Opinion ID: 182013
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Mark Kroger

Text: The alleged facts do not show that Kroger “subjectively perceived facts from which to infer substantial risk” to Jerauld, “that he did in fact draw the inference,” and “that he then disregarded 10 that risk.” Id. at 703. The only alleged fact from which Kroger could have inferred substantial risk of suicide is that someone had relayed to the arresting officer that Jerauld had threatened to harm himself in the past. Stilt testified that, after his screening of and interview with Jerauld, he was not concerned about suicide, but placed Jerauld on a twenty-minute medical watch in an isolation cell as a result of Jerauld’s possible heroin withdrawal. The Medical Form and Psychological Form did not indicate suicidal tendencies. Kroger testified that, based on the information conveyed to him by Stilt, he determined that Jerauld did not need to be placed on a suicide watch. Kroger and Stilt testified that prison policies did not require suicide watch or additional precautions under the circumstances. On the other hand, deposition testimony revealed that the suicide and medical watches could be confused, and that Sams initially was under the impression that Jerauld was under a suicide watch. Interpreting the evidence in the light most favorable to Jerauld, we believe that it is ambiguous which type of watch and procedures were applied to Jerauld. Regardless of the nature of the watch, the key question is whether there are facts from which Kroger could have inferred that Jerauld was at a substantial risk of attempting suicide, and whether Kroger drew this inference. Although Jerauld’s telephone calls to his parents indicated that Jerauld was suicidal, Jerauld does not allege that Kroger was informed of the content of these calls. Indeed, there is no evidence that anyone at KCDC knew about the threats of suicide that Jerauld made in calls to and conversations with his parents during his detention. At no time during Jerauld’s detention did Jerauld’s father or mother tell anyone at KCDC that Jerauld was making threats to harm himself. To the contrary, Jerauld’s parents testified that they did not believe Jerauld’s threats of suicide to be 11 credible. Jerauld’s father testified that he thought that Jerauld was making these threats in order to prompt his parents to post his bond so that he could leave KCDC. In any event, Kroger’s notes from the interview with Jerauld and his deposition testimony reveal that he did not conclude that Jerauld presented a substantial risk of attempting suicide. Before Jerauld was released into the general population, Kroger questioned Jerauld in person about his past statements and observed Jerauld’s demeanor. Jerauld denied that he had ever threatened suicide. Jerauld explained to Kroger that he had said that he would “rather be dead” than be in the jail because the jail was “just a bad place to go.” R. 43 at 15 (Kroger Dep. at 57). When Kroger asked Jerauld if he intended to harm himself, Jerauld said no. Kroger observed that Jerauld’s demeanor and body language were consistent with his statements, and concluded that Jerauld did not intend to harm himself. Jerauld does not allege that he presented any warning signs to Kroger in this interview. Jerauld contends that this case is similar to Comstock, in which this court held that the plaintiff alleged facts showing that a prison psychologist who released an inmate from suicide watch had acted with deliberate indifference in light of his “cursory evaluation” of the inmate. Comstock, 273 F.3d at 704. But in Comstock, factual allegations revealed that the prison psychologist had knowledge of problems between the suicidal inmate and other prisoners. Id. at 704–06. The psychologist had ordered that the inmate be placed on suicide watch the day before the suicide in response to the inmate’s own expressions of suicidality. Id. at 698, 704. The psychologist in Comstock further admitted that when he released the inmate from suicide watch, he still suspected that “something was going on” based on his observation of other inmates’ behavior and indications from the inmate himself that he was experiencing difficulties with other prisoners. Id. at 706. 12 Because of the psychologist’s original conclusion that the inmate was suicidal and because of the psychologist’s failure to act on his own admitted suspicions with respect to the inmate’s true mental state, we held that there was evidence to support a finding that the psychologist was subjectively aware of a substantial risk to the prisoner. Id. In contrast, Jerauld alleges no facts showing that Kroger was aware that Jerauld had present intentions to harm himself or that Kroger disregarded his own suspicions of substantial risk. Even if there were facts from which to conclude that Kroger inferred a substantial risk of suicide, Jerauld does not allege facts showing a disregard of that risk. In Comstock, the psychologist released the inmate the day after the inmate personally had reported suicidal feelings to him. Comstock, 273 F.3d at 698–99. Moreover, the psychologist suspected that the inmate was not revealing his problems with other inmates. Id. at 704–06. In response to this subjective perception of risk, the psychologist failed to review, among other items, the psychological tests administered the previous week and the inmate’s medical file which contained a note from a prison physician regarding the inmate’s fear of other prisoners. Id. at 707. The psychologist also violated the prison’s policies with respect to suicide prevention. Id. at 709. We observed in Comstock that the psychologist would be entitled to qualified immunity if his evaluation had constituted “an inadvertent failure to provide adequate medical care” or a “reasonable response to a known risk to the inmate’s health or safety.” Id. at 707 (internal quotation marks omitted). To the contrary, however, in Comstock, “there [was] an abundance of evidence that [the psychologist] did not respond reasonably to the substantial risk of harm, of which he was subjectively aware, to [the inmate’s] health and safety.” Id. at 710. 13 In this case, Jerauld did not express suicidal ideations to Kroger or to any other jail personnel, and in Kroger’s judgment, Jerauld credibly explained the statements attributed to him. No one reported to Kroger any further information about Jerauld making statements or exhibiting behavior indicating that he would harm himself after he was brought to the jail. Other cases have held that similar factual allegations did not establish that a prison official was aware of a substantial risk that an inmate would attempt suicide. See, e.g., Soles v. Ingham Cnty., 148 F. App’x 418, 419 (6th Cir. 2005) (unpublished opinion) (holding that defendants were not deliberately indifferent for returning inmate to general population when inmate had not expressed suicidal thoughts for two weeks and when there was “no glaring, new factor” that defendants failed to investigate); Gray, 399 F.3d at 616 (concluding that the only way any individual officer would have inferred that the inmate was a suicide risk was to have collective knowledge of every other officer’s information regarding the inmate’s behavior). In light of these facts, a reasonable factfinder could not conclude that Kroger was deliberately indifferent to Jerauld’s suicidal tendencies.