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Martinez v. City of Brownsville8/31/2001
Opinion by Chief Justice Valdez
Raquel Reyes Martinez brought suit against the City of Brownsville after her son, Roberto Martinez Reyes, committed suicide by hanging himself with his clothing from his cell bars while in custody at the Brownsville City Jail. The City filed a motion for summary judgment on both traditional and no-evidence grounds, specifically alleging that (1) there was no evidence to show a waiver of sovereign immunity under the Texas Tort Claims Act, (2) appellant's claims were barred by limitations, (3) appellant's claims were barred by sovereign immunity, and (4) appellant's claims were foreclosed by section 93.01(a)(2) of the Texas Civil Practice & Remedies Code, which bars certain actions where the plaintiff's conduct in committing or attempting to commit suicide was the sole cause of the damages alleged. The trial court granted appellee's motion for summary judgment without specifying the basis for its decision. We reverse and remand.
Procedural Background
The instant suit originated in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas, Brownsville Division. In that court, Martinez brought claims against the City under 42 U.S.C. ยง 1983 and the Texas Tort Claims Act. After the exchange of discovery, the City filed a motion for summary judgment as to all of Martinez's causes of action. The magistrate's report recommended that the City's motion be granted regarding Martinez's federal claims, and that Martinez's state law claims be dismissed without prejudice. According to the magistrate, "it appears the plaintiff may be able to recover" under the Texas Tort Claims Act based on the act's statutory waiver of immunity for personal injury or death caused by a condition or use of tangible personal or real property. The magistrate's report was adopted by the federal district judge, and judgment was entered granting the summary judgment on Martinez's federal claims and declining to exercise supplemental jurisdiction on her state claims, dismissing them without prejudice.
During the pendency of the action in federal court, Martinez filed the underlying proceeding under the Texas Tort Claims Act in state district court.
Factual Background
On January 10, 1996, Reyes, a schizophrenic who was showing signs of erratic behavior, was arrested and charged with intoxication by paint. He was determined to be "highly" intoxicated by aerosol paint and "to be a threat to himself and others." He was booked into the Brownsville City Jail at 2:25 a.m. and was placed in a single cell. The jail staff was familiar with Reyes due to his prior incarcerations, and admittedly knew that the decedent was at risk for suicide. In fact, during some of Reyes's prior incarcerations, the jailers had transferred Reyes to Tropical Texas MHMR for treatment.
According to the jailers' testimony, the City had three options for incarcerating suicidal inmates. As one option, suicidal inmates could be locked in the jail's padded cell, which was monitored "a lot" more closely than the other cells and which did not contain "anything for them to kill themselves with." Alternatively, inmates prone to suicide could be locked in a "general population" cell so that the other prisoners could "watch them while we're busy." As a final option, suicide-prone inmates could be locked in a single cell.
Inmates posing a known risk of suicide were to be kept "in close observation." All of the jail's cells were subject to varying degrees of surveillance by camera and television monitoring. The padded cell could be seen in its entirety, except for its ceiling, through its television monitor. In contrast, the cameras for the
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