The district court granted summary judgment for CCA and Warden Newton on counts II and III, holding that the undisputed evidence did not demonstrate failure to provide reasonably safe prison conditions (count II) and Ms. Giron was given legally-adequate medical examination and psychological counseling (count III). The case then went to trial on the remaining claims, and after the district court granted judgment as a matter of law to Defendant Newton, the jury found no liability on the part of Defendants Torrez and CCA, the only remaining Defendants.
Ms. Giron challenges the grant of summary judgment on her § 1983 claims against CCA and Warden Newton. The remainder of her appeal centers on three jury instructions given at trial Instruction No. 8 on Mr. Torrez' use of excessive force in violation of Ms. Giron's Eighth Amendment rights under § 1983; Instruction No. 12, defining "consent"; and Instruction No. 13, defining "effective consent." Although Ms. Giron argues that the consent instructions deprived her of a fair trial, she does not appeal the jury verdict on her intentional tort claims. Nor does she appeal the district court's grant of judgment as a matter of law in favor of CCA on the negligence claim, nor the jury's finding that CCA was not negligent.
I. Conditions of Confinement
Ms. Giron appeals from the grant of summary judgment to CCA and Warden Newton on her § 1983 "conditions of confinement" claims. She first contends that the court "discounted copious evidence" when it concluded that Defendants were not deliberately indifferent to a substantial risk that she would be sexually assaulted at NMWCF. Aplt. Br. at 18.
According to Defendants, we are precluded from reviewing this issue because the district court granted judgment as a matter of law in favor of Defendant Newton on the negligence claim and the jury likewise rendered an adverse special verdict against Ms. Giron on her negligence claim against Defendant CCA. Ms. Giron did not meet the lesser burden of proving negligence. See Bowen v. City of Manchester, 966 F.2d 13, 17 (1st Cir. 1992) ("The 'deliberate indifference' standard means more than simple negligence."). Because she does not appeal from these adverse determinations, Defendants argue, she may not contend that a reasonable jury could find them deliberately indifferent under § 1983. Ms. Giron's only response is that the jury was required to find liability on Mr. Torrez's part before it could impose liability upon CCA for negligence and the jury was not properly instructed with regard to his liability. See Aplt. Reply Br. at 11-12.
The Eighth Amendment requires prison officials to "provide humane conditions of confinement," which includes taking "reasonable measures to guarantee the safety of inmates." See Farmer v. Brennan, 511 U.S. 825, 832 (1994) (internal quotation marks and citation omitted). An inmate claiming that officials failed to prevent harm first "must show that [she] is incarcerated under conditions posing a substantial risk of serious harm." Id. at 834. Then she must demonstrate that the officials had a "'sufficiently culpable state of mind,'" id. (quoting Wilson v. Seiter, 501 U.S. 294, 297 (1993)) that is, their acts or omission arose from "deliberate indifference to inmate health or safety." Id. (internal quotation marks and citation omitted). Declining to adopt an objective definition of deliberate indifference, the Farmer Court held that "a prison official cannot be found liable under the Eighth Amendment for denying an inmate humane conditions of confinement unless the official knows of and disregards an excessive risk to inmate health and safety." Id. at 837. "'[D]eliberate indifference' is a stringent standard of fault." Board of County Comm'rs of Bryan County v. Brown, 520 U.S. 397, 410 (1997). "A showing of simple or even heightened negligence will not suffice." Id. at 407.
The doctrine of collateral estoppel or issue preclusion applies to § 1983 actions, see Allen v. McCurry, 449 U.S. 90, 105 (1980), but the doctrine requires separate actions, not present here. See Montana v. United States, 440 U.S. 147, 153 (1979); Ashe v. Swenson, 397 U.S. 436, 443 (1970); United States v. Sherman, 912 F.2d 907, 908-10 (7th Cir. 1990). Still, we must be alert to the potential for inconsistent factual findings in the same proceeding. We may not disregard the unappealed determination of the district court (as a matter of law) and the jury (as a matter of fact) that Plaintiff failed to prove even negligence under state law. That being so, Plaintiff cannot now argue that she should be allowed to establish deliberate indifference (a higher standard of proof) when she could not prove negligence (a lesser standard of proof) as to the same conduct. Stated another way, Ms. Giron is bound, as are we, by the unappealed determinations that neither Warden Newton nor CCA was negligent. Disregarding the jury's determination as to CCA's lack of negligence also would raise serious Seventh Amendment concerns. Cf. Dairy Queen v. Wood, 369 U.S. 469, 479 (1962) (factual issues normally resolved by jury prior to final resolution of equitable claims); Beacon Theatres v. Westover, 359 U.S. 500, 504, 510-11 (1959). Specifically, the jury's special verdict on negligence must be read as rejecting the claim that CCA was negligent in failing to prevent the incident, that it had breached its "duty to exercise reasonable and ordinary care for the protection of the safety and bodily integrity of the person in custody." Aplt. App. 324, 334 (Instruction Nos. 7 & 16). In the circumstances of this case, the elements of negligence are subsumed within deliberate indifference.
Ms. Giron made no endeavor to appeal the jury's determination and the appendices do not contain a trial transcript with any testimony. Ms. Giron's argument that the jury's determination of CCA's negligence was somehow dependent upon a finding as to Mr. Torrez's liability on the other claims is belied by the jury instructions. Moreover, Ms. Giron does not address the district court's grant of judgment as a matter of law to Warden Newton on the negligence claim. Thus, we are precluded from reviewing the summary judgment determination on count II. lWww Of I Peeing Grop En Shows 21 Jump Street Watch 98-2231 -- Giron v. Corrections Corporation of America -- 09/10/1999m Pussy gWww Of I Peeing Grop En Shows 21 Jump Street Watch 98-2231 -- Giron v. Corrections Corporation of America -- 09/10/1999m t j Blog v Latina Pussy Pussy