Opinion ID: 2581905
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Midgett's Constitutional Claims Are Barred by Collateral Estoppel.

Text: Judge Gonzalez held that Midgett's constitutional claims were barred by collateral estoppel, as they had already been adjudicated and dismissed by the federal court. Midgett now argues that his Eighth Amendment right to be free from cruel and unusual punishment, his Fourteenth Amendment right to equal protection, and a general right to due process were violated by the officers at Cook Inlet. We require four elements to be met before collateral estoppel applies: (1) the party against whom the preclusion is employed was a party to or in privity with a party to the first action; (2) the issue precluded from relitigation is identical to the issue decided in the first action; (3) the issue was resolved in the first action by a final judgment on the merits; and (4) the determination of the issue was essential to the final judgment. [9] Midgett filed suit against Cook Inlet, Officers Smith and Augafa, and Superintendent Terreault in federal court, [10] apparently alleging violations of his Eighth and Fourteenth Amendment rights, including (1) that the prison officials' handling of his broken ankle constituted a failure to attend to serious medical needs; (2) that one of the officers stepping on his ankle and breaking it constituted cruel and unusual punishment; and (3) that the prison officials failed to exercise the appropriate standard of care in protecting Midgett from Inmate Smith and in this way violated the Eighth Amendment, made applicable to the states by the Fourteenth Amendment. [11] In granting summary judgment to Officer Smith, Judge Singleton held that Midgett failed to raise a genuine issue of material fact on his Eighth and Fourteenth Amendment claims. In granting summary judgment to Officer Augafa and Superintendent Terreault, Judge Singleton concluded (1) that there was no evidence to support a finding that any official was deliberately indifferent to Midgett's medical needs; (2) that even if the evidence supported the argument that an officer stepped on Midgett's ankle, such a finding would be insufficient to support a finding of cruel and unusual punishment, as such an action would only support an inference that the force was applied in good faith while attempting to restore discipline; and (3) that the situation did not present the type of conscious indifference the U.S. Supreme Court required when imposing a duty on prison officials to take reasonable measures to guarantee the safety of inmates. Midgett's claims in federal court satisfy the requirements of collateral estoppel: (1) He was the plaintiff in the federal action; (2) he brought Eighth and Fourteenth Amendment claims in federal court; (3) the federal court's order was a grant of summary judgment, a final judgment on the merits; and (4) the determination of those constitutional claims were essential to the judgment, as they were the basis of the judgment. Given that Midgett's constitutional claims met the four requirements of collateral estoppel, Judge Gonzalez did not err in granting summary judgment to Cook Inlet. Midgett also argues in his reply brief that his Fifth and Sixth Amendment rights were violated in that he was not granted a jury trial. He had not previously made this claim to either the superior court or this court. As the issue was raised for the first time in Midgett's reply brief, we need not consider it. [12]