McCreery v. Ohio Dept. of Rehab. & Corr.

Citations

• 2020 Ohio 2873

Syllabus

Negligence notice of impending attack inmate magistrate Civ.R. 53. Plaintiff, an inmate under the custody and control of defendant, filed an action asserting that defendant was negligent in protecting him from an attack by another inmate. Plaintiff asserted that he verbally informed a corrections officer and a sergeant of threats made against him by members of a prison gang. Defendant offered evidence that plaintiff did not inform anyone of the threats. According to plaintiff, the leader of the prison gang threatened to harm him, however, another inmate, whose affiliation to the gang was not established at trial, assaulted him. The magistrate found plaintiff's evidence not entirely credible. The magistrate further found that if plaintiff had informed defendant's staff members of the threats from the gang leader, defendant would not have had notice of the attack that actually occurred. When one inmate attacks another inmate, actionable negligence arises only where prison officials had adequate notice of an impending attack. Therefore, the magistrate recommended that judgment be rendered in favor of defendant.