Opinion ID: 3062974
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Deliberate Indifference to Need

Text: To meet the second element, Nasseri must prove “(1) subjective knowledge of a risk of serious harm; (2) disregard of that risk; (3) by conduct that is more than [gross] negligence.”6 Id. at 1312 (quotation omitted, alteration in original). 6 It is argued that there is an intra-circuit split concerning whether the third prong of this standard should be “more than mere negligence” or “more than [gross] negligence.” Compare, e.g., Brown v. Johnson, 387 F.3d 1344, 1351 (11th Cir. 2004), and Mann v. Taser Int’l, 588 F.3d 1291, 1307 (11th Cir. 2009), with Bozeman v. Orum, 422 F.3d 1265, 1272 (11th Cir. 2005) (per curiam), and Goebert v. Lee County, 510 F.3d 1312, 1326–27 (11th Cir. 2007). However, this is not at issue in this case, as Nasseri meets the “more than gross negligence” standard. 9 Looking to the first prong of this subjective test, and reading the evidence in the light most favorable to Nasseri, Millward knew there was a risk of serious harm to Nasseri. Nasseri had been choking and gagging and spitting blood. Pepper spray was visible on Nasseri’s face. Millward also allowed all the other prisoners to decontaminate, including Solomon and Shelnutt. Millward must have known that Nasseri was exposed to pepper spray and should have allowed Nasseri to decontaminate. Nasseri meets the second prong as well. While Nasseri was in the car, Millward disregarded the risk when he did not allow Nasseri to decontaminate himself. He also disregarded the risk by not allowing Nasseri to seek medical attention. Turning to the third prong, “‘[w]hen prison guards ignore without explanation a prisoner's serious medical condition that is known or obvious to them, the trier of fact may infer deliberate indifference.’” Id. (quoting Bozeman v. Orum, 422 F.3d 1265, 1273 (11th Cir. 2005)). Here, Millward’s explanation was that he did not decontaminate Nasseri because he did not believe Nasseri was sprayed directly and did not know Nasseri was yelling in the car because of his exposure to pepper spray. Under Nasseri’s version of events, Millward knew that Nasseri and the other detainees had been exposed to pepper spray. Millward 10 permitted all other detainees, including the violent Solomon and Shelnutt, to decontaminate, yet he ignored without plausible explanation Nasseri’s known exposure to pepper spray. The district court indicated that because Millward faced a chaotic and unusual situation outside the jail he had a legitimate reason for ignoring Nasseri. However, the record does not support this characterization, and a trier of fact could properly find no chaotic and unusual situation existed outside the jail. Taken in the light most favorable to Nasseri, a fact finder could infer that Millward ignored Nasseri’s medical condition without explanation.