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DEBORAH HARRISON, Personal Representative for the ESTATE OF CHARLES KEVIN JONES, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. ASH, C.O., HARRELL, C.O., FELSNER, C.O., ERIC OKE, Officer, PETE MARTIN, DAVID ABBOTT, Sgt., Defendants-Appellants (07-2077), TRACEY KIRK, R.N., JULIANNE MUNRO, L.P.N., Defendants-Appellants (07-2078). |
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Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Eastern District of Michigan at Detroit.
No. 05-70454—Arthur J. Tarnow, District Judge.
Argued: June 3, 2008
Decided and Filed: August 28, 2008
Before: MERRITT, CLAY, and GILMAN, Circuit Judges.
CLAY, Circuit Judge. Charles Kevin Jones, an inmate serving a 35-day sentence for failure to pay child support, died after suffering a severe asthma attack at the Macomb County Jail. Plaintiff, Deborah Harrison, personal representative of the estate of Charles Kevin Jones, brought suit pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 against Defendant-Appellants, nurses Tracey Kirk and Julianne Munro and jail officers William Ash, David Abbott, Eric Oke, Pete Martin, Harrell and Felsner.1 Harrison alleged that Defendants were deliberately indifferent to Jones’ serious medical needs in violation of the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments. Defendants moved for summary judgment and now appeal from an order entered by the district court denying summary judgment to Defendants Kirk and Munro and denying qualified immunity to Defendants Ash, Abbott, Oke, Martin, Harrell and Felsner. For the reasons described below, we REVERSE the district court’s denial of qualified immunity with respect to Defendant officers and DISMISS Defendant nurses’ appeal for lack of jurisdiction.
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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. EBEN PAYNE, Defendant-Appellant. |
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Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Middle District of Tennessee at Nashville.
No. 98-00038—John T. Nixon, District Judge.
Argued: June 12, 2008
Decided and Filed: August 28, 2008
Before: NORRIS, BATCHELDER, and GIBBONS, Circuit Judges
ALAN E. NORRIS, Circuit Judge. Defendant was initially indicted in 1998 along with several co-defendents, and currently stands charged with multiple counts involving drugs, firearms, and violence, including multiple murders. The government has filed a notice of intent to seek the death penalty.
Since defendant’s original indictment, he has been adjudicated incompetent to stand trial. In November 2005, doctors at the United States Medical Center for Federal Prisoners in Springfield, Missouri (“Springfield”), the federal facility where defendant was being held, determined that he needed to be medicated with anti-psychotic drugs for his own safety and the safety of others. Defendant refused to ingest oral medication, however, so the medicine was injected involuntarily. Afterwards, Springfield’s administration held a due process hearing, where it was determined that continued involuntary medication was necessary for safety reasons.
In May 2006, defendant moved for an evidentiary hearing to determine whether the government could continue to medicate him involuntarily. The motion was granted, and it is the order resulting from that hearing that is the subject of this interlocutory appeal.
In its order, the district court ruled that, in addition to continuing to medicate defendant for safety reasons, the government could constitutionally administer anti-psychotic drugs to defendant in an effort to render him competent to stand trial. However, it placed a four-month limitation on this enhanced involuntary treatment, as well as other restrictions. For the reasons that follow, the order of the district court is affirmed.