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Midgett v. Cook Inlet Pre-trial Facility8/30/2002
No. 5620
I. INTRODUCTION
While awaiting sentencing as a federal prisoner at Cook Inlet Pretrial Facility, Abraham L. Midgett, III got into a fight with another inmate. During the melee, Midgett broke his ankle. He sued the state in federal court on various theories. After failing to gain relief there, Midgett filed suit in superior court alleging negligence, violations of his constitutional rights, breach of contract, and medical malpractice. The superior court ruled that Midgett's constitutional claims were barred by collateral estoppel, granted summary judgment to the state on his contract claims, dismissed his medical malpractice claim, and found that Midgett did not carry his burden of proof on his claim of negligence. Because the superior court did not err in its determinations, we affirm.
II. FACTS AND PROCEEDINGS
A. The Fight
Abraham L. Midgett, III was a federal prisoner awaiting sentence at Cook Inlet Pretrial Facility (Cook Inlet) in Anchorage. Midgett was housed in the Bravo Module of Cook Inlet and was the module worker, unlike the other module inmates who were in administrative or disciplinary segregation. As the module worker, Midgett had greater freedom and responsibilities than the other Bravo inmates, including greater freedom of movement, a hinged swinging door that locked by key, which Midgett could lock and unlock himself, and the responsibility to deliver food and other items to other inmates and to clean up the common area.
On June 8, 1998 Officer Nathaniel Smith was the only correctional officer in Bravo. Officer Smith observed Midgett exchanging words with Inmate Kelly Smith (Inmate Smith) at Inmate Smith's locked cell door. Midgett then reported to Officer Smith that Inmate Smith spit on him. Thirty minutes after the interaction between Midgett and Inmate Smith, it was Inmate Smith's turn to be escorted to the showers.
Inmate Smith was classified as a maximum custody prisoner who, by regulation, was required to be under the supervision of two staff members and to wear handcuffs when he was outside his cell. Before opening Inmate Smith's cell, Officer Smith radioed for another officer. After Officer Lisati Augafa entered Bravo, Inmate Smith's door was opened. Inmate Smith, however, was not handcuffed, as required by Cook Inlet's Standard Operating Procedure, before his door was opened. When Inmate Smith was taken out of his cell, Midgett was in his own cell, two doors down from Inmate Smith on the first tier of the Bravo module.
The trial court heard conflicting testimony about how the fight between Inmate Smith and Midgett began. Midgett testified that Inmate Smith was the aggressor, that Midgett acted in self-defense, and that the fight was more of a wrestling match. Officers Smith and Augafa testified that Midgett was the aggressor, approaching Inmate Smith with a squeegee, a glass-cleaning tool, that had been altered. Officer Smith testified that Inmate Smith kicked Midgett in self-defense. Officer Smith radioed for assistance because of the "fight in Bravo." Both officers testified that Inmate Smith broke away from Officer Smith, ran upstairs, grabbed a broomstick, and was subdued before he could reach Midgett.
B. The Injury
During the course of the fight, Midgett injured his ankle. Midgett and another inmate testified that the injury occurred when Officer Smith stepped on his ankle in the course of trying to break up the fight. Midgett was eventually diagnosed with a broken, though not displaced, ankle by Dr. Christopher Horton, an orthopedic surgeon. Dr. Horton placed Midgett's ankle into a soft air cast due to the lack of displacement and t
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