Response to motion for summary judgment - Kentucky.com

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hereto as Exhibit 27; 8/15/05 Incident Report from Anthony Estep, attached hereto as Exhibit 28.) Defendant Anthony Estep worked at the Triage counter that night and was one of the first detention center employees to deal with Gerald. (Estep Depo. p. 16.) (Cited portions of Estep’s deposition are attached hereto as Exhibit 29.) The triage officer performs an initial assessment and looks for observable issues with a potential inmate, such as cuts, scrapes, bleeding, or signs of painful symptoms such as those associated with broken ribs. (Id., p. 19-20; 52-53). As triage officer, Estep would have documented any major bruising. Estep, who saw the photos of Gerald in the newspaper, did not see any of these bruises when Gerald came to the Detention Center. Assuming Gerald was wearing shorts, Estep would have at least been able to see the bruising on his thigh and knee. (Id., p. 29-36). Gerald also did not exhibit any signs or symptoms of broken ribs, such as painful breathing and difficulty with mobility, when he came to the Detention Center. Estep would have recognized these symptoms because he himself had broken his ribs in the past as a result of a training incident. Had Gerald exhibited these symptoms, Estep would have documented them because they are the type of observable issues for which he was supposed to look. (Id., p. 52-53, 63). Ronald Gaunce first saw Gerald when he was walking toward the passive intake area after triage. (Gaunce Depo. p. 43.) (Cited portions of Gaunce’s deposition are attached hereto as Exhibit 30.) Gaunce had broken his ribs in the past and testified that it was hard to breathe and very painful. (Id., p. 54). When Gaunce first saw Gerald, Gerald did not have any signs or symptoms that led Gaunce to believe Gerald had broken ribs. (Id., p. 54). According to Clarence McCoy, when he first entered the Detention Center, Gerald did not state that anybody had beat him up and did not complain of any pain. (McCoy Depo. p. 25.) (Cited portions of McCoy’s deposition are attached hereto as Exhibit 31.) According to McCoy, who had 14
prior paramedic training, Gerald did not look like he had been injured. (Id., p. 15, 25). McCoy did not notice any bruises on Gerald at all. (Id., p. at 28). During this first encounter, Gerald did not look to McCoy like he might have broken ribs. (Id., p. 46). According to her medical chart, Nurse Hatton allegedly first assessed Gerald in intake at 12:45 a.m. (Detention Center Progress Notes, p. 1, attached hereto as Exhibit 32.) Gerald walked down to the nurses’ station for this initial assessment. (Hatton Depo., p. 46-47). Gerald was alert and oriented and denied any medical problems. (Detention Center Progress Notes, p. 1). Gerald, who was wearing a short-sleeved shirt and might have been wearing shorts, had several faint, yellow bruises on his arms and legs. (Id.; Hatton Depo., p. 46, 103-104). During this initial assessment, Nurse Hatton checked Gerald for physical injuries related to alcohol abuse. (Detention Center Progress Notes, p. 1; Hatton Depo., p. 46). When Hatton initially assessed Gerald, she did not check to see if he might have broken ribs. However, this was in part because Gerald did not exhibit any signs of broken ribs, such as short-windedness, holding his ribs, or complaining of rib pain. (Id., p. 51-52). Nurse Hatton did not see any signs at all of any injury requiring hospital treatment when she first saw Gerald. (Id., p. 120). In fact, she explicitly testified that she does not believe Gerald had broken ribs when he got to the Detention Center. (Id., p. 52). At approximately 1:15 a.m., Gerald fell and hit his head. The circumstances of this fall have already been described in detail in the Plaintiff’s response to the Governmental Defendants’ prior motion for summary judgment on Plaintiff’s deliberate indifference claims. The fall is largely irrelevant to this motion, except that the evidence shows that Gerald did not suffer his broken ribs as a result of this fall. When Gerald fell, he hit his head, not his side. (Gaunce Depo. p. 55). Nurse 15
Page 1 and 2: ELECTRONICALLY FILED UNITED STATES
Page 3 and 4: A. Cover-up by the Detention Center
Page 5 and 6: The Triage Nursing Care Record from
Page 7 and 8: someone who has sustained a head wo
Page 9 and 10: At approximately 0435 I went into P
Page 11 and 12: The remainder of this memorandum se
Page 13: Mr. Land checked for signs of blunt
Page 17 and 18: sometimes hard, across the sternum,
Page 19 and 20: Notes, Ex. 32, p. 1). According to
Page 21 and 22: head showed a marked acute subdural
Page 23 and 24: D. Additional Expert Testimony Acco
Page 25 and 26: is simply not worthy of belief. (Se
Page 27 and 28: cells after he was put in there unt
Page 29 and 30: detainees were allowed to continue
Page 31 and 32: Furthermore, Gerald did not tell an
Page 33 and 34: Because there is not enough evidenc
Page 35 and 36: punishment....’” Pelfrey, 43 F.
Page 37 and 38: further stated that there was no si
Page 39: Respectfully submitted, RAMBICURE &

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