(Editor’s note: The following article contains details about suicide and suicidal ideation. Suicide is a serious symptom of diagnosable and treatable mental health disorders, and those experiencing suicidal ideation can contact the National Suicide Hotline by calling 988.)
A federal civil rights lawsuit brought by the estate of Kongchi Justin Thao is headed back to the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma to determine whether his suicide at the Grady County Jail was attributable to a lack of training on behalf of detention officers.
On Nov. 26, a three-judge panel of the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals held the lower court did not properly consider whether Grady County Jail authorities violated Thao’s rights through “deliberate indifference toward his serious medical needs during his time at the facility” and by failing to prevent his suicide after he repeatedly expressed the urge to die.
The appellate court, however, upheld the dismissal of excessive force claims brought by Thao’s estate for what one officer described as an “ass whooping.”
“We thus remand to the district court for it to consider in the first instance whether any individual officer violated Mr. Thao’s right to be free from cruel and unusual punishment under the Eighth Amendment by acting with deliberate indifference toward his serious medical needs during his time at the facility,” Judge Carolyn McHugh wrote.
As a result, the lower court must consider whether the Grady County Criminal Justice Authority’s alleged lack of training to help detention officers recognize and address suicidality violated Thao’s civil rights.
Thao died by suicide at the Grady County Jail in Chickasha on Nov. 16, 2017, while staying in the facility overnight. He had pleaded guilty in federal court to one count of possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute in August 2017 and had been transported to the Grady County facility around 6 p.m. on Nov. 15.
Thao kept in shower cell where he voiced suicidal ideation
According to the judges’ summary of events, at about 2:40 a.m. on Nov. 16, Thao allegedly attempted to “run out” of the holding room he was in with other federal prisoners awaiting transfer and was quickly put in a headlock and handcuffed by detention officer Christopher Harrison. After handcuffing Thao, Harrison took him to the elevator alongside “five more detention officers.”
Once in the elevator, “a couple of the officers tackled Mr. Thao to the floor” and “four officers held Mr. Thao prone during the elevator ride.” Officer Trever Henneman administered a “drive stun” with his taser on Thao’s right thigh. Henneman later referred to the incident to another inmate as an “ass whooping.”
After the elevator incident, Thao was taken to Cell 126, “a shower cell for inmates in the booking area,” which lacks a camera. The facility used the areas as a backup room for inmates who were “out of control.” About 10 minutes after entering the cell, Thao requested a bath towel because the cell’s floor was wet. Harrison gave him the towel, and as he left, Thao pleaded, “Help me, please.”
At 3:07 a.m., detention officer Rebecca Brown performed the only recorded sight check on Thao and observed him “seated on the bench with his elbows rested on his knees” and noted “he appeared calm and alert.” Seconds later, he yelled “No, man, this is fucked up,” to which Brown responded, “How ’bout you shut the fuck up.” Thao replied, “Sorry.”
At 3:19 a.m. a female detainee in the cell next to Thao “started banging on her cell’s door and yelling.” After Thao asked her to be quiet, she began a “50-minute period during which [she] was reviling Thao.” During this time, Thao began expressing his desire to die, telling officers:
- “Fuck. I’m ready to die. Just shoot me;”
- “Come kill me. I know you’re gonna fucking kill me, so do it. Fuck. I’m ready to die. Just shoot me;”
- “I don’t got a home. I’d rather die. It’s not a joke;”
- “I’m gonna fucking commit suicide;”
- “And I might as well kill myself. I’m not gonna be shot. Just fucking send me home;”
- “Kill me. A hundred people want to kill me;”
- “Come shoot me. Come kill me — don’t play this game. Man, I’m fucking tired of this shit. Fucking kill me;” and
- “If you’re going to do it then fucking shoot me. Cause I’m fucked up, dog . . . Man, just come fucking kill me, dog. What do you want from me? What do you want from me? Fucking [twenty] years old, what do you want from me?”
Thao stopped making noise around 4:10 a.m., and at 4:22 a.m. Henneman opened Thao’s cell door to prepare him for transport and “discovered Mr. Thao’s unconscious body, dragging with the door.” Thao had used the bath towel to hang himself from the cell’s door handle.
“Shit, come here,” Henneman said. “Damn it, he fucking hung himself.”
Excessive force claim dismissed, medical claim continues
Thao’s estate filed suit against the Grady County Criminal Justice Authority alleging two civil rights claims: that the jail authority was deliberately indifferent “in failing to provide adequate training” to prevent Thao’s suicide and that excessive force was used. Both claims were dismissed at summary judgement in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma, and the estate appealed to the 10th Circuit.
The excessive force claim focused on the Henneman’s use of a stun gun against Thao. The 10th Circuit found the excessive force claim should be dismissed because GCCJA’s official policy was not facially unconstitutional, while noting — without ruling on the issue — that if Henneman’s stun gun use violated the GCCJA’s policy, he would be liable instead of the authority.
The district court had initially dismissed the failure to train claim, finding the authority provided evidence its officers were trained to “handle suicide risks.” The 10th Circuit disagreed, finding the evidence lackluster.
“GCCJA offered testimony from Warden (Jim) Gerlach that detention officers were trained through familiarity with the state policies and through experience. But Warden Gerlach provided testimony from which a reasonable juror could infer that the facility’s formal policies and procedures included no formal training on identifying suicidality in housed inmates at the time of Mr. Thao’s death. Warden Gerlach incorrectly testified that the state jail standards, which detention officers must review, provide such information,” McHugh wrote. “Because the written policies are silent on the identification of suicidal inmates, Warden Gerlach’s testimony, viewed in the light most favorable to the estate, attributes the knowledge officers have about how to identify and handle suicidal inmates to whatever on-the-job experience the officer happens to receive.”
The court also took note of the testimony of detention officers. Sgt. Johnnie Farley testified detention officers were trained to take an inmate to the medical area if they suspected they were suicidal. Henneman said he had received no training on identifying “mental health episodes.”
Taken together, the 10th Circuit panel said a reasonable jury could find that the Grady County officers were not adequately trained to recognize suicidal inmates and remanded the case to the district court to determine if any specific officer violated Thao’s rights through “deliberate indifference towards his serious medical needs during his time at the facility.”
