Opinion ID: 2962733
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Liberty County Sheriff Revell

Text: The District Court should not have dismissed plaintiffs’ § 1983 claims against the Liberty County Sheriff for any incidents occurring after Ms. Hartzell informed Ms. Partridge of Mr. Strawn’s first sexual assault. Plaintiffs’ claims should have survived summary judgment because a reasonable jury could conclude that Ms. Partridge was deliberately indifferent to the serious risk that the constitutional injuries would occur, and also that she knew that Mr. Strawn would act unlawfully and failed to stop it. Matthews, 480 F.3d at 1270. Ms. Hartzell testified that she notified Ms. Partridge after Mr. Strawn’s first sexual assault. The District Court rejected this direct notice because Ms. Hartzell “cannot recall” what she told Ms. Partridge, explaining that “the court will not impute direct knowledge.” But on summary judgment, we must make all reasonable inferences in favor of plaintiffs. To be sure, Ms. Hartzell’s testimony reflected some uncertainty. Ms. Hartzell explained, “I know I told [Partridge] something to the fact, to do with Billy Strawn about him having sex with me.” But when asked “what specifically you may have said to [Partridge] concerning Billy Strawn,” Ms. Hartzell said, “I don’t remember what I said.” In another exchange, Ms. Hartzell said “I’m pretty sure I did tell [Partridge] what was going on,” but 8 Case: 14-14753 Date Filed: 09/21/2015 Page: 9 of 18 when asked to repeat “exactly the words [she used],” she responded, “I don’t remember what I told Ms. Partridge.” 7 At a number of points, Ms. Hartzell said that she did not remember what she told Ms. Partridge. However, a reasonable jury could conclude from the full transcript that Ms. Hartzell did not remember the specific way she explained the encounter, not that she did not remember whether she reported Mr. Strawn’s having sex with her. The attorney taking Ms. Hartzell’s deposition asked repeatedly about the exact words she used in the conversation with Ms. Partridge, and a reasonable jury could conclude that Ms. Hartzell’s answers reflecting uncertainty were meant to respond to the attorney’s request for a recitation of her exact phrasing. Given this conversation, Ms. Partridge was on notice of Mr. Strawn’s criminal behavior. After the conversation, Ms. Partridge made a small change by keeping Ms. Hartzell away from Mr. Strawn “for a while.” But she took no investigatory actions, did not increase supervision of Mr. Strawn while he was at the Liberty County jail, and did not notify Sheriff Revell or Sheriff Tatum about Strawn’s behavior. A jury could find this was deliberate indifference. Also, because Ms. Hartzell informed Ms. Partridge that Mr. Strawn had sex with an inmate, Partridge was on notice that Strawn had acted (and would continue 7 Ms. Hartzell also said, “I’m not sure what I told [Partridge], if it was actually something about him actually putting his hand on me and him having sex with me while I was handcuffed or something like that. I’m not sure.” 9 Case: 14-14753 Date Filed: 09/21/2015 Page: 10 of 18 to act) unlawfully and failed to take action. See Fla. Stat. § 951.221(1) (making sexual misconduct with an inmate (including sexual intercourse, see Fla. Stat. § 944.35(3)) a felony of the third degree). This, too, could support a jury finding of a causal connection between Sheriff Revell’s inaction and the plaintiffs’ harm. The District Court’s grant of summary judgment on the Liberty County claims must be reversed.