KARLA HOWELL, as administratrix of the Estate of Cornelius Pierre Howell v. NAPHCARE, INC.; CHRISTINA JORDAN and PIERETTE ARTHUR, individually and in their official capacities; JIM NEIL, MATTHEW COLLINI, and DANIEL ERWIN, individually and in their official capacities in the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Department; JUSTIN HUNT - Articles

All Content

KARLA HOWELL, as administratrix of the Estate of Cornelius Pierre Howell v. NAPHCARE, INC.; CHRISTINA JORDAN and PIERETTE ARTHUR, individually and in their official capacities; JIM NEIL, MATTHEW COLLINI, and DANIEL ERWIN, individually and in their official capacities in the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Department; JUSTIN HUNT

Posted by: Tanja Trezise on May 1, 2023

Court: 6th Circuit Court (Published Opinions)

Attorneys 1: ARGUED: Megha Ram, RODERICK & SOLANGE MACARTHUR JUSTICE CENTER, Washington, D.C., for Appellant.

Attorneys 2: ARGUED: Robert W. Hojnoski, REMINGER CO., L.P.A., Cincinnati, Ohio, for the NaphCare Appellees.

Attorneys 3: ARGUED: John B. Welch, ARNOLD TODARO WELCH & FOLIANO, Dayton, Ohio, for the Hamilton County Appellees.

Attorneys 4: ON BRIEF: Megha Ram, Elizabeth Bixby, David F. Oyer, RODERICK & SOLANGE MACARTHUR JUSTICE CENTER, Washington, D.C., Rosalind Eileen Dillon, RODERICK & SOLANGE MACARTHUR JUSTICE CENTER, Chicago, Illinois, Konrad Kircher, RITTGERS & RITTGERS, Lebanon, Ohio, David M. Shapiro, RODERICK & SOLANGE MACARTHUR JUSTICE CENTER NORTHWESTERN PRITZKER SCHOOL OF LAW, Chicago, Illinois, for Appellant.

Attorneys 5: ON BRIEF: Robert W. Hojnoski, Jennifer J. Jandes, Michael J. Caligaris, REMINGER CO., L.P.A., Cincinnati, Ohio, for the NaphCare, Appellees.

Attorneys 6: ON BRIEF: John B. Welch, ARNOLD TODARO WELCH & FOLIANO, Dayton, Ohio, for the Hamilton County Appellees.

Judge(s): SUTTON, Chief Judge; STRANCH, and DAVIS, Circuit Judges

Court Appealed: Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio at Cincinnati

JANE B. STRANCH, Circuit Judge. Cornelius Pierre Howell died of a sickle cell crisis while in pretrial custody at the Hamilton County Justice Center on December 9, 2018. Rather than transport a distressed Howell to a local hospital, nurses and jail personnel placed him in a restraint chair and put him in an observation room in the Jail’s mental health unit. Howell remained strapped to the chair with minimal observation until jail personnel found him dead approximately four hours later. His Estate sued the nurses, their employer, NaphCare, Inc., the jail personnel, and Hamilton County for, as relevant to this appeal, deliberate indifference to his serious medical needs, excessive force, and failure to train, all in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment. The district court found that none of the Defendants violated Howell’s constitutional rights and granted summary judgment. We AFFIRM IN PART, REVERSE IN PART, and REMAND for further proceedings.

Attachments: