San Diego inmate cleared to sue deputies after jailhouse thumb amputation

A San Diego County jail inmate says two deputies closed a door onto his finger and severed it, then jail staff ignored his medical needs and forces him to work through the amputation.SAN DIEGO (CN) — An inmate in the San Diego County Jail who says that his thumb was amputated when a door closed on his hand while he was being patted down by two deputies can proceed with a lawsuit against the deputies and jail staff, a federal judge found.Mauricio Bernal says that he was being patted down near a metal open staff doorway while incarcerated in the jail in July 2023. As the door began to close, deputies Richard Pham and T. Gonzales moved his arms toward the door, severing his thumb and permanently damaging his index finger, he says.U.S. District Judge Anthony Whelan, a Bill Clinton appointee, allowed the negligence claims against the deputies for the injury live on despite the county’s attempt to dismiss the case.Whelan found that Bernal sufficiently claimed that the deputies had caused his hand to be injured, citing a similar case in which a woman lost a fingertip when her hand accidentally got caught in a door also during a routine jail pat-down.“The incident cannot be characterized as the unfortunate result of plaintiff’s own decision-making,” Whelan ruled on Wednesday. “Instead, plaintiff alleges that this conduct breached the jailer’s duty to keep him safe from unreasonable harm since it caused him to place his fingers in harm’s way. Further, plaintiff alleges that he has suffered several damages because of this incident, including physical impairment, grief, anxiety and past and future medical expenses."“We are very pleased with the court’s ruling and, most importantly, that Mr. Bernal will be able to pursue his negligence claims against the deputies involved in the incident,” Whelan’s attorney Brian Mason said in a statement to Courthouse News. “This was a horrific and entirely preventable injury.”Whelan also found that Bernal sufficiently described the jail staff conduct behind his claim of deliberate indifference to serious medical needs. In his lawsuit, Bernal claims that jail staff failed to provide him with adequate medical care and refused to let him get his injury treated everyday.Additionally, he says he was ordered to take out the trash despite his injury, and mocked by jail staff who gave him a thumbs-up gesture and drew a picture of a severed finger on his cell door. Whelan allowed the deliberate indifference claim against 20 unnamed jail staff defendants he claims were involved.“These allegations — which specifically identify the conduct does 1–20 are allegedly liable for — are sufficient to put the county on notice of the nature of this Section 1983 claim and to permit plaintiff to attempt to uncover the doe’s identities through discovery,” Whelan wrote.“Mr. Bernal has suffered significant and lasting consequences from the loss of his thumb and injury to his hand,” Mason said. “We look forward to obtaining the remaining discovery and ultimately holding those responsible accountable.”However, Whelan granted the county’s motion to dismiss Whelan’s Bane Act claim and negligence claim against the 20 unnamed defendants. The Bane Act is a California civil rights law that allows people to sue others, often government agencies, for violating their civil rights through threats, intimidation or coercion.A spokesperson for San Diego County did not respond to requests for comment.Subscribe to our free newslettersOur weekly newsletter Closing Arguments offers the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world, while the monthly Under the Lights dishes the legal dirt from Hollywood, sports, Big Tech and the arts.Additional Reads