By Sarah Volpenhein
Grand Forks Herald
GRAND FORKS, N.D. — A complaint filed in federal court this month claims Grand Forks County, along with several jail officials in Grand Forks and Devils Lake, is responsible for the death of an inmate at the county jail in 2013.
The complaint, filed two weeks ago in U.S. District Court in Grand Forks, alleges 25-year-old Danielle Lawrence’s constitutional rights were violated when jail employees did not treat her pneumonia, which progressively worsened and brought about her death on July 21, 2013.
Under the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments, jail and prison inmates have a right to adequate medical treatment.
The lawsuit was brought by Donna Whitetail, Lawrence’s mother, and Joseph Jetty, the father of Lawrence’s youngest daughter. Whitetail is the guardian of Lawrence’s 8-year-old daughter, while Jetty has custody of their 7-year-old daughter.
The complaint alleges Grand Forks County, Lake Region Law Enforcement Center and multiple jail personnel were “deliberately indifferent” to Lawrence’s medical needs, which, the complaint alleges, jail employees had reason to believe were serious.
The lawsuit was filed almost two years to the date after Lawrence was booked into the Lake Region Law Enforcement Center in Devil’s Lake in July 2013 on a misdemeanor charge she ingested a controlled substance, according to the complaint and a review of court records.
She had been diagnosed with pneumonia several days prior, according to the complaint.
The complaint alleges Lawrence did not receive medical treatment while at the jail, causing the pneumonia to worsen and sepsis -- a potentially life-threatening complication of an infection -- to develop.
On July 18, Lawrence was transferred to the Grand Forks County jail, where she was placed in a holding cell to be monitored after Lawrence reportedly told jail personnel she had been coughing up blood, the complaint says.
The complaint points to signs Lawrence was deteriorating, saying jail records note Lawrence at times was breathing heavily, was delirious and was moaning in pain.
The day she died, the complaint says Lawrence’s cellmate told jail personnel Lawrence was moaning loudly and complaining of chest pain. Lawrence urinated herself and told the other inmate she could not get up to use the bathroom, the complaint says.
The complaint alleges no medical treatment was given to Lawrence.
Though jail personnel had scheduled Lawrence to see a doctor the next day, a Monday, she was pronounced dead about 6:30 p.m. Sunday, July 21, 2013, after jail personnel found her unresponsive while delivering dinner, the complaint says.
The Grand Forks County Coroner’s Office conducted an autopsy, which found she had died of bronchopneumonia and sepsis.
In addition to Grand Forks County and Lake Region Law Enforcement Center, the complaint alleges multiple individuals are culpable, including Bret Burkholder, administrator of the Grand Forks County jail; Mary Barrett, nurse at the Grand Forks County jail; Richard Johnson, administrator of Lake Region; Sarah Brown, nurse at Lake Region and several correctional officers at the Grand Forks County jail.
The defendants have not filed a response to the complaint in federal court yet and have until Sept. 11 to do so. Dan Gaustad, who represents Grand Forks County in the matter, said he will argue neither the county nor its employees are liable.
To prove Lawrence’s constitutional rights were violated, Vincent Moccio, the Minneapolis-based attorney representing plaintiffs Whitetail and Jetty, will have to prove jail personnel were “deliberately indifferent” to the inmate’s “serious” medical needs.
Legally, “deliberate indifference” is more purposeful than negligence, but less purposeful than deliberately not acting and knowing harm would result.
To prove “deliberate indifference,” Moccio will have to show jail personnel perceived there was a serious risk to Lawrence’s health and then disregarded that risk.
Jail personnel who perceived there was a serious risk to Lawrence’s health could be free from liability if they responded reasonably to the risk, even though they did not prevent her death.
The complaint did not list a dollar amount the plaintiffs should be awarded, but asked the plaintiffs be compensated for damages, including medical, funeral and burial costs; mental anguish; emotional distress, and physical and emotional harm on the part of Lawrence.