Estate of Clark v. Walker

Dist. Ct. did not err in denying defendant-prison official’s and prison nurse’s motion for summary judgment alleging that they were entitled to qualified immunity in plaintiff-prisoner’s section 1983 action that asserted that defendants were deliberately indifferent to prisoner’s medical needs by failing to prevent his suicide after they had become aware of his suicide risk. Defendant nurse, as employee of private company assigned to prison, was not entitled to qualified immunity defense due to her status as private contractor. Moreover, although defendant prison official was potentially entitled to qualified immunity defense, Ct. of Appeals lacked jurisdiction to consider his issues on appeal that raised disputes as to whether prisoner’s risk of suicide was sufficiently acute or whether said defendant was actually aware of suicide risk, since both issues concerned questions of fact that could not be reviewed at this stage of proceeding. Ct. further found that prisoner’s right to be free from deliberate indifference to his risk of suicide while he was in custody was clearly established at time of his 2012 suicide.