Gray v. Tunica County, Mississippi.

• Position: Inmate suicide case - Brief Article

U.S. District Court

PRISONER SUICIDE

Gray v. Tunica County, Mississippi, 279 F.Supp.2d 789 (N.D.Miss. 2003). The estate of a jail inmate and his relatives brought a suit against a county and a jailer, alleging federal civil rights claims and state law claims. The inmate had committed suicide in a jail holding cell. The district court granted summary judgment, in part, for the defendants. The court held that the county had no civil rights liability for jail conditions or policies related to the suicide of the pretrial detainee who was placed in a new "lunacy" cell under a suicide watch. the detainee apparently managed to strangle himself with a ripped-off piece of his jail jumpsuit. The court found that the holding cell was new and safe and that the method of suicide was unforeseeable. The court noted that it was doubtful that the detainee could have been helped, even if a jailer had...