Donald Hollabaugh v. Leroy Cartledge, 682 F. App'x 203

In July 2012, inmate Donald L. Hollabaugh was assaulted by two other inmates and filed a 42 U.S.C. § 1983 suit claiming prison officials were deliberately indifferent and violated substantive due process.
Defendants (including Cartledge and Lewis) moved for summary judgment asserting qualified immunity; Hollabaugh moved for summary judgment on liability.
The magistrate judge recommended, and the district court adopted, denying both parties’ summary judgment motions on the deliberate-indifference claim and denying defendants’ qualified immunity defense at summary judgment.
Defendants appealed the denial of qualified immunity, arguing the district court erred as a matter of law in denying immunity.
The panel considered whether the denial of qualified immunity was immediately appealable or whether the denial rested on genuine factual disputes that preclude interlocutory review.
The panel concluded the denial turned on unresolved factual issues (e.g., defendants’ knowledge or creation of a policy causing substantial risk), so the court lacked jurisdiction and dismissed the appeal.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether an order denying qualified immunity is immediately appealable	Hollabaugh: denial is proper because factual disputes exist showing deliberate indifference	Defs: denial must be appealable because immunity is a legal question that can be resolved now	Denial is appealable only to the extent it turns on legal issues; not appealable when based on genuine factual disputes
Whether defendants are entitled to qualified immunity on summary judgment	Hollabaugh: evidence creates genuine issues that defendants knew or created risk and were deliberately indifferent	Defs: accepting plaintiff’s view, no clearly established law or no violation occurred; summary judgment should be granted	Court lacked jurisdiction to review because district court’s denial rested on unresolved factual issues, so appeal dismissed

Cohen v. Beneficial Indus. Loan Corp., 337 U.S. 541 (U.S. 1949) (finality rule for appeals)
Catlin v. United States, 324 U.S. 229 (U.S. 1945) (definition of a final decision)
Mitchell v. Forsyth, 472 U.S. 511 (U.S. 1985) (collateral-order doctrine for qualified immunity appeals)
Iko v. Shreve, 535 F.3d 225 (4th Cir. 2008) (scope of interlocutory appeal of qualified immunity questions)
Johnson v. Jones, 515 U.S. 304 (U.S. 1995) (denial based on factual disputes not immediately appealable)
Culosi v. Bullock, 596 F.3d 195 (4th Cir. 2010) (clarifying appealability when factual issues preclude review)
Winfield v. Bass, 106 F.3d 525 (4th Cir. 1997) (distinguishing legal questions from factual disputes in qualified immunity appeals)