Francis v. Briatico

Citations

• 214 Conn. App. 244

Syllabus

The plaintiff, an inmate in a state correctional institution, sought, inter alia, to recover damages, pursuant to federal law (42 U.S.C. § 1983), from the defendants, three current or former employees of the Department of Correction, in their individual capacities, for the alleged violation of his constitutional rights in connection with injuries he allegedly sus- tained during a fire in his housing unit. An electrical fire occurred in a different cell in the plaintiff's housing unit, and the plaintiff, who was not evacuated from his cell during the three minutes between when the fire was reported and was declared extinguished, claimed that he suf- fered from smoke inhalation as well as labored breathing and mental trauma following the incident. The trial court granted the defendants' motion for summary judgment, finding that the facts alleged by the plaintiff were insufficient to demonstrate malevolent intent by the defen- dants as required for purposes of proving an eighth amendment violation pursuant to Whitley v. Albers (475 U.S. 312). The plaintiff appealed to this court, claiming that the trial court should have applied the deliberate indifference test adopted in Estelle v. Gamble (429 U.S. 97). Held that the trial court correctly concluded that the defendants were entitled to summary judgment, as the facts alleged by plaintiff did not give rise to a triable issue for determination by the fact finder under even the lesser deliberate indifference standard: the defendants did not consciously disregard a substantial risk of serious harm to the plaintiff, as they responded immediately to the fire, which was confined to a single cell that the plaintiff was not occupying, the fire was extinguished within three minutes of being reported, and the plaintiff was afforded medical attention within minutes after the fire was extinguished and demon- strated no serious ill effects; moreover, the defendants were justified in not evacuating the plaintiff or other potentially a