administratrix of the Estate of

Jeffrey Ray Belden,

Plaintiff - Appellee,

v.

WARREN PLOEGER; GLEN

LEITCH; STEVE ROBERTS,

individually and as County

Commissioners of Brown County,

Kansas; LAMAR SHOEMAKER,

individually and as Sheriff of Brown

County, Kansas; BRETT

HOLLISTER,

Defendants - Appellants,

 and

JOHN DOES, unknown and

unidentified employee(s) of Brown

County, Kansas; JANE DOES,

unknown and unidentified employee(s)

of Brown County, Kansas,

 Defendants.

No. 05-3461

(D.C. No. 04-CV-2368-DJW)

(D. Kan.)

ORDER AND JUDGMENT

*
- 2 -

Before KELLY, McCONNELL, and HOLMES, Circuit Judges.

Jeffrey Ray Belden committed suicide on August 14, 2002, while he was

incarcerated in Brown County, Kansas. Thereafter, Plaintiff-Appellee Marie

Gaston brought this lawsuit on his behalf asserting, inter alia, a 42 U.S.C. § 1983

claim that various Brown County officials were deliberately indifferent to the risk

that Mr. Belden would commit suicide. The defendants moved for summary

judgment on the basis of qualified immunity; the magistrate judge to whom the

case was assigned granted the motion with respect to the § 1983 claims against

County Commissioners Warren Ploeger, Glen Leitch, and Steve Roberts but

denied the motion with respect to the § 1983 claims against Sheriff Lamar

Shoemaker, Sergeant Brett Hollister, and Officer Brandon Roberts. Exercising

appellate jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291, we conclude that the evidence

cannot establish a constitutional violation. Accordingly, we reverse and remand.

Background

The question raised in this appeal is: “Taken in the light most favorable to

the party asserting the injury, do the facts alleged show that the [defendants’]

conduct violated a constitutional right?” Saucier v. Katz, 533 U.S. 194, 201

(2001). Thus, the facts recounted below are taken from the record and presented

in the light most favorable to Ms. Gaston. See Thomas v. Wichita Coca-Cola
 The magistrate judge referred to Ms. Renz as Mr. Belden’s fianceé. The 1

briefs refer to her as his girlfriend. The exact status of their relationship is not

material to this appeal.

- 3 -

Bottling Co., 968 F.2d 1022, 1024 (10th Cir. 1992) (noting that, when facts are in

dispute, the nonmoving party may not simply rest on the pleadings but must

identify “sufficient evidence (pertinent to the material issue) . . . by reference to

an affidavit, a deposition transcript or a specific exhibit incorporated therein”).

I. Mr. Belden’s Suicide

On June 26, 2002, Mr. Belden was incarcerated in the Brown County Jail

awaiting trial on a charge of possession of methamphetamine with intent to sell. 

[II Aplt. App. at 335.] For the first six weeks of his incarceration, Mr. Belden

was a well-behaved inmate. [Id. at 338.] Then, on or about August 14, Mr.

Belden received a letter from his significant other, Jennifer Renz. [Id. at 335.] 1

Sergeant Hollister, the jail administrator, was aware that Mr. Belden had received

this letter. [I Aplt. App. at 99.] He also became aware that Mr. Belden had

altered his cell window to facilitate the receipt of contraband. [II Aplt. App. at

335.] Because Mr. Belden had tampered with the window, Sergeant Hollister

decided to move him to a different cell. [Id.]

Mr. Belden made it clear to Sergeant Hollister that he did not want to be

moved. First, Mr. Belden complained about his new cellmates. [Aplt. Br. at 5.] 

Then, when Sergeant Hollister moved Mr. Belden to a single-person cell, he

complained that his new cell did not have a working television. [Id. at 6.] When
- 4 -

Sergeant Hollister refused to move Mr. Belden from his television-less, singleperson cell, Mr. Belden used a piece of fruit to plug the toilet. [II Aplt. App. at

336.] Sergeant Hollister then moved him to a different single-person cell. [Id.]

At 4:00 p.m., Officer Roberts came on duty and was told that Mr. Belden

was in a single-person cell for disciplinary reasons. [Id.] Shortly thereafter,

Officer Roberts began serving dinner to the inmates. At about 5:30 p.m., Mr.

Belden came out of his cell to get his dinner, threw his iced tea down the hallway,

and refused to return to his cell. [Id.] Officer Roberts was the only officer on

duty at the jail, so he summoned Brown County Deputy Doug Brammer to assist

him in dealing with Mr. Belden. [Id.] When Officer Roberts and Deputy

Brammer threatened Mr. Belden with pepper spray, he went back into his cell. 

[Id.]

At 6:40 p.m., Officer Roberts conducted a routine check of the cells, and he

noticed that Mr. Belden had placed paper over his cell window. [Id.] Although

the jail’s practice permitted prisoners to obstruct their cell window temporarily

(usually to afford them privacy when using the toilet), Officer Roberts told Mr.

Belden to remove the paper. [Id.] Mr. Belden refused and threatened to harm

Officer Roberts if he entered the cell. [Id.] Officer Roberts testified that he

considered this behavior to be out of character for Mr. Belden. [Id.] 

Concerned about Mr. Belden’s insubordination, Officer Roberts telephoned

Sergeant Hollister at home. [Id.] Sergeant Hollister instructed Officer Roberts to
 Pursuant to jail procedure, if Officer Roberts did contact dispatch to 2

request assistance, he should have recorded his action in the jail log. [Id.]

- 5 -

summon a deputy to assist him, enter Mr. Belden’s cell to remove the paper, and

move Mr. Belden to Cell 14. [Id.] Cell 14 is the jail’s suicide watch cell, but it is

also used to house inmates who need frequent observation for other reasons, such

as intoxication or injury. [I Aplt. App. at 99.] Officer Roberts was aware that

Cell 14 was used as a suicide watch cell and that jail procedure dictated that

inmates in Cell 14 were to be observed more frequently than prisoners in other

cells. [II Aplt. App. at 336.]

After speaking with Sergeant Hollister, Officer Roberts claims that he

immediately contacted dispatch to request assistance, but his jail log does not

contain a notation that he did so. [Id. at 337.] Deputy Brammer testified that he 2

was on duty at the time and did not recall hearing that Officer Roberts had

requested assistance. [Id.] In any case, Officer Roberts spent the next hour

supervising the male inmates’ recreation period and one inmate’s family visit. [I

Aplt. App. at 120.] During this time, he passed by Mr. Belden’s cell frequently

and spoke with him on several occasions. [Id.]

At approximately 7:45 p.m., Officer Roberts conducted another cell check. 

[II Aplt. App. at 337.] Mr. Belden’s window was still obstructed, and Officer

Roberts again instructed him to remove the paper. [Id.] Mr. Belden replied,

“Fuck off.” [Id.] Although the obstruction had been in place for over an hour,
- 6 -

Officer Roberts did not follow up with dispatch to inquire about whether any

officers were coming to assist him, and he did not telephone Sergeant Hollister

with an update on Mr. Belden’s behavior. [Id. at 338.] Likewise, Sergeant

Hollister did not phone Officer Roberts to determine whether his instructions had

been followed. [Id.]

Shortly after 8:00 p.m., Officer Roberts let inmate Anthony Lawson out of

his cell to do laundry. [I Aplt. App. at 122.] Frustrated that no deputy had yet

arrived to assist him in removing the paper from Mr. Belden’s cell window,

Officer Roberts decided to have Mr. Lawson assist him in removing the

obstruction from Mr. Belden’s cell window. [Id. at 122-24.] Mr. Lawson was an

inmate trusty whom Officer Roberts trusted, and he was also friendly with Mr.

Belden. [Id. at 124.]

When Mr. Lawson opened Mr. Belden’s cell door, he found Mr. Belden

hanging by a sheet from the door handle. [Id.] Officer Roberts immediately

summoned an ambulance. [Id.] Deputy Brammer, who had been upstairs in the

sheriff’s office doing paperwork for approximately fifteen minutes, heard the call

and went down to the jail to assist Officer Roberts. [Id.] He estimated that Mr.

Belden had been dead for about half an hour when he arrived on the scene at 8:18

p.m. [II Aplt. App. at 286.]

After the suicide, Mr. Belden’s former cellmates informed jail staff that he

had spoken of suicide on several occasions. [Id. at 335.] In the days leading up to
- 7 -

his death, Mr. Belden had given away his food, rocked back and forth on his bed

for extended periods of time, and tied his shoelaces together to see whether they

would support his body weight. [Id.] Apparently, Mr. Belden’s fellow inmates

believed that this behavior was simply an effort to get attention. In any case, it is

undisputed that they did not report their observations to anyone in the jail before

Mr. Belden committed suicide. [Id.]

II. Training and Supervision

Both Sheriff Shoemaker and Sergeant Hollister have undergone suicide

prevention training, which has taught them, among other things, how to identify

inmates with suicidal tendencies. [Id.; see also Aplee. Br. at 48 (listing the

numerous training programs Sheriff Shoemaker has attended).] According to

Sergeant Hollister, his training taught him that a sudden change in an inmate’s

behavior can indicate an increased risk of suicide. [II Aplt. App. at 336.] 

However, he considered an inmate covering his cell window to be a disciplinary

issue rather than a suicide warning sign. [I Aplt. App. at 96.] Sheriff Shoemaker

concurred. [Id. at 141.]

At the time of Mr. Belden’s suicide, Officer Roberts had not received any

formal suicide prevention training despite having worked as a corrections officer

for the Brown County Sheriff’s Department for eighteen months. [Id. at 111-13.] 

Generally, Brown County Jail officers are offered the opportunity to attend a

corrections class that includes a suicide prevention component after they have
- 8 -

been employed for a year. [Id. at 148.] However, Officer Roberts testified that he

had only received on-the-job training through his interactions with fellow

officers. [Id. at 112-13.] He knew that depression was a suicide warning sign,

and he testified that he relied on his common sense in detecting and preventing

suicide attempts. [Id. at 113.]

III. Brown County Jail Policies and Procedures

As noted, jail officials generally allow inmates to cover their cell windows

for short periods of time. [See Aplt. Br. at 19.] However, Officer Roberts

understood that it was important for correctional officers to have an unobstructed

view of the inside of the cells in order to monitor the inmates and make sure they

did not harm themselves or others. [I Aplt. App. at 120-21.] If an inmate refused

to remove a window covering, jail policy dictated that the correctional officers

should forcibly remove it. [Id.; see also id. at 96; id. at 141.] The policy

mandated that at least two officers would enter a cell to resolve disciplinary

issues such as an inmate’s failure to remove an obstruction from the cell window. 

[Id. at 96.] Nevertheless, the policy recognized that it was often impractical to

enter a cell immediately, and Sheriff Shoemaker testified that if an officer is

busy, other inmates are out of their cells, and the officer is waiting for assistance,

it would not be unreasonable for a window to remain covered for as long as it was

covered in this case. [II Aplt. App. at 338.] 

The jail also had procedures for dealing with known suicide risks. [Id. at
 Notably, when Mr. Belden arrived at the hospital, the emergency room 3

physician was told that he had been placed on half-hour cell check. [Id. at 338.]

 As will be discussed, infra, Officer Roberts did not properly appeal the 4

denial of the summary judgment motion, so we cannot consider whether he is

entitled to qualified immunity.

- 9 -

339.] If an inmate demonstrated any indication of an intention to harm himself,

officers would immediately summon Kanza Mental Health to the jail, and Kanza

would evaluate the inmate. [Id.] Depending on the specific circumstances of the

case, the inmate could be segregated and monitored. [Id.] As mentioned, Cell 3

14 was used as a suicide watch cell at the Brown County Jail. [Id. at 337.]

IV. Procedural History

Ms. Gaston brought this lawsuit as the survivor of Mr. Belden and as the

administratrix of his estate, alleging claims pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and

Kansas state tort law. After the parties consented to the exercise of jurisdiction

by a United States Magistrate Judge, the defendants moved for summary judgment

on the basis of qualified immunity. The magistrate judge granted summary

judgment to the County Commissioners and to Sheriff Shoemaker in his official

capacity on Ms. Gaston’s § 1983 claim but denied them summary judgment on the

state law claims. He further denied summary judgment on all claims to Sheriff

Shoemaker in his individual capacity, Sergeant Hollister, and Officer Roberts. 

Sheriff Shoemaker and Sergeant Hollister filed a timely notice of appeal.4
- 10 -

Discussion

This appeal challenges the denial of a motion for summary judgment based

on qualified immunity. When a defendant has asserted qualified immunity, the

burden shifts to the plaintiff to establish: (1) that the defendant violated the

plaintiff’s constitutional right, and (2) that, at the time of the incident, it was

clearly established that the defendant’s conduct amounted to a constitutional

violation. Saucier, 533 U.S. at 201; Cortez v. McCauley, 478 F.3d 1108, 1114

(10th Cir. 2007) (en banc). The court must view the evidence in the light most

favorable to the plaintiff and draw all reasonable inferences in the plaintiff’s

favor. See Fuerschbach v. Sw. Airlines Co., 439 F.3d 1197, 1207 (10th Cir.

2006). It then makes two legal determinations: (1) whether the facts state a

constitutional violation, and (2) whether it was clearly established that the

defendant’s conducted violated the constitutional right. See Blossom v.

Yarbrough, 429 F.3d 963, 966 (10th Cir. 2005).

Here, the appellants concede that a jailer violates the Fourteenth

Amendment if he is deliberately indifferent to a known risk that a pre-trial

detainee will commit suicide, see Aplt. Br. at 23-24 (citing Barrie v. Grand

County, 119 F.3d 862, 866 (10th Cir. 1997), and Frohmader v. Wayne, 958 F.2d

1024, 1028 (10th Cir. 1992)), and they do not challenge the district court’s

conclusion that the law was clearly established at the time of Mr. Belden’s death. 

However, they contend that the facts of this case, even when viewed in the light
- 11 -

most favorable to Ms. Gaston, fail to establish a constitutional violation. Id. at

27, 30. We review this legal question de novo. Blossom, 429 F.3d at 967.

I. Jurisdiction 

At the outset, we must evaluate Ms. Gaston’s contention that we lack

jurisdiction to hear this appeal. “Generally, [the] denial of summary judgment is

not immediately appealable.” Id. at 966. As Ms. Gaston concedes, the denial of

qualified immunity “is subject to immediate appeal when the defendant is a public

official asserting qualified immunity and the issue appealed is one of law.” Id.;

see also Martinez v. Carr, —F.3d—, 2007 WL 901922, at *2 (10th Cir. 2007);

Aplee. Br. at 1. She argues, however, that this case is not “proper as an

interlocutory appeal since Appellants have not postured the issue(s) of appeal as

based on qualified immunity.” Id. In other words, she asks us to hold that we

lack jurisdiction because the words “qualified immunity” do not appear anywhere

in the two issues presented for review in the appellants’ brief. Id. at 2.

Ms. Gaston does not point to a single case requiring appellants to use the

words “qualified immunity” in their statement of the issues. Moreover, the

appellants’ statement of the issues (not to mention their brief as a whole) makes

clear that they are pressing a legal question related to the denial of qualified

immunity. Additionally, their notice of appeal specifically states that they are

appealing “a Memorandum and Order denying [their] claims for qualified

immunity . . . .” R. Doc. 42 at 1. The appellants contend that, as a matter of law,
- 12 -

the facts in the record do not establish a constitutional violation; if this is true,

they are necessarily entitled to qualified immunity. See Saucier, 533 U.S. at 201. 

Without doubt, then, this appeal raises a legal question related to the denial of

qualified immunity, and we have jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291. See

Mitchell v. Forsyth, 472 U.S. 511, 530 (1985).

II. Officer Roberts’s Attempted Appeal

Having held that we have jurisdiction over the appeal, we must now

determine whether Officer Brandon Roberts is rightly before us. The notice of

appeal, timely filed on December 1, 2005, reads as follows:

Notice is hereby given that Defendants Warren Ploeger, Glen Leitch,

Steve Roberts, County Commissioners of Brown County, Kansas,

Lamar Shoemaker and Brett Hollister (“Defendants”), in the abovereferenced matter, hereby appeal to the United States Court of

Appeals for the Tenth Circuit from a Memorandum and Order

denying Defendants’ claims for qualified immunity entered in this

action on the 17th day of November, 2005.

R. Doc. 42 at 1. Officer Brandon Roberts’s name does not appear at all in the

text or the caption of the notice of appeal. See id.

Pursuant to Fed. R. App. P. 3(c)(1)(A), a notice of appeal must “specify the

party or parties taking the appeal by naming each one in the caption or body of

the notice . . . .” In Torres v. Oakland Scavenger Co., the Supreme Court held

that “[t]he failure to name a party in the notice of appeal is more than excusable

‘informality’; it constitutes a failure of that party to appeal.” 487 U.S. 312, 314

(1988). Following Torres, the Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure were
- 13 -

amended to make clear that “[a]n appeal must not be dismissed for informality of

form or title of the notice of appeal, or for failure to name a party whose intent to

appeal is otherwise clear from the notice.” Fed. R. App. P. 3(c)(4). Moreover,

the amended Rule permits “an attorney representing more than one party [to]

describe those parties with such terms as ‘all plaintiffs,’ ‘the defendants,’ ‘the

plaintiffs A, B, et al.,’ or ‘all defendants except X.’” Id. R. 3(c)(1)(A).

In light of these changes, the dispositive question is whether the notice of

appeal has provided fair notice of the parties that intend to appeal the lower

court’s decision. See Dodger’s Bar & Grill, Inc. v. Johnson County Bd. of

County Comm’rs, 32 F.3d 1436, 1440-41 (10th Cir. 1994). We have held that the

jurisdictional nature of Rule 3(c) prevents us from considering an appeal by a

party whose intent to appeal is not clear from the notice even when the omission

of the party is inadvertent and the opposing party has suffered no prejudice. See

Twenty Mile Joint Venture, PND, Ltd. v. Comm’r of Internal Revenue, 200 F.3d

1268, 1274 (10th Cir. 1999). Accordingly, we have concluded that the omission

of one party where others are mentioned by name is insufficient to indicate that

the omitted party intended to appeal. See id. at 1273-74.

Here, both the caption and the body of the notice listed five of the original

six defendants by name. Nothing in the notice even suggested that Officer

Roberts intended to appeal the denial of summary judgment. In these

circumstances, we have little difficulty concluding that the notice of appeal did
 Of course, Officer Roberts may again assert qualified immunity later in 5

the proceedings. See Langley v. Adams County, 987 F.2d 1473, 1481 n.3 (10th

Cir. 1993). Nothing we say here is meant to indicate any opinion about whether

Officer Roberts is entitled to qualified immunity.

- 14 -

not provide fair notice that Officer Roberts intended to appeal. Therefore, we

lack jurisdiction to consider whether Officer Roberts was entitled to summary

judgment. See id. 5

III. Qualified Immunity

Although “neither prison officials nor municipalities can absolutely

guarantee the safety of their prisoners[, t]hey are, . . . responsible for taking

reasonable measures to [e]nsure the safety of inmates.” Lopez v. LeMaster, 172

F.3d 756, 759 (10th Cir. 1999) (internal citation omitted). Accordingly, a jailer

violates the Eighth Amendment if he shows deliberate indifference to a convicted

inmate’s serious medical needs. Estelle v. Gamble, 429 U.S. 97, 104 (1976); see

also Farmer v. Brennan, 511 U.S. 825, 834 (1994). “Under the Fourteenth

Amendment’s due process clause, pretrial detainees . . . are entitled to the same

degree of protection regarding medical attention as that afforded convicted

inmates under the Eighth Amendment.” Frohmader, 958 F.2d at 1028; see also

Bell v. Wolfish, 441 U.S. 520, 535 n.16 (1979).

Claims arising from a failure to prevent prisoner suicide “are considered

and treated as claims based on the failure of jail officials to provide medical care

for those in their custody.” Barrie, 119 F.3d at 866. Thus, a plaintiff bringing
- 15 -

such a claim must prove that his jailer was “deliberately indifferent to a

substantial risk of suicide.” Id. at 869 (internal quotation marks omitted). 

“Deliberate indifference has objective and subjective components.” Callahan v.

Poppell, 471 F.3d 1155, 1159 (10th Cir. 2006). The objective component of the

test is met if the harm suffered was sufficiently serious. Id. Obviously, suicide

satisfies this requirement. See Collins v. Seeman, 462 F.3d 757, 760 (7th Cir.

2006) (“[I]t goes without saying that suicide is a serious harm.”).

The subjective component of the test requires a showing that the defendant

acted with a culpable state of mind. In Farmer v. Brennan, the Supreme Court

observed that the required mens rea lies “somewhere between the poles of

negligence at one end and purpose or knowledge at the other . . . .” 511 U.S. at

836. The Court then held that “a prison official cannot be found liable . . . unless

the official knows of and disregards an excessive risk to inmate health or safety;

the official must both be aware of facts from which the inference could be drawn

that a substantial risk of serious harm exists, and he must also draw the

inference.” Id. at 837.

The Court made clear that the defendant’s knowledge of a substantial risk

may be proven by circumstantial evidence, including evidence “that the risk was

obvious.” Id. at 842. However, the threshold for obviousness is very high. See,

e.g., Perez v. Oakland County, 466 F.3d 416, 435-36 (6th Cir. 2006) (Griffin, J.,

concurring) (“Admittedly, it may have been unwise to credit Perez’s
- 16 -

characterization of his state of mind and his explanation for discontinuing his

medication, particularly in light of his history and his unmedicated state itself. . .

. [However, i]f one fails to perceive a strong likelihood, one cannot then be

deliberately indifferent to it.”); Collins, 462 F.3d at 761 (“[A] request to see a

crisis counselor . . . is not sufficient to put a defendant on notice that an inmate

poses a substantial and imminent risk of suicide.”).

A. Sergeant Hollister

The magistrate judge denied Sergeant Hollister’s motion for summary

judgment because “the evidence presented raises a genuine issue of material fact

regarding whether Plaintiff can establish . . . (1) whether Defendant Hollister . . .

had knowledge of the specific risk that Belden would attempt to commit suicide;

or (2) whether the evidence demonstrates that the risk of Belden committing

suicide was so substantial or pervasive that knowledge by [Sergeant Hollister] can

be inferred.” II Aplt. App. at 346. He contends that the evidence in the record,

viewed in the light most favorable to Ms. Gaston, cannot establish that he was

deliberately indifferent to the risk that Mr. Belden would kill himself. We agree.

The magistrate judge relied on the following evidence in reaching the

conclusion that Sergeant Hollister was not entitled to qualified immunity: (1) Mr.

Belden’s cellmates observed suicidal behavior and heard him discussing suicide;

(2) Mr. Belden was not a disciplinary problem until the day of his death; (3) Mr.

Belden received a letter from Ms. Renz on the day of his death and Sergeant
- 17 -

Hollister was aware of the receipt and contents of the letter; (4) Sergeant Hollister

had training in detecting suicidal inmates; (5) Sergeant Hollister placed Mr.

Belden in a single-person cell; (6) Mr. Belden plugged the toilet in his new cell;

(7) Officer Roberts told Sergeant Hollister about Mr. Belden’s continued

insubordination between 4:00 and 6:40 p.m.; (8) Sergeant Hollister instructed

Officer Roberts to remove the paper from Mr. Belden’s cell window and transfer

him to Cell 14; (9) Cell 14 was the suicide watch cell; and (10) Sergeant Hollister

never followed-up with Officer Roberts to check on the situation with Mr. Belden. 

Id. at 346-49.

Much of this evidence has no bearing on whether Sergeant Hollister knew

that Mr. Belden was suicidal. For example, the magistrate judge noted that there

was no evidence that Sergeant Hollister was aware of the suicidal behavior

observed by Mr. Belden’s cellmates. Indeed, the inmates uniformly stated that

they had not told any jail officials about their observations because they did not

believe Mr. Belden was suicidal. Nevertheless, the magistrate judge believed that

a jury could find that:

[I]f the jailers had been properly monitoring the inmates, the jailers

would have heard Belden talk about suicide, would have observed

Belden give away his food, would have watched Belden repeatedly

rock back and forth on his bed, and would have noticed Belden tying

his shoelaces together to test the ability of the shoelaces to hold his

body weight.

Id. at 350. This is hardly a proper inference to be drawn from the evidence
- 18 -

because it presumes that jailers have a constitutional duty to monitor inmates

constantly. However, jailers are neither obligated nor able to watch every inmate

at every minute of every day. The record is clear that Sergeant Hollister and his

colleagues were not aware of the strange behavior described by Mr. Belden’s

cellmates. Under these circumstances, we would not permit a jury to infer that

their failure to notice contributed to the “higher degree of fault than negligence”

required for deliberate indifference. Berry v. City of Muskogee, 900 F.2d 1489,

1495 (10th Cir. 1990).

With respect to the letter from Ms. Renz, Sergeant Hollister testified that:

A. He received a letter through the mail. It had been logged in by

the jailers.

Q. That letter, did anyone at the jail look at that before they gave

it to him?

A. Apparently so because the other dayshift jailer had mentioned

it to me that . . . [Ms. Renz] wanted to know why he wouldn’t

come to the window when she honked.

Q. Did you ever observe that letter?

A. I don’t remember.

I Aplt. App. at 99; see also II Aplt. App. at 269. The letter is not in the record,

and nothing in the record further illuminates its contents. Nevertheless, the

magistrate judge seemingly presumed that it was a “Dear John” letter. This is

pure speculation that finds no support in the record. According to Deputy

Brammer, Ms. Renz arrived at the hospital soon after Mr. Belden was taken there. 
- 19 -

II Aplt. App. at 290. She told the emergency room physician that she had spoken

with Mr. Belden the day before and that “[h]e told her that he loved her but did

not make any suggestion that he might be particularly depressed or suicidal.” Id.

at 320. From this evidence, a jury would have no basis for inferring that there

was anything amiss in Mr. Belden’s relationship with Ms. Renz, let alone that the

defendants were aware of it and deliberately indifferent to its effect on his mental

state.

Sergeant Hollister admitted that Mr. Belden was generally a well-behaved

inmate prior to August 14, 2002, and he agreed that a sudden shift in behavior can

be a harbinger of suicide. I Aplt. App. at 98. However, he testified

unequivocally that Mr. Belden’s behavior did not dramatically change on the day

he ended his life, and he viewed Mr. Belden’s conduct as a disciplinary issue

only. Id. at 98-99, 106. He explained: “I didn’t know he was suicidal. . . . [H]e

was just being uncooperative because he didn’t want to be removed from that cell

because I believe that that [sic] window had been altered to get contraband into

the facility, so he didn’t want to move because of possibly getting contraband.” 

Id. at 106. Sergeant Hollister further testified that, in light of his drug history,

Mr. Belden could be expected to be angry about being moved into a cell in which

he would not be able to receive contraband. Id. Still, “[h]e wasn’t that upset

when I moved him. He argued the point. He said well I don’t want to move. . . .

He was never out of control. He did not yell or scream.” Id.
- 20 -

Nevertheless, Sergeant Hollister later ordered Officer Roberts to move Mr.

Belden to Cell 14, the suicide watch cell. Id. at 110. He also chose not to call

Officer Roberts to verify that his orders had been carried out because “I didn’t

believe there would be a problem with him later. If he had a second jailer or an

officer [with Officer Roberts] I didn’t feel there was going to be a problem. He

had already complied when two people were there.” Id. at 103.

Certainly, a jury would be entitled to disbelieve Sergeant Hollister’s

testimony. However, the rigorous deliberate indifference standard requires

knowledge that an inmate is suicidal or a risk that is so obvious and substantial

that knowledge can be inferred. We would not permit a jury to infer knowledge

simply from the fact that Sergeant Hollister instructed Officer Roberts to move

Mr. Belden to Cell 14 because it is undisputed that Cell 14 was not solely used as

a suicide watch cell. Moreover, the record contains no evidence that Mr.

Belden’s behavior was unusual for an inmate, especially an inmate who had been

deprived of his access to contraband and moved to an isolated cell without a

working television. Sergeant Hollister’s suicide prevention training left him

sensitive to clues of possible suicide, but there is no evidence that Mr. Belden

exhibited any of these tendencies. He simply was not an obvious suicide risk. 

Because there is no evidence that Sergeant Hollister considered Mr. Belden

suicidal, he could not have been deliberately indifferent to the risk of suicide. 

Accordingly, we conclude that he is entitled to qualified immunity.
- 21 -

B. Sheriff Shoemaker

“A supervisor is not liable under section 1983 unless an affirmative link

exists between the constitutional deprivation and either the supervisor’s personal

participation, his exercise of control or direction, or his failure to supervise.” 

Meade v. Grubbs, 841 F.2d 1512, 1527 (10th Cir. 1988) (internal quotation marks

and alterations omitted). Additionally, “[l]iability of a supervisor under § 1983

must be predicated on the supervisor’s deliberate indifference, rather than mere

negligence.” Green v. Branson, 108 F.3d 1296, 1302 (10th Cir. 1997). Although

Sheriff Shoemaker did not personally participate in the events leading up to Mr.

Belden’s suicide, the magistrate judge ruled that he could be liable for

inadequately supervising and training Sergeant Hollister and Officer Roberts. II

Aplt. App. at 344-46. On appeal, he argues that he is entitled to qualified

immunity because he was, at most, negligent. Aplt. Br. at 32. We agree.

As the Sheriff of Brown County, Sheriff Shoemaker is ultimately

responsible for the operation of the Brown County Jail and the conduct of its

employees. Kan. Stat. Ann. § 19-811 (2005). Thus, he is responsible for the

policy decision that jailers typically are not even offered a basic corrections class

until they have been employed for a year. He is likewise accountable for the fact

that Officer Roberts was employed for eighteen months without undergoing any

formal training–let alone any suicide prevention training. Furthermore, Sheriff

Shoemaker is responsible for leaving 23 inmates in the charge of one jailer for an
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entire eight-hour shift, such that any disturbance would require the jailer to

summon a road deputy who could take an hour or more to respond. Although we

are sensitive to the constraints on budget and manpower faced by a small sheriff’s

department, these policies are troubling.

Yet, as the sheriff emphasizes, mere negligence is not enough; he must

have been deliberately indifferent to the risk of prisoner suicide if he is to be

liable under § 1983. Green, 108 F.3d at 1302. Thus, the record must contain

evidence from which a jury could infer that Sheriff Shoemaker knew that his

policies were insufficient to protect inmates from the risk of suicide. We have

reviewed the record, and we find no such evidence. Sheriff Shoemaker has

undergone extensive suicide prevention training by Kanza and other mental health

and correctional agencies. See I Aplt. App. at 139-40. During his eight-year

tenure, Mr. Belden was the first inmate to have taken his own life despite more

than seventy-five prior suicide attempts. Id. at 140-41. Nothing in the sheriff’s

training or experience put him on notice that his policy of notifying Kanza at the

first sign that an inmate was considering harming himself was inadequate.

While, in hindsight, it is clear that Sheriff Shoemaker could have better

trained and supervised his subordinates, there is no evidence that he was

deliberately indifferent to the risk of inmate suicide. Moreover, there is no

evidence that Officer Roberts would have prevented Mr. Belden’s suicide if he

had been better trained; after all, Sergeant Hollister underwent several Kanza
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training courses and testified that he did not believe that Mr. Belden was a suicide

risk. Id. at 106. Accordingly, Sheriff Shoemaker is entitled to qualified

immunity in his individual capacity.

REVERSED and REMANDED.

Entered for the Court

Paul J. Kelly, Jr.

Circuit Judge