Opinion ID: 790313
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Remaining Corrections Officer Defendants

Text: 70 The remaining Corrections Officer Defendants consist of the individual deputies who interacted with and observed Stanford on the morning of April 26 and Leavell, the shift commander who relieved Lindsay and who discovered Stanford having an apparent seizure at 8:10 a.m. In an argument confined to a single paragraph, Miller contends that these defendants witnessed Stanford's condition when they found him on the floor of his cell, they knew Stanford was not receiving medical care, and they watched as Stanford rolled on the floor of the observation cell for six hours. Because Miller's argument does not differentiate among these defendants, this Court will address their potential § 1983 liability collectively. 71 There is no evidence that any of these defendants acted with a sufficiently culpable mental state necessary to confer liability under § 1983. The deputies who initially responded to Stanford's cell at 12:30 a.m. knew that Lindsay subsequently consulted Dr. Ismailoglu, who advised placing Stanford under observation. Stanford's mattress was directly on the floor of the observation cell, and Byam testified that rolling around on the mattress probably was not uncommon to be observed by the corrections officers. J.A. at 574 (Byam Dep. at 31:21-23). Several deputies reported that Stanford was responsive and coherent when spoken to, and Lindsay testified that she observed Stanford standing at least once. On one occasion, Stanford asked Holley for a snack and suggested that low blood sugar might be the cause of his headache. The record reflects that the deputy promptly reported this request to Lindsay, and that the corrections officers administered a blood sugar test and ascertained that Stanford's blood sugar was within normal range. Stanford's condition neither worsened nor improved throughout the night. There appears to be no dispute that Leavell promptly summoned medical assistance when she observed Stanford having an apparent seizure. In short, nothing in the record indicates that the remaining Corrections Officer Defendants possessed deliberateness tantamount to intent to punish. Horn, 22 F.3d at 660. Accordingly, the record fully supports the District Court's grant of summary judgment for the remaining Corrections Officer Defendants.