Kelley v. County of Wayne.

• Position: Prisoner suicide, civil rights action - Brief Article

U.S. District Court

PRISONER SUICIDE

Kelley v. County of Wayne, 325 F.Supp.2d 788 (E.D.Mich. 2004). A pretrial detainee's survivor brought a civil rights action against two deputy marshals, alleging they were deliberately indifferent to a detainee's serious medical needs stemming from his heroin withdrawal, and that they proximately caused his suicide. The district court granted summary judgment in favor of the deputy marshals. The court held that the failure of the deputy marshals to notify county authorities who had the resources to care for the inmate, that the detainee was suffering from heroin withdrawal, did not create a known risk of suicide or other serious harm. The court noted that the suicide occurred more than four days after the detainee's arrest, and the deputy marshals did not know of any correlation between...