Rоger JOHNSON, Plaintiff-Appellee v. Captain Willie E. JOHNSON; Officer Delanio Sanders; Sergeant Carl E. Medlock; Sergеant William H. Thornton, Defendants-Appellants
No. 15-60665
United States Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit
June 1, 2017
945
Jason E. Dare, Esq., Pettis, Barfield & Hester, P.A., Jackson, MS, for Defendants-Appellants
Before HIGGINBOTHAM, PRADO, and HAYNES, Circuit Judges.
Roger Johnson, Mississippi prisoner # 59930, filed a
I. Summary judgment
We have jurisdiction to review the denial of summary judgment based on qualified immunity grounds if the denial is “predicated on conclusions of law, and not if a genuine issue оf material fact precludes summary judgment on the question of qualified immunity.” Naylor v. State of La., Dep‘t of Corr., 123 F.3d 855, 857 (5th Cir. 1997); Hinojosa v. Livingston, 807 F.3d 657, 663 (5th Cir. 2015). We also have jurisdiction to determine whether the disputed facts found by the district court are material. Manis v. Lawson, 585 F.3d 839, 842-43 (5th Cir. 2009). Defendants who invoke a qualified immunity defense may not appeal the district court‘s denial of summary judgment insofar as the order determined whether the record sets forth a “genuine” issue of fact for trial. Johnson v. Jones, 515 U.S. 304, 319-20 (1995); Manis, 585 F.3d at 842-43.
The rights of pretrial detainees are protected by the Fourteenth Amendment‘s Due Process Clause. Cupit v. Jones, 835 F.2d 82, 84 (5th Cir. 1987). “It is well established that prison officials have a constitutional duty to protect prisoners from violence at the hands оf their fellow inmates.” Longoria v. Texas, 473 F.3d 586, 592 (5th Cir. 2006) (citing Farmer v. Brennan, 511 U.S. 825, 832-33 (1994)). In this case, the standard of subjective deliberate indifference enunciated in Farmer, 511 U.S. at 825, 832-33, is the measure of culpability. See Hare v. City of Corinth, Miss., 74 F.3d 633, 643 (5th Cir. 1996) (en banc). “Deliberate indifference is an extremely high standard to meet.” Domino v. Texas Dep‘t of Criminal Justice, 239 F.3d 752, 756 (5th Cir. 2001). To establish liability, an offiсial must know of and disregard a substantial risk of serious harm. Id. at 755. “[T]he official must both be aware of facts from which the inference could be drawn that a substantial risk of serious harm exists, and he must also draw the inferеnce.” Farmer, 511 U.S. at 837.
A. Supervisory defendants
The district court determined that there were disputed issues of fact regarding whether the supеrvisory defendants knew of the threats to Johnson, whether they investigated Johnson‘s grievances,
B. Officer Sanders
In its treatment of Officer Sanders‘s claims, the district court found that there was conflicting information regarding whether Officer Sanders released the inmate who began the attack on Johnson, whether Officer Sanders knew Johnsоn was out of his cell, whether the inmate who began the attack on Johnson was in the general pоpulation or in the protective custody area at the time of the attack, how other inmates gained entry into the protective custody area, whether Officer Sanders knew and was delibеrately indifferent to a defect in security, whether Officer Sanders violated procedure for releasing an inmate from his cell, and why Officer Sanders remained at the control desk for several minutes while the fight was ongoing. These disputed facts bear on whether Officer Sanders was deliberately indifferent to Johnson‘s safety. See Farmer, 511 U.S. at 837. Because these factual disputes must be resolved in order to make the qualified immunity determination, they are material. Manis, 585 F.3d at 842-43. Accordingly, this court lacks jurisdiction to consider the denial of summary judgment as to Officer Sanders. Naylor, 123 F.3d at 857.
II. Pendent appellate jurisdiction
The denial of a statute of limitations defense is not an immеdiately appealable final order; therefore, we may consider such an order only if wе exercise pendent jurisdiction. See Aldy on Behalf of Aldy v. Valmet Paper Machinery, 74 F.3d 72, 75 (5th Cir. 1996). “Pendent appellate jurisdiction is only proper in rare and unique circumstances where a final appealable order is ‘inextricably intertwined’ with an unappealable order or where review of the unappealable order is necessary to ensure meaningful review of the appealable order.” Thornton v. Gen. Motors Corp., 136 F.3d 450, 453 (5th Cir. 1998). A statute of limitations defense is not “inextricably intertwined” with the denial of qualified immunity, so as to give rise to pendent appellаte jurisdiction. See Hernandez v. Terrones, 397 Fed.Appx. 954, 963-64, 975 (5th Cir. 2010).
Based on the foregoing, we conclude that we lack jurisdiction over the distriсt court‘s denial of the defendants’ motion to dismiss based on the statute of limitations defense, and do not reach the merits of that claim.
APPEAL DISMISSED FOR LACK OF JURISDICTION; MOTION TO STRIKE GRANTED.