Trial Project Part 2
February 28, 2016
Ryan G. Bartholomew
Criminal Justice 500
Liberty University
Dr. Katherine Pang

Abstract
On March 3, 2010, plaintiff Tera M. Bruner-McMahon, as Administrator of the Estate of Terry Albert Bruner, filed a complaint for civil rights violations in the United States District Court for the District of Kansas against defendants Marque Jameson and Mary Staton. The complaint alleged claims arising out of the death of Terry Albert Bruner while he was incarcerated in the Sedgwick County Jail. Plaintiff contended that the death was a result of defendants’ deliberate indifference to Terry Albert Bruner’s serious medical needs. Defendants denied liability. The problem in question is the violation of the eighth amendment. Where the eighth amendment is that excessive bail shall not be required, no excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted. A jury trial was held from February 22, 2012 through March 5, 2012. The jury returned a verdict on March 5, 2012 in favor of defendants. The court entered judgment on March 6, 2012.

Introduction In the beginning of the case the plaintiff and defendant lawyers provide their opening statements. The violation in question on the defendants was violating the eighth amendment of the then and now deceased Terry Bruner which was jailed for Driving Under the Influence, Drunk Driving, and leaving the scene of an accident. Terry Bruner had a preexisting health condition which is cirrhosis and hepatitis c. This preexisting health condition was known by the institution in which he was jailed and made him more susceptible to illness. The institution failed to provide medical aid when he fell sick with strep pneumonia, which progressed to meningitis, which was the cause of his death, which is the reason the plaintiff is going after the violation of the eighth amendment. Which the nature of the suit is Civil Rights: other, pertaining to the violation of Bruner’s Eighth Amendment right. The individuals that were on duty the day of his death were Marque Jameson and Mary Staton. The two claimed that they did not know of his preexisting health condition since it was not briefed to them when coming on duty and thought it was a mental health issue.
Proceedings
The members of the courtroom workgroup in this case are the plaintiff: Tera M. Bruner-McMahon, defendants: Marque Jameson and Mary Staton, the attorney: Lee R. Barnett, and the judge: Kathryn H. Vratil. The plaintiff was seeking justice on the behalf of Terry Bruner for the way his eighth amendment right was violated in a way that ended in his death due to lack of medical attention when having strep pneumonia that progressed to meningitis, which resulted in his death. The defendants Marque Jameson and Mary Staton were the jailers on March 10th 2008 in which Bruner was found being as described wandering aimlessly as if he was a mental patient off of his medication. Staton called her sergeant in order to get some information on the inmate and was told to call the mental health specialists which told Staton that they would come down during their normal hours. The attorney Lee R. Barnett is the attorney of Jameson and Staton. His job is to prove that the individuals in question did not know about Bruner’s preexisting medical condition. The judge presiding over the case being Kathryn H. Vratil was the individual that would inform the jury of the law at hand that is being claimed to be violated as to allow the jury to make an informed decision as to who and how or the lack of a violation of the law had been made.
Analysis
The criminal justice issue at hand in this case is that the Eighth Amendment right of Terry Bruner was violated. What is the Eighth Amendment right? The eighth amendment is that excessive bail shall not be required, no excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted. Already having preexisting health conditions that make an individual more susceptible to illness would be an indicator that he should be on a watch list to ensure he is medically taken care of. However, this is not the case. Terry Bruner fell ill with Strep Pneumonia which was left untreated for a period of five days. With a compromised immune system an illness can progress faster than one normally would (Gremion, 2005). That being said the jailers were deliberately indifferent to Terry Bruner’s serious medical needs. “Deliberate indifference may be proven by showing that prison officials intentionally denied, delayed access to or interfered with an inmate’s necessary medical care” (Bruner-McMahon v. Jameson). The institution in which Bruner was jailed at knew of his condition being the cirrhosis of the liver and hepatitis c, which compromises an individual’s immune system which makes it harder to stay healthy and fight off illness. In many verses of the bible it states that all people shall be treated with love and compassion. In what way does allowing an individual with a compromised immune system go ill for days untreated, allowing the sickness to progress and become stronger, leading a man to his death? Allowing this to happen to a man is cruel and unusual punishment by any standards. Yes, Bruner committed a crime, but was he not serving his punishment? The facility knew of his condition when the jail in which he was transferred to called and mentioned that Bruner needed medical aid right away. Knowing he needed medical aid right away the jailers allowed the problem to evolve into a new illness causing his death. The jailers had the responsibility of providing medical treatment to the inmate and delayed to access of hit by ignoring the warnings from the other jail as well as the behavior displayed by Terry.
Conclusion
In this case a human being was treated with cruel and unusual punishment. This cruel and unusual punishment treatment is in violation of that person’s eighth amendment right provided to him by the Constitution of the United States of America. Although the defendants took the fall for the institution in which they work for, it was the institutions fault for the wrongful death of Terry Bruner in the sense that they knew about his preexisting condition that compromised his immune system making it difficult to stay healthy and to fight off infections. By not informing their personnel that they are guarding an inmate who has said preexisting health condition and that he was transferred back to that facility due to his state of being, being that he was genuinely ill lead to the death of that inmate under their watch.

Reference:
10-cv-1064-Bruner-McMahon v. Jameson, et al. (DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF KANSAS January 8, 2013) (Http://www.uscourts.gov/cameras-courts/bruner-mcmahon v-jameson-et-al, Dist. file).
Gremion, C., & Cerny, A. (2005). Hepatitis C virus and the immune system: A concise review. Retrieved February 28, 2016, from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15782389