La Salle County, Texas Jail Inmate Dies After Apparently Being Refused Medical Care

A custodial death report filed with the Attorney General of Texas indicates that a James Dean Davis passed away while incarcerated in the La Salle County, Texas Jail on or about August 1, 2017. The Custodial Death Report indicates that one or more jailers knew that Mr. Davis had not been feeling well, and that one or more inmates informed one or more jailers that Mr. Davis needed help. Furthermore, the report indicates that Mr. Davis told a jailer that he was ill and wanted to see a doctor. The report also indicates that the jailer did not call a supervisor or jail administrator, and did not provide what was apparently needed medical attention to Mr. Davis. Ultimately, Mr. Davis was found deceased the following morning.

Pretrial detainees, such as Mr. Davis, have a constitutional right to reasonable medical care. If jailers are deliberately indifferent to the needs of inmates, jailers can be liable for such deliberate indifference due to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 for violating the inmates’ 14th Amendment right to reasonable medical care.

Written By: Dean Malone

Dean Malone

Dean Malone is the founder of Law Offices of Dean Malone, P.C., a jail neglect civil rights law firm. Mr. Malone earned his bachelor's degree at the University of Texas at Dallas, graduating summa cum laude with a 4.0 GPA, and from Baylor University School of Law with a general civil litigation concentration. Mr. Malone served in several staff positions for the Baylor Law Review, including executive editor. Mr. Malone is an experienced trial lawyer, trying a number of cases to jury verdict and also handling arbitrations through final hearing. He heads the jail neglect section of his law firm, in which lawyers litigate cases involving serious injury and death resulting from jail neglect and abuse. Lawyers frequently refer cases to Mr. Malone due to his focus on this very complicated civil rights practice area.