Opinion ID: 515717
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Defendants Furlone and Campbell

Text: 35 We find that the undisputed facts show that defendants Campbell and Furlone are entitled to qualified immunity. As to Campbell, there is no evidence at all in the record showing that he had any contact with Unwin. While Campbell entered the dayroom and escorted several inmates to their cells, his only involvement with Unwin occurred when he observed Unwin kicking his cell door after the door had been secured. Campbell had no physical contact with Unwin whatsoever. Trooper Furlone likewise had no physical contact with Unwin. Furlone stated in an affidavit that he went to assist at Inmate Unwin's cell but stayed outside because further assistance was not required. Officer Terhune stated in his deposition that, while several officers were struggling with Unwin in the cell, Furlone stepped into the cell and told Terhune to leave the cell because it was overcrowded. But Terhune also stated that, while Furlone stepped into the cell, Furlone was not involved in the struggle with Unwin. 8 Other than this, and a brief glance at Unwin after Unwin had been locked in a padded cell, Furlone had no involvement with Unwin that night. There was no evidence to the contrary. 36 Because the undisputed facts show that Furlone and Campbell did not cause Unwin's injuries, their conduct did not violate clearly established law and thus they are entitled to qualified immunity. 9 See Kostka v. Hogg, 560 F.2d 37, 40 (1st Cir.1977) (individual who had no personal role in deprivation of constitutional rights cannot be held liable in section 1983 action); Duncan v. Duckworth, 644 F.2d 653, 655 (7th Cir.1981) (same). Unwin had nearly a year to uncover evidence through discovery to connect Furlone's and Campbell's actions to his injuries. But he has presented nothing to suggest such a connection. Summary judgment is appropriate in such circumstances. See Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986); Daury v. Smith, 842 F.2d 9 (1st Cir.1988). 37 9 We emphasize at this point that the appealable issue is a purely legal one: whether the facts alleged (by the plaintiff, or, in some cases, the defendant) support a claim of violation of clearly established law. 38 Unwin contends that the doctrine of res ipsa loquitur applies to this case and argues that defendants' liability may be presumed until the defendants identify who was directly responsible. To support his argument that the burden of proof regarding causation should be shifted to defendants, Unwin cites only two tort cases, Summers v. Tice, 33 Cal.2d 80, 199 P.2d 1 (1948), and Ybarra v. Spanguard, 25 Cal.2d 486, 154 P.2d 687 (1944). Summers held two hunters jointly liable for plaintiff's injuries caused by being hit by gunshot negligently fired by both hunters where the defendants were unable to produce testimony as to which one of them had actually inflicted the plaintiff's injuries. Summers is clearly inapposite here because all the evidence shows that Furlone and Campbell, unlike both the defendants in Summers, did not act wrongly. This distinguishes this case from Summers which dealt with one special type of situation in which the usual rule that the burden of proof as to causation is on the plaintiff has been relaxed. It may be called that of clearly established double fault and alternative liability. W.P. Keeton, D. Dobbs, R. Keeton & D. Owen, Prosser and Keeton on Torts Sec. 41, at 270-71 (5th ed. 1984) (hereinafter Prosser and Keeton on Torts). See Burton v. Waller, 502 F.2d 1261, 1282-84 (5th Cir.1974), cert. denied, 420 U.S. 964, 95 S.Ct. 1356, 43 L.Ed.2d 442 (1975). There was no clearly established double fault in this case. 39 We also reject Unwin's argument based on Ybarra. In Ybarra, an unconscious patient undergoing an operation suffered a traumatic injury, and res ipsa loquitur was applied against all of the doctors and hospital employees connected with the operation, although it seemed quite clear that not all of them could have been responsible. The basis of the decision appears quite definitely to have been the special responsibility for the plaintiff's safety undertaken by everyone concerned. Prosser and Keeton on Torts Sec. 39, at 252-53. We decline to follow Ybarra 's approach in this case for the same reasons the Seventh Circuit gave in Wellman v. Faulkner, 715 F.2d 269, 276 (7th Cir.1983) (civil rights action challenging prison conditions), cert. denied, 468 U.S. 1217, 104 S.Ct. 3587, 82 L.Ed.2d 885 (1984): 40 Unlike Ybarra, the defendants here are not the individuals who were immediately responsible for plaintiffs' care. Also, unlike Ybarra in which the standard of liability was mere negligence, in the instant case negligence would not be enough, Estelle, 429 U.S. at 106 [97 S.Ct. at 292].... Finally, although prisoners are to some extent handicapped in identifying who precisely is responsible for their mistreatment, we cannot say that they are so limited in their access to information that the burden of explanation should be shifted to defendants. 41 We thus refuse to apply the doctrine of res ipsa loquitur to this case and to shift the burden of proof regarding causation to the defendants. 42 We accordingly find that defendants Furlone and Campbell are entitled to qualified immunity and should have been granted summary judgment on this basis. 43