Opinion ID: 182013
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Ramona Parker

Text: We conclude that Jerauld does not allege facts showing that Parker, a deputy jailer, acted with deliberate indifference when she responded to Jerauld’s heroin-withdrawal complaints the night that he committed suicide. The alleged facts show that Parker believed that Jerauld was in need of medical attention, which she obtained, and that Parker acted reasonably under the circumstances. On February 11, Parker was patrolling Jerauld’s floor and approached Jerauld in his cell when she was doing a head count. Parker testified that Jerauld asked her for help, stating, “the withdrawals, I can’t take it. I need something.” R. 49 at 24–25 (Parker Dep.). Parker believed that the CMA could provide medicine to help him deal with the effects of the heroin withdrawal and assured him 14 that she would bring the CMA as soon as possible. Parker testified that, after their discussion, she was cleaning near Jerauld’s cell and saw him talking on the phone and “[h]e seemed like he was doing okay.” Id. at 25. When the CMA came to Jerauld’s floor to distribute medications, Parker led her directly to Jerauld’s cell, ahead of the other inmates on his floor, as Parker had promised. When Parker and the CMA arrived, they found him hanging in his cell. They took him down with the help of nearby inmates, and administered CPR. A reasonable factfinder could not conclude from the facts in this case that Parker’s behavior in response to Jerauld’s complaints amounted to deliberate indifference to a risk of suicide. See Comstock, 273 F.3d at 706 (“[Defendant] may . . . prevail if he ‘responded reasonably to the risk, even if the harm ultimately was not averted.’”). In contrast, in Schultz, an inmate’s medical and emotional complaints alerted jail personnel to the existence of a suicide risk, and the officer ignored the inmate’s repeated cries for help. Schultz, 148 F. App’x at 401–03. In Schultz, the officer disregarded the inmate’s crying, yelling, kicking of his cell door, and requests to go to the hospital. Id. The inmate was suffering from pain due to kidney stones, and the officer was aware of the inmate’s previous suicide attempts, including one related to his kidney-stone pain. Id. at 402-03. The officer argued that he believed the inmate to be “faking” and failed to provide aid. Id. at 403. In light of the officer’s knowledge coupled with the inmate’s behavior, we concluded that the inmate “showed a strong likelihood that he would take his own life” and that the officer “recklessly disregarded a substantial risk that [the inmate] would commit suicide.” Id. at 402–03. Parker’s 15 conduct did not amount to a similar “reckless[] disregard[].” Id. at 403. Jerauld does not allege facts showing that Parker ignored or responded unreasonably to Jerauld’s request for help.1