U.S. District Court: PRISONER SUICIDE.

Thornhill v. Breazeale 88 F.Supp.2d 647 (S.D.Miss. 2000). Survivors of a pretrial detainee who committed suicide while in custody brought a [sections] 1983 and wrongful death action. The district court held that a sheriff and deputy did not act with deliberate indifference by placing the detainee in a cell with a non-breakaway shower rod and neglecting to remove his shoes. But the court denied summary judgment on the issue of whether the jail's lack of a written policy for suicide prevention was reasonably related to a legitimate governmental interest. The plaintiffs challenged the lack of a policy relating to the administration of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) to detainees who attempt suicide, and the lack of a written policy for detection and prevention of suicide. The detainee was jailed awaiting trial for allegedly raping his estranged wife. The sheriff and his staff were aware of the detainee's troubled mental history and that he had threatened suicide on two prior occasions. He was initially place d in the jail's mental holding cell where he was isolated from other inmates. He was placed on suicide watch which, according to an unwritten policy, required him to be checked approximately every fifteen minutes. Items with which he could injure himself, including his shoes, were taken from him. After three days without incident the detainee was moved to a juvenile cell in the same section of the jail that was equipped with a toilet and shower and had a non-breakaway shower rod. He remained on suicide watch. He was given his shoes and allowed to leave his cell to exercise and watch television one morning but a deputy forgot to remove his shoes when placing the detainee back in the cell. The detainee hung himself with his shoelaces from the shower rod. He had been observed alive approximately ten minutes before he was found hanging. After he was found hanging it took a period of time for the officers to open the cell and he was eventually cut down and checked for vital signs. Finding no vital signs no attempt s were made to revive him. (Lamar County Jail, Mississippi)