OPINIONS ARE POSTED DAILY BETWEEN 10:00 and 11:00 a.m.


Current Opinions are for Friday, February 03, 2023 

DISCLAIMER:  The following unofficial case summaries are prepared by the clerk's office
                           as a courtesy to the reader.  They are not part of the opinion of the court.

212854U.pdf     02/03/2023  Fontell Fuller  v.  Stanley Hafoka
   U.S. Court of Appeals Case No:  21-2854
   U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota   
   [UNPUBLISHED] [Per Curiam - Before Chief Judge Smith, and Benton and 
   Stras, Circuit Judges] 
   Civil case - Civil rights. On these facts, the district court did not err 
   in determining defendant jail officer Hafoka was not entitled to summary 
   judgment based on qualified immunity; a pretrial detainee who is agitated 
   yet complying with officers' last directive and who does not pose an 
   immediate threat to himself or others has a clearly established right not 
   to be violently taken to the ground without any warning. 
  
213564P.pdf     02/03/2023  Lisa Brabbit  v.  Frank Capra
   U.S. Court of Appeals Case No:  21-3564
   U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota   
   [PUBLISHED] [Per Curiam - Before Loken, Erickson, and Kobes, Circuit 
   Judges] 
   Civil case - Civil rights. Plaintiff's decedent committed suicide in the 
   Washington County Jail by jumping from the second floor; plaintiff sued, 
   alleging deliberate indifference to mental health needs and risk of 
   suicide; defendants moved for summary judgment based on qualified 
   immunity, and they appeal the district court's denial of their motion. 
   Held: The denial of qualified immunity is reversed. A review of the record 
   shows that the preventative measures taken by the jail staff were not so 
   inadequate as to constitute deliberate indifference; staff took reasonable 
   steps to monitor him and housed decedent in an area designed to minimize 
   the risk of suicide; the nurses' actions in assessing and evaluating the 
   decedent do not demonstrate deliberate indifference; the Monell claim 
   against the County fails as there is no cognizable constitutional 
   violation. Reversed and remanded. 
  
213755P.pdf     02/03/2023  Jamie Leonard  v.  Steven Harris
   U.S. Court of Appeals Case No:  21-3755
   U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri - St. Louis   
   [PUBLISHED] [Stras, Author, with Colloton and Wollman, Circuit Judges] 
   Civil case - Civil rights. Jail officers sprayed plaintiff with pepper 
   spray after he refused orders during a search of his cell; he subsequently 
   clawed out his eye while confined in his cell, and he sued the jail 
   officers, staff and jail for violation of his Fourth, Eighth and 
   Fourteenth Amendment rights; the district court granted defendants' motion 
   for summary judgment based on qualified immunity, and plaintiff appeals. 
   Held: The officer's use of pepper spray was objectively reasonable under 
   the circumstances; the officers and nurse who examined plaintiff after he 
   was sprayed did not consciously disregard a serious medical need; decision 
   to place plaintiff in a cell with a sink where he could wash his eyes, as 
   opposed to taking him for additional treatment, was not a constitutional 
   violation; decision by officer who observed plaintiff clawing his eye to 
   await assistance before entering the cell was not deliberate indifference 
   as plaintiff was in a frenzied state, was not handcuffed, and presented a 
   serious safety risk to the officer; denial of plaintiff's medications in 
   these circumstances did not violate clearly established law, and Nurse 
   Martin was entitled to qualified immunity on the claim; on plaintiff's 
   Monell claim, the county did not have a policy or custom of failing to 
   give detainees medication; the district court did not err in determining 
   that no adverse inference should be drawn from the deletion of a video as 
   there was no evidence that the defendants had any intent to deprive 
   plaintiff of the information's use. 
  
221058P.pdf     02/03/2023  Teresa Thompson  v.  William Harrie
   U.S. Court of Appeals Case No:  22-1058
   U.S. District Court for the District of South Dakota - Southern   
   [PUBLISHED] [Erickson, Author, with Benton, Circuit Judge, and Buescher, 
   District Judge] 
   Civil case - Legal Malpractice. The district court did not err in 
   dismissing plaintiff's legal malpractice claim based on its determination 
   that the claim was not assignable and could not be asserted by plaintiff; 
   the district court did not err in dismissing plaintiff's fraud and deceit 
   claims as the complaint failed to plead such claims with the required 
   degree of particularity required under South Dakota law. 
  
221673U.pdf     02/03/2023  Pierre Watson  v.  Zachary Driskill
   U.S. Court of Appeals Case No:  22-1673
                          and No:  22-2378
   U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri - St. Louis   
   [UNPUBLISHED] [Per Curiam - Before Gruender, Melloy, and Stras, Circuit 
   Judges] 
   Civil case - Civil rights. The district court did not abuse its discretion 
   in denying plaintiff's motion to set aside the judgment and compel 
   discovery; nor was there any evidence of judicial bias. 
  
222618U.pdf     02/03/2023  Aleksandra Shklyar  v.  Carboline Company
   U.S. Court of Appeals Case No:  22-2618
   U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri - St. Louis   
   [UNPUBLISHED] [Per Curiam - Before Gruender, Melloy, and Stras, Circuit 
   Judges] 
   Civil case - Employment discrimination. Dismissal for failure to state a 
   claim affirmed without comment.