Court Opinion

ID: 9396562
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-05-23 00:00:26.480455+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:19:17.915476
License: Public Domain

Case: 22-40674         Document: 00516758935             Page: 1      Date Filed: 05/22/2023

              United States Court of Appeals
                   for the Fifth Circuit
                                                                                United States Court of Appeals
                                                                                         Fifth Circuit

                                      ____________                                      FILED
                                                                                      May 22, 2023
                                       No. 22-40674                               Lyle W. Cayce
                                      ____________                                     Clerk

   Lindsey Bage, Individually and as the heir of Kirk Andrew Swartz, and as
   representative of the Estate of Kirk Andrew Swartz,

                                                                     Plaintiff—Appellant,

                                             versus

   Galveston County; Sheriff Henry Trochesset; Doctor
   Garry Killyon; Boon-Chapman Benefit Administrators,
   Incorporated; Soluta, Incorporated; Soluta Health,
   Incorporated; Kathy White, also known as Kathy Jean
   Jordan,

                                               Defendants—Appellees.
                      ______________________________

                      Appeal from the United States District Court
                          for the Southern District of Texas
                                USDC No. 3:20-CV-307
                      ______________________________

   Before Higginbotham, Graves, and Ho, Circuit Judges.
   Per Curiam: *
          Kirk Andrew Swartz passed away while incarcerated at the Galveston
   County Jail. Lindsey Bage filed suit as Swartz’s heir and representative of his

          _____________________
          *
              This opinion is not designated for publication. See 5th Cir. R. 47.5.
Case: 22-40674      Document: 00516758935          Page: 2    Date Filed: 05/22/2023

                                    No. 22-40674

   estate, arguing that myriad individuals’ deliberate indifference to Swartz’s
   serious medical needs and delayed medical care caused his death. Bage also
   contends that relevant municipal and organizational policies and procedures
   were deficient, leading directly to the delayed medical care that in turn
   purportedly caused Swartz’s death.
          First, a threshold issue: does Bage have standing? Yes, concluded the
   magistrate judge, as Bage put forth at least some evidence that Swartz was
   her father, sufficient to confer standing under the Texas Wrongful Death
   Statute. Turning next to the substantive federal claims, the magistrate judge
   undertook a thorough analysis of the medical care and treatment the
   individual Defendants provided Swartz, concluding that the Bage “cannot
   establish” that the individual defendants “acted with deliberate indifference
   to Swartz’s medical needs.” Further, the magistrate judge reasoned, Bage
   could not demonstrate supervisory, municipal, or conspiracy liability where
   no underlying constitutional violation occurred. Absent any remaining
   federal claims, the magistrate judge recommended against exercising
   supplemental or pendent jurisdiction over state law claims.
          A month after the report and recommendation was issued, and weeks
   after the Parties filed their respective objections, the district court adopted
   the report and recommendation in full. Bage timely appealed.
          The judgment of the district court is AFFIRMED. We find no
   reversible error of law or fact and affirm essentially for the reasons stated in
   the magistrate judge’s thorough and exhaustive report, adopted by the
   district court as its opinion.

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