Garza v. City of Donna

After Jose Luis Garza died by suicide in jail, plaintiff filed a 42 U.S.C. 1983 action alleging violations of the Fourteenth Amendment's Due Process Clause in the time leading up to, and immediately following, Garza's suicide. In this case, Garza had a camera in his cell that was supposed to be monitored by police department employees. Garza had obscured the camera's lens and hanged himself without any employee noticing on the camera monitors.The Fifth Circuit affirmed the district court's grant of summary judgment to the City and held that plaintiff failed to set forth evidence by which the various police department employees' actions might reasonably be attributed to the City. Therefore, the City was entitled to judgment as a matter of law. View "Garza v. City of Donna" on Justia Law