EAST ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge David Dugan canceled trial that would have started June 13, on a claim of deliberate indifference at the Madison County jail.
Dugan entered a cancelation order on June 10, stating the parties didn’t object and he’d reset trial by separate notice.
Plaintiff Reginald Pittman hanged himself in jail and damaged his brain in 2007. His guardian Robin Hamilton of Alton sued the county and employees in 2008.
Her counsel Ross Anderson of St. Charles, Mo. claimed staff should have arranged crisis counseling.
Former district judge David Herndon granted summary judgment to the county and employees in 2011.
Seventh Circuit appellate judges mostly affirmed him in 2014, but found Pittman’s estate could proceed against deputy Matthew Werner and sergeant Randy Eaton.
They cleared other employees but found the county and the sheriff might incur liability under state law.
District Judge Staci Yandle took the case when she joined the court, and presided when jurors rendered a verdict for Eaton and Werner in 2015.
Seventh Circuit judges reversed her, finding she improperly excluded an interview of a former jail neighbor.
She held a second trial in 2018, ending with a verdict for Eaton and Warner.
She denied a motion for a third trial, but the Seventh Circuit granted it in 2020.
They found Yandle erred by telling jurors to determine whether Eaton and Werner “consciously” failed to take reasonable measures to prevent harm.
They found the word consciously introduced a subjective element into an objective inquiry and was likely prejudicial.
On remand, she recused herself and the court clerk randomly assigned Dugan.
John Gilbert of Sandberg Phoenix in St. Louis represents the county.