The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to hear a case about a Lewis County, Kentucky, jail inmate who died in the care of jail staff, meaning the case will proceed after a federal appeals court suggested county officials were indifferent to the man’s life.
At the center of the federal lawsuit was Christopher Helphenstine, a pretrial detainee at the Lewis County Detention Center who died of acute withdrawal symptoms after five days in the jail’s care.
Helphenstine’s wife filed a lawsuit in September 2018, accusing 13 defendants — including a contracted doctor and jail employees — of reckless indifference to human life and negligence. Lewis County was included as a defendant. The case has been pending since then.
The county’s former elected jailer, Jeff Lykins, was listed as a defendant, as well as deputy jailers Anthony Ruark, Andy Lucas, Ben Carver, Amanda McGinnis, Mark Riley, Melinda Monroe, Jeffrey Throughman, Johnny Bivens, John Byard, Sandra Bloomfield and Dr. Tommy von Luhrte.
On Monday the country’s highest court denied a request from the attorneys representing jail staff and the county, who had asked the Supreme Court to hear the case and rule they aren’t liable to face trial over the victim’s death. The Supreme Court agreed with the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, the lower court which ruled that the jail employees, the doctor and the county acted with indifference to human life.
The Supreme Court’s decision remands the case back to a lower trial court, where a trial could take place.
Jeff Mando, an attorney for a majority of the jail staff defendants, said he was truly disappointed in the Supreme Court ruling.
“There is a clear circuit split across the country on what the standard is on deciding inmate medical claims and local jailers face these issues everyday,” Mando said. “I felt we made a compelling case for Supreme Court to provide clarity and establish what the appropriate standard would be for deciding those claims.”
Mando said the jail where the incident happened has since closed because it wasn’t fiscally reasonable for the county.
Ruling: Victim quickly showed withdrawal signs
Helphenstine was arrested on April 14, 2017, and charged with drug offenses. He was taken to the Lewis County Detention Center where he quickly showed signs of serious withdrawal.
He vomited on the floor and was moved to a “detox” cell after he told Riley, a deputy, he was “dope sick.” Riley said he asked if Helphenstine wanted to go to a doctor or hospital, but he denied treatment, according to the appeal’s court ruling.
The jail had a contractual agreement with von Luhrte, who was obligated to visit the jail once a week, according to appeal court’s opinion. But von Luhrte wouldn’t visit unless the jail reported any inmates were sick.
When Helphenstine began feeling poorly on Sunday, the staff knew he would not receive care for at least two days, when the doctor was scheduled to return for his weekly visit.
Over the course of days, Helphenstine’s condition worsened. He continued to vomit, soil himself, refused to eat or drink, and remained mostly immobile in the isolation cell. Several deputies listed in the suit all checked on Helphenstine over the course of those several days and saw he was not able to hold up his head at times, and needed help drinking.
McGinnis, another deputy, wrote a “non-emergency but urgent” medical request stating Helphenstine was in withdrawal, and sent a fax to von Luhrte’s office, even though she knew the office was closed, according to court documents. The doctor didn’t see the fax until later the next morning and testified in court that he told the jail Helphenstine needed to go to the hospital, according to court documents. There was no record of that call to the jail, court documents state.
Helphenstine was prescribed Zofran and Reglan by von Luhtre, who alleged he continued to tell the jail Helphenstine needed to go to the hospital. But Lykins, the jailer, denied speaking with the doctor, and there is no record of the call taking place, court records say.
Court documents say von Luhtre never visited the jail to treat Helphenstine or other inmates who were listed as needing medical attention that week.
Deputies continued to monitor Helphenstine through the window of his cell. Around 3:30 a.m. on April 19, 2017, Ruark looked through the window and noticed something was wrong. Helphenstine did not respond to deputies, and was cold, blue and unresponsive. He died en route to the hospital that day.
Federal court: Jail lacked training, protocols
The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals determined there was sufficient evidence that a jury could determine if a number of guards acted with deliberate indifference to Helphenstine’s serious medical condition, and that the jailer “acted at least recklessly.”
Evidence suggested Dr. von Luhrte could have acted with deliberate indifference. The court of appeals suggested Lewis County “failed to adequately train and supervise its jailers regarding medical emergencies,” which amounted to deliberate indifference.
“The inadequacy of the training and supervision at the jail demonstrates that it results from the County’s deliberate indifference to the rights of its inmates because the possible unconstitutional consequences are patently obvious,” the opinion read. “This is particularly palpable when viewing Lewis County’s woeful training policy against the backdrop of Dr. von Luhrte’s performance and the County’s lack of supervision.”
The opinion noted Deputy McGinnis also consciously treated Helphenstine’s medical needs differently because he was an inmate. She told the courts, if it were her family member demonstrating similar conditions of Helphenstine, she would have taken them to a hospital.
Judge Richard Griffin of the Sixth Circuit told defense attorneys during oral arguments: “Come on, he was in bad shape all along, wasn’t he? … He received no medical care at all. I mean, just reading the record it’s obvious he’s got a serious medical condition. And he receives no medical care or treatment, or very little. And, um, I mean, I think it’s an egregious case.”
Helphenstine’s attorney, James Thomerson, said inmates are treated differently, but even more so when drug offenses are involved.
“They seem to get less sympathy, as if they are blaming them for being there,” Thomerson said.
Judges from the court of appeals wrote that they find a systemic issue in the lack of regard for inmates and jails not following their own protocol and state regulations. The opinion also noted a lack of training for local deputies for how to treat inmates experiencing withdrawal. Several defendants testified they had never had more than CPR and first aid training.
The court suggested the inadequacy of the training and supervision at the jail showed the county’s deliberate indifference to the rights inmates because the possible unconstitutional consequences which were “patently obvious.”
“This is particularly palpable when viewing Lewis County’s woeful training policy against the backdrop of Dr. von Luhrte’s performance and the county’s lack of supervision,” the opinion reads.
Von Luhrte was hired by the county provide medical care to inmates, but only visited the jail once a week. This policy alone violated Kentucky’s administrative regulations, which requires a jail conduct at least two sick calls a week, according to the opinion, which cited state statutes.
The county also has a policy requiring the elected jailer to publish a quarterly report on the jail’s medical services, which was not done, the appeals court’s opinion stated.
“Lykins had never actually seen Dr. von Luhrte visit the jail, and explicitly testified that the county did not supervise Dr. von Luhrte’s performance in anyway,” the opinion reads.
Thomerson said this case is an example of jails’ failure to provide medical care for people whose lives are entirely dependent on and in the hands of government actors.
“Whether it’s a parent in a nursing home, a child in school, a baby in a daycare, or a family member who unfortunately is incarcerated, there is a social contract that requires all of those in charge to do all they can to protect and care for the person that is 100% under their care and control. The death of Chris Helphenstine, a husband and father, was a tragic result of the failure of that social contract,” he said in an emailed statement to the Herald-Leader.
Thomerson said the lack of training and care doesn’t just affect Lewis County, but the state and country as the opioid epidemic continues to devastate local areas.
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