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Date: 08-04-2022
Case Style:
Case Number: 21A-PL-2197
Judge: Crone
Court: Court of Appeals of Indiana on appeal from the Superior Court, Marion County
Plaintiff's Attorney:
Defendant's Attorney: Anthony W. Overholt
Description: Indianapolis, Indiana personal injury lawyer represented Plaintiff, who sued Defendants on a negligence theory.
[¶1] An inmate at the Indiana State Prison in Michigan City filed a negligence claim against the Marion County Sheriff, in his official capacity, and the Marion County Sheriff's Department (collectively the Sheriff's Department) after he was injured while trying to enter a transport van meant to take him back to prison following his appearance at a Marion County court hearing. The trial court granted summary judgment in favor of the Sheriff's Department, concluding that it was immune from liability under the Indiana Tort Claims Act (ITCA). The inmate, John Kader, now appeals the trial court's entry of summary judgment in favor of the Sheriff's Department on his negligence claim. We reverse and remand.
Facts and Procedural History
[¶2] In January 2015, Kader was incarcerated at the Indiana State Prison in Michigan City when he was required to attend a pretrial hearing in Marion County. Kader was placed in the temporary custody of the Sheriff's Department and transported to Indianapolis and housed in the Marion County Jail prior to the pretrial hearing. Following Kader's court appearance, on January 8, 2015, Sheriff's Department Deputy Ernest Wesley was assigned to transport Kader back to Michigan City. Pursuant to the Sheriff's established transportation policies, inmates who were being transported would have their feet shackled and their wrists handcuffed with "a chain around their waist and then the chain that was going around their waist would go through this box … inside the handcuffs" so that "they were all secure[.]" Appellant's App. Vol. 2 at 190.
[¶3] Deputy Wesley drove the transport van into the jail garage to pick up inmates. The van had been parked outside the night before in subzero temperatures. Deputy Wesley exited the van and walked to the back. He directed Kader to step up into the van. The van had a "metal grid going lower than the bumper, like a little step." Id. at 95. Kader saw that ice had accumulated on the step, so he asked for assistance from Deputy Wesley because his hands and feet were restrained, and he had no way to balance himself while stepping onto the icy surface. Deputy Wesley refused to give assistance. As Kader stepped up and put weight onto the foot that was on the step, he slid and fell forward, hitting his head on the steel bench in the van. After striking the bench, he continued to fall, hitting his head again on the floor of the van.
[¶4] Deputy Wesley summoned medical assistance for Kader. Kader was taken back inside the jail, where a nurse "checked him out for a good hour, hour and a half." Id. at 192. She cleaned up the blood on his temple, applied a Band-Aid, and gave him pain medication for headache. The nurse cleared him for transport back to Michigan City, and Kader was subsequently loaded into the van and began the trip to Michigan City. As the van was nearing Lebanon, Kader began feeling sweaty and nauseous, and the other inmate in the van alerted Deputy Wesley that Kader did not look well. Deputy Wesley pulled over on the side of the road and contacted the Marion County Jail for instructions on how to proceed. Deputy Wesley and the other transport officer took Kader to the Boone County Jail to be seen by medical personnel. Kader
was evaluated and treated by a nurse and again released for transport back to Michigan City.
[¶5] Kader filed a tort claim notice on July 2, 2015. On January 5, 2017, Kader filed his complaint for negligence against the Sheriff's Department. Specifically, Kader alleged that the Sheriff's Department was negligent "in directing him to negotiate the icy step without support and while he was unable to take hold of any support or to assist or prevent his fall from the obvious icy condition of the van's step[.]" Id. at 13.[1] The Sheriff's Department filed a motion for summary judgment in September 2020 alleging that it was immune from liability based upon the law-enforcement immunity provision of the ITCA, Indiana Code Section 34-13-3-3(8). Following a hearing, the trial court granted summary judgment in favor of the Sheriff's Department. This appeal ensued.
Outcome: [¶16] Reversed and remanded.
Plaintiff's Experts:
Defendant's Experts:
Comments: