Ramirez v. Ferguson et al

Filing 26

ORDER granting in part and denying in part 17 Motion for Summary Judgment; ORDER ADOPTING REPORT AND RECOMMENDATIONS with stated modifications. Signed by Honorable Jimm Larry Hendren on September 28, 2009. (tg)

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT WESTERN DISTRICT OF ARKANSAS FAYETTEVILLE DIVISION LAWRENCE "LARRY" LEE RAMIREZ v. SHERIFF FERGUSON, CAPTAIN PETRAY, DEPUTY POP, AND DOCTOR HUSKINS
ORDER NOW on this 28th day of September 2009, comes on for

PLAINTIFF Civil No. 08-05038

DEFENDANTS

c o n s i d e r a t i o n the Report and Recommendation of the Magistrate Judge ( d o c u m e n t #24) and Plaintiff's response thereto (document #25). The

C o u r t has reviewed this case de novo and, being well and sufficiently a d v i s e d , finds and orders as follows: 1. The Report and Recommendation is sound and should be adopted, w i t h the following modification. R e g a r d i n g Plaintiff's claim of inadequate medical care against Defendants in their individual capacity, the Report and

R e c o m m e n d a t i o n analyses said claim in two parts: (1) the medical care r e c e i v e d by Plaintiff during his initial incarceration in the Benton C o u n t y Detention Center from July 7, 2007 until his release on bond, A u g u s t 3, 2007; and (2) the medical care received by Plaintiff after h i s return to the Benton County Detention Center on November 6, 2007. The Report and Recommendation recommends granting Defendants' Motion f o r Summary Judgment as to the medical care received by Plaintiff d u r i n g his first incarceration and denying the motion as the medical

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care received by Plaintiff during his second incarceration. However, in view of the objections submitted by Plaintiff and t h e allegations set forth therein, the Court finds that the period of P l a i n t i f f ' s first incarceration should also be further examined, to d e t e r m i n e whether Defendants acted with deliberate indifference in f a i l i n g to attend to Plaintiff's mental health needs. The Court, therefore, finds that Defendants' Motion for Summary J u d g m e n t (document #17) should be denied as to Plaintiff's entire claim for denial of medical care against Defendants in their

i n d i v i d u a l capacity. 2. adopt s Regarding Plaintiff's remaining claims, the Court hereby the Magistrate Judge's Report and Recommendation.

Specifically, the Court finds that: * As to Plaintiff's official capacity claim regarding the Benton County Detention Center's policies and customs pertaining to

p s y c h i a t r i c care, staffing, following medical orders, and screening f o r mental health problems, the Court finds that Defendants' Motion f o r Summary Judgment should be denied. * Regarding Plaintiff's unanswered grievances claim, access to t h e courts claim, freedom of religion claim, and excessive force c l a i m the Court finds that Defendants' Motion for Summary Judgment s h o u l d be granted. regarding an While there appears to be a genuine issue of fact between Officers Tomlin, Vanatta, and

altercation

T o r r e s , and the force used therein, these individuals are not named in the instant lawsuit. However, the Court notes that, in

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Plaintiff's objections to the Report and Recommendation, he requests a m e n d m e n t of his complaint to add Officers Tomlin, Vanatta, and T o r r e s as defendants to this action. The Court finds that the issue

o f amendment should be addressed by the Magistrate Judge when further c o n s i d e r i n g the remaining claims of Plaintiff. I T IS THEREFORE ORDERED that, for the reasons set forth herein, t h e Report and Recommendation of the Magistrate Judge (document #24) is adopted with the herein stated modification. Accordingly,

D e f e n d a n t s ' Motion for Summary Judgment (document #17) is hereby g r a n t e d in part and denied in part. The motion is granted as to

P l a i n t i f f ' s claims of unanswered grievances, access to the courts, f r e e d o m of religion, and excessive force. P l a i n t i f f ' s claim for the denial of The motion is denied as to

medical care and his claim

a g a i n s t Defendants in their official capacity regarding procedures a n d policies in place at the Benton County Detention Center for m e n t a l health care. I T IS FURTHER ORDERED that this matter is referred back to the M a g i s t r a t e Judge for disposition of Plaintiff's remaining claims c o n s i s t e n t with this Order. I T IS SO ORDERED. / s / Jimm Larry Hendren J I M M LARRY HENDREN U N I T E D STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

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