Short v. Smoot

Thomas Lee Short (plaintiff) was arrested for assaulting his wife in violation of a protective order that forbid him from contacting her, committing acts of family violence, and drinking alcoholic beverages. Upon his release, Mr. Short checked into a motel and began to drink heavily. He called his wife and told her several times that he was going to kill himself. Mrs. Short decided to go before a magistrate and have Mr. Short arrested for violating the protective order to keep him from harming himself. Sergeant Clint Keller was the arresting officer who took Mr. Short before the magistrate before he was remanded to the three deputies on duty at the jail (defendants). Sergeant Keller relayed to the deputies that Mr. Short had repeatedly threatened to kill himself. The deputies removed Mr. Short’s belt but did not follow other jail protocol such as removing his shoe laces or having him undergo a mental-health evaluation. During their shift, the deputies monitored Mr. Short via video surveillance. When three new deputies (defendants) started their shifts, the first-shift deputies did not relay that Mr. Short was a suicide threat, stating only that he was intoxicated. The new deputies did not consistently surveille Mr. Short’s activity. Mr. Short then tied together his shoe laces and hung himself from the ceiling of the cell. The district court denied summary judgment to the first-shift deputies and found that there was evidence that their conduct amounted to deliberate indifference.