Cops Get Qualified Immunity After Michigan Man Spends 13 Hours in Vomit and Dies in Jail
Imagine you are a sheriff’s deputy and a detainee arrives who is unresponsive and slow-moving after taking a large amount of unknown pills. After a doctor locks him up with the warning that any “deterioration” will require immediate medical attention, the prisoner is sent to a cell where he vomits profusely and remains unresponsive in the same position all night. As a member of parliament, do you need to call for help? So should you be held legally responsible if your inaction leads to the detainee’s death?
Earlier this week, the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled no. granting qualified immunity— legal doctrine that shields police officers from federal civil rights lawsuits unless they violate a “clearly established” constitutional right — to all 11 Livingston County, Michigan, officers involved in the 2018 death of John Griswold. This decision reversed a decision March 2025 decision By Judge Robert White of the U.S. District Court Eastern District of Michigan, who denied immunity to the seven officers and the county.
In October 2018, Brighton police arrested Griswold, a father of two who had no criminal record, after a dispute with his brother Tim. to say ABC News affiliate WXYZ said John was irritable because of anti-anxiety and antidepressant medications. Family members reported to officers that Griswold had taken at least 10 unknown pills, which were later determined to be ulcer medication. On the way to the county jail, Griswold “slurred his speech,” “struggled” to stand upright, and reported “He could barely walk.”
Prison nurse Trina Barnett observed Griswold was sweating with “prominent pupils” and ordered an evaluation in the emergency room. St. Joseph treats physician William Kanitz after arriving at Mercy Livingston Hospital. diagnosed Griswold had QTc prolongation (a condition linked to antidepressants that causes abnormal heart rhythms) but no immediate risk was found. But in discharge papers, Kanitz warned officers to seek help in case of “significant changes or worsening” or “recurrent vomiting.” Griswold died the next morning of “sudden cardiac death”, the court heard documents.
While the district court initially sided with Griswold’s estate (arguing that inadequate training led to intentional indifference on the part of officers), the 6th Circuit disagreed.
To prove officers violated Griswold’s 14th Amendment rights as a pretrial detainee, his condition had to be serious enough to require treatment or his need for medical attention had to be “obvious” to the average person, according to the appeals court.
In its decision, the court to create Griswold’s case fails to meet standards set in similar cases Blackmore/Kalamazoo County (2004) and Preyor ex rel. Preyor / City of Ferndale (2007) and Burwell/City of Lansing (2021) because he vomited only once and “showed no outward signs of distress” while making “minor movements” throughout the night that “suggested to prison officials that he did not need immediate medical attention.”
But your officials own expression It showed that they noticed external signs of distress but did not act on them. After Griswold vomited around 8 p.m., officers checked on him 25 times throughout the night. This included Deputy Patrick Turchi, who was seen on video entering Griswold’s cell, although Turchi testified that he did not remember being in the cell or observing the vomit.
After Griswold spent the entire night covered in his own vomit, the video shows officers serving him breakfast outside his cell, a minute before Griswold’s death throes began. Accordingly court recordstwo MPs I looked at the cell around the same time, Griswold “began to shake.” He died about 10 minutes later.
Livingston County does not provide a medical professional between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. and leaves jail deputies responsible for checking on inmates’ medical conditions. However, both the sheriff and his deputies testified He said they are not trained to assess medical distress or recognize symptoms that require “immediate medical attention.”
While the information gaps may help jail officials’ qualified immunity claims, they may not exempt Livingston County from the Griswold estate’s failure to educate the theory. Judge White found there was sufficient evidence that the District’s “inadequate” training caused Griswold’s death.
Kali Henderson, an attorney representing Livingston County and the sheriff’s office, said: Reason “No one did more for Mr. Griswold than the officers at the Livingston County Jail.” Attorneys for Trinity Health Livingston Hospital, Kanitz and Griswold Estate did not respond Reasons request for comment during publication.
There should be nothing unreasonable in expecting law enforcement to provide or provide medical assistance to an unresponsive person covered in his own vomit, especially a prisoner whose entire freedom depends on an officer’s discretion.
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