Baxter Vinson v. Alan Wall

Filing

UNPUBLISHED PER CURIAM OPINION filed. Originating case number: 0:10-cv-00847-CMC Copies to all parties and the district court. [999337245].. [13-6576]

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UNPUBLISHED
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

No. 13-6576

BAXTER FELIX VINSON,
Plaintiff - Appellee,
v.
ALAN WALLS, Doctor; KAREN MCCULLOUGH; MARIE SHERMAN, Nurse,
Defendants - Appellants,
and
SHARONDA SUTTON; LARRY CARTLEDGE; ROBERT POILETMAN, MD,
Defendants.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of
South Carolina, at Rock Hill.
Cameron McGowan Currie, Senior
District Judge. (0:10-cv-00847-CMC)

Argued:

March 26, 2014

Decided:

April 16, 2014

Before TRAXLER, Chief Judge, FLOYD, Circuit Judge, and HAMILTON,
Senior Circuit Judge.

Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion.

ARGUED: Andrew Lindemann, DAVIDSON & LINDEMANN, PA, Columbia,
South Carolina, for Appellants. James Bernice Moore, III, Scott
Christopher Evans, BELL LEGAL GROUP, Georgetown, South Carolina,
for Appellee.
ON BRIEF: James E. Parham, Jr., Irmo, South
Carolina, for Appellants.

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Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.

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PER CURIAM:
Baxter Felix Vinson, Jr. (Vinson), a state prisoner housed
in

the

South

Carolina

Department

of

Corrections

(the

SCDC),

brought this 42 U.S.C. § 1983 action against Dr. Alan Walls,
M.D.,

Karen

McCullough,

L.P.N.,

and

Marie

Sherman,

R.N.

(collectively the Appellants), among others not relevant in this
appeal,

alleging,

deliberately

inter

indifferent

alia,
to

that

his

violation of the Eighth Amendment.

the

serious

Appellants
medical

needs

were
in

At the time of the incident

in question, March 7-8, 2008, the Appellants were employees of
the SCDC.
the

The crux of Vinson’s Eighth Amendment claim against

Appellants

is:

(1)

the

Appellants

knew

that

Vinson’s

intestine was protruding from his abdomen following his selfmutilation; (2) the Appellants recognized that this condition
was a life threatening medical emergency while Vinson was housed
in a holding cell; and (3) even though the Appellants recognized
that

Vinson’s

condition

was

a

life

threatening

medical

emergency, they withheld or unreasonably delayed treatment by
placing him in a restraint chair for several hours.
The
entitled

district
to

court

qualified

held

that

immunity

on

the

Appellants

Vinson’s

Eighth

were

not

Amendment

claim against them because a jury could conclude, based on the
evidence reviewed in the light most favorable to Vinson, that
the Appellants were deliberately indifferent to Vinson’s serious
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medical needs.

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See Farmer v. Brennan, 511 U.S. 825, 842 (1994)

(“It is enough [to establish Eighth Amendment liability] that
the official acted or failed to act despite his knowledge of a
substantial risk [to inmate health or safety].”).

Accordingly,

the district court denied the Appellants’ request for summary
judgment on Vinson’s Eighth Amendment claim against them.

The

Appellants challenge this ruling on appeal.
Having

reviewed

the

parties’

submissions,

the

district

court’s opinion, and the applicable law, and having heard oral
argument, we conclude that the district court correctly denied
the Appellants’ request for summary judgment on Vinson’s Eighth
Amendment claim against them.

Accordingly, we affirm on the

reasoning of the district court’s comprehensive opinion.
v.

Sutton,

C/A

No.

0:10-847-CMC-PJG,

2013

WL

980267

Vinson
(D.S.C.

March 13, 2013).
AFFIRMED

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