Pennington v. Uinta County, Wyoming ( 2011 )

FILED
United States Court of Appeals
Tenth Circuit
December 5, 2011
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
Elisabeth A. Shumaker
Clerk of Court
TENTH CIRCUIT
JUDEE PENNINGTON,
Plaintiff-Appellant,
v.
UINTA COUNTY, WYOMING;
LOUIS NAPOLI, Uinta County
Sheriff; UINTA COUNTY BOARD
No. 10-8108
OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS,
(D.C. No. 2:09-CV-00023-WFD)
(D. Wyo.)
Defendants-Appellees.
and
TODD HOOVER, Uinta County
Detention Officer,
Defendant.
ORDER AND JUDGMENT *
Before GORSUCH, HOLMES, and MATHESON, Circuit Judges.
While she was an inmate at the Uinta County Detention Center, Judee
Pennington suffered sexual assault at the hands of detention officer Todd Hoover.
*
This order and judgment is not binding precedent except under the
doctrines of law of the case, res judicata and collateral estoppel. It may be cited,
however, for its persuasive value consistent with Fed. R. App. P. 32.1 and 10th
Cir. R. 32.1.
Ms. Pennington filed suit under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, claiming not only that Mr.
Hoover violated her Eighth Amendment rights, but that Sheriff Louis Napoli and
Uinta County did too. What happened to Ms. Pennington is inexcusable. No one
before this court disputes that Mr. Hoover deserved the time in prison he received
for his criminal conduct. And no one before this court disputes that Mr. Hoover
must also stand trial for his conduct in this civil matter. But because the record
as developed by the parties in this case contains no evidence that either the
Sheriff or County was aware Mr. Hoover posed a danger of sexually assaulting
inmates, the district court held them entitled to summary judgment. Ms.
Pennington challenges that result, but after careful review of the parties’ briefs
and the record we discern no error in the district court’s disposition. Neither do
we think we might improve on its careful, twenty-three page explanation why the
law compels the result it reached. We therefore adopt its reasoning and affirm.
ENTERED FOR THE COURT
Neil M. Gorsuch
Circuit Judge
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