Esmont v. City of New York.

U.S. District Court

MEDICAL CARE

RESTRAINTS

USE OF FORCE

Esmont v. City of New York, 371 F.Supp.2d 202 (E.D.N.Y. 2005). An arrestee filed a [section] 1983 action alleging that city health inspectors and police officers violated her constitutional rights during her arrest and detention for violations of a city nuisance law. The district court granted summary judgment in favor of the defendants. The court held that the officials were not deliberately indifferent to the arrestee's serious medical needs when they did not comply with the arrestee's request for hot tea during an asthma attack, but called emergency medical services instead. The female detainee was handcuffed to a cross bar outside of a holding cell for over 7 hours, with no place to rest her elbow. She was required to use a bathroom that was monitored by a security camera and an officer insisted on watching her while she used the bathroom. She sought medical attention two days after her release for damage caused to her wrist by the handcuffing. The court held that the detainee was not exposed to excessive force, where the jail had only one cell and officials had a policy of not placing prisoners of opposite sexes in the cell together. The court noted that there was no evidence that the handcuffs were too tight, and the arrestee did not request that her handcuffs be loosened. (City of New York Police Department)