Jackson v. Marrero

IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT
No. 01-50462
Summary Calendar
THOMAS JACKSON,
Plaintiff-Appellant,
versus
PEDRO E. MARRERO, Etc.; ET AL.,
Defendants,
LEO SAMANIEGO, Individually and in his
official capacity as the Sheriff of
El Paso County, Texas; COUNTY OF EL
PASO, TEXAS,
Defendants-Appellees.
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Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Western District of Texas
USDC No. EP-00-CV-1-H
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January 10, 2002
Before JOLLY, DAVIS, and STEWART, Circuit Judges.
PER CURIAM:*
Thomas Jackson appeals the grant of summary judgment for the
Sheriff of El Paso County, Texas, Leo Samaniego, and the County
of El Paso on his 42 U.S.C. § 1983 claims stemming from injuries
to his right hip while being processed by County detention
officers. This court reviews the grant of summary judgment de
*
Pursuant to 5TH CIR. R. 47.5, the court has determined
that this opinion should not be published and is not precedent
except under the limited circumstances set forth in 5TH CIR.
R. 47.5.4.
No. 01-50462
-2-
novo. See Tolson v. Avondale Indus., Inc., 141 F.3d 604, 608
(5th Cir. 1998).
A county/municipality cannot be held responsible under a
respondeat superior theory of liability. Monell v. Department of
Soc. Servs., 436 U.S. 658, 690-94 (1978). To establish municipal
liability under § 1983, a plaintiff must demonstrate that an
official municipal policy or custom caused the constitutional
violation. Piotrowski v. City of Houston, 51 F.3d 512, 517 (5th
Cir. 1995). “Inadequate, but constitutional policies and
decisions rise to the same, actionable plane as the
unconstitutional policies . . . only upon a showing that they
were enacted or made with deliberate indifference to their
possible unconstitutional consequences.” Gonzalez v. Ysleta
Indep. Sch. Dist., 996 F.2d 745, 759 (5th Cir. 1993).
At most, Jackson’s evidence demonstrated that whether or not
there was a policy to train detention officers regarding disabled
detainees like Jackson, the detention officers in question had
not been trained and that Jackson’s expert’s opinion was that the
County was deliberately indifferent in its treatment of Jackson.
This court has observed that “plaintiffs generally cannot show
deliberate indifference through the opinion of only a single
expert.” Connor v. Travis County, 209 F.3d 794, 798 (5th Cir.
2000). Jackson has not demonstrated that the County was
deliberately indifferent, and, thus, there is no genuine issue of
material fact and the County is entitled to summary judgment as a
matter of law. FED. R. CIV. P. 56(c). The judgment of the
district court is AFFIRMED.