June 12, 2023 at 11:48 a.m.
Family to appeal dismissal of jail death lawsuit
According to online court records, the Estate of Gavin Wallmow filed a notice of appeal June 7.
The plaintiff's attorney, Paul Kinne, previously told the River News that the Wallmow family was disappointed in U.S. District Judge James D. Peterson's May 18 decision granting summary judgment to Oneida County and its corrections officers and planned to appeal.
The family filed the federal lawsuit in March 2022 alleging "deliberate indifference" to serious medical conditions and failure to properly monitor jail detainees which they argued resulted in Gavin Wallmow's death by suicide in July 2021.
In a 24-page opinion, Peterson granted the county's motion for summary judgment and closed the case.
"Because Wallmow was a detainee (he was incarcerated on a probation hold), not a convicted prisoner, his claims are governed by the objective reasonableness standard under the Fourteenth Amendment," Peterson wrote. "Plaintiff's claims against the individual officers turn on whether a reasonable officer in the defendant's position would appreciate the risk that Wallmow would seriously harm himself. Two days before he died, Wallmow made disconcerting statements in an interview with his probation agent: he said that he wanted to drive his car into traffic and told his probation agent that she was 'talking to a dead man.' But plaintiff has not adduced evidence that any member of jail staff knew about those specific statements. Jail staff knew that Wallmow had demonstrated strange behavior during the interview. But strange behavior, without more, would not lead a reasonable officer to believe that an inmate is suicidal. As for the claim against the county, plaintiff has not shown that jail staff had notice that their screening and cell check procedures were so plainly inadequate that they created an obvious risk that inmates would seriously harm themselves."
While the corrections officers were aware that Wallmow was "acting strangely and saying demonic things," Peterson concluded those statements were "too vague to give a reasonable officer notice that Wallmow would harm himself."
"As the court of appeals has repeatedly held in the Eighth Amendment context, bizarre behavior alone does not put officers on notice that an inmate is suicidal," he noted.
The court did note that the two officers who were responsible for surveillance of the pod where Wallmow was being housed "were not models of diligence."
"Despite (another corrections officer's) note in the muster, it does not appear that (the two officers monitoring Wallmow) made any special effort to 'keep an eye' on Wallmow," the judge wrote. "They conducted only their scheduled visual cell checks, which were not thorough. And they did not stop Wallmow from obscuring his bottom bunk, even though inmates are not allowed to hang anything off their beds. But failing to follow instructions or enforce prison policy does not itself amount to a constitutional violation. Because a reasonable officer in (their) position would not appreciate the risk that Wallmow would harm himself, their decisions about how they monitored Wallmow did not violate his rights under the Fourteenth Amendment."
After the lawsuit was filed, Oneida County sheriff Grady Hartman stated that Wallmow's death was a tragedy but jail officials would "vigorously defend" their actions.
"We feel badly that Gavin Wallmow chose to take his own life. However, we plan to vigorously defend our actions in this lawsuit," he said.
The 7th District Court of Appeals in Chicago will review the file and decide if the trial court made errors in its findings.
"The Wallmows are confident that as a result of their appeal, the Court of Appeals will reverse the judgment from the trial court," Kinne said in a statement to the River News. "If that happens, the case will be remanded to the district court (the trial court), where a jury will decide whether the defendants are liable."
"The Wallmows are determined to continue to seek justice for Gavin, and they remain optimistic about ultimate success," he added.
"Gavin should have been referred to mental health based on things he was saying. No one took action. They all just gossiped and noted he was behaving strangely," his mother, Michelle Wallmow, told the River News via email.
"Their policies failed Gavin, he wasn't in his right mind to even ask for the right help," she added. "In his statement to (his probation officer) he told her 'no one cares'. I feel like he was right."
Comments:
You must login to comment.