United States Ninth Circuit

In a civil rights action against county jail personnel claiming that they negligently permitted the suicide of an inmate, summary judgment for defendant is affirmed in part where: 1) no reasonable jury could conclude that a nurse consciously disregarded an excessive risk to plaintiffs' decedent's safety; 2) plaintiffs adduced no evidence that a corrections officer knew that the decedent was suicidal; and 3) because there was no underlying constitutional violation, plaintiffs could not maintain a claim for municipal liability. However, the judgment is vacated in part where, should the district court decline to exercise supplemental jurisdiction over plaintiffs' state law claims, it may remand those claims to state court for further proceedings.

Appellate Information

• Decided 06/23/2010
• Published 06/23/2010

Judges

• Before J. CLIFFORD WALLACE, DIARMUID F. O'SCANNLAIN and ANDREW J. KLEINFELD, Circuit Judges.

Court

• United States Ninth Circuit

Counsel

• For Appellant:
  
• John Trebon, John Trebon, P.C., Flagstaff, AZ, argued the cause for the appellants and filed the briefs., David L. Abney, Law Offices of Charles M. Brewer, Ltd., Phoenix, AZ, filed a brief in support of the appellants on behalf of amicus curiae Arizona Trial Lawyers Association.


• For Appellees:
  
• James M. Jellison, Jellison Law Offices, PLLC, Phoenix, AZ, argued the cause for the appellees and filed a brief., Eileen Dennis GilBride, Jones, Skelton & Hochuli, P.L.C., Phoenix, AZ, filed a brief in support of the appellees on behalf of amici curiae Apache, Cochise, Gila, Graham, Greenlee, La Paz, Mohave, Pinal, Santa Cruz and Yavapai Counties.