Judge dismisses lawsuit over man’s death in Cass County Jail – InForum

Editor’s note: If you or someone you know is in crisis, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988 or contact the Crisis Text Line by texting TALK to 741741.

FARGO – A federal judge dismissed a

civil rights lawsuit

linked to a man who bled to death four years ago in a Cass County Jail cell.

North Dakota U.S. District Judge Peter Welte on Monday, October 21, ruled that the Cass County Jail did not violate

Luke Laducer

human rights when he died in custody on December 18, 2020. Laducer’s family filed a notice of appeal to the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals on Wednesday.

The ruling appears to be a “punch in the gut” for the family, their lawyer Jeff Price told The Forum on Thursday.

I think the judge was not wrong, he said.

Cass County Sheriff Jesse Jahner said the jail was satisfied with the ruling and added that the judge was right to dismiss the case.

“We hope that the federal court’s decision will be upheld on appeal,” he said.

The ruling came nearly four years after Laducer’s death and nearly two years after his family filed a lawsuit against the county, the jail, Essentia Health and others connected to the case.

According to the civil complaint, Laducer called police to his Fargo home at 2:23 a.m. on Dec. 18, 2020. Court documents show he told a 911 dispatcher that he had tried to commit suicide by drinking alcohol.

Court documents show Fargo police took Laducer to Essentia Hospital, where he was legally allowed to go to jail for detoxification. Police arrested Laducer on an outstanding arrest warrant. He was charged with crimes for using personal information without permission to obtain a credit card and withdrawing money from someone else’s card without permission.

Court documents show Laducer was taken to jail at 3 a.m. and died 14 hours later from gastrointestinal bleeding. Died from

natural causes

– Jahner said.

The civil complaint says that when officers entered his apartment, Laducer spat, coughed or sneezed blood. According to the complaint, this could be a sign of hemorrhaging.

The complaint says the family allegedly ignored Laducer’s suicidal remarks, failed to take his vital signs and failed to conduct appropriate tests before releasing him to custody. The complaint says he was in Essentia’s emergency room for five minutes.

When he arrived at the jail, his blood-alcohol content was 0.35 percent, more than four times the legal limit, according to the complaint.

The complaint said it was the first time anyone had given him a blood alcohol test. The complaint says no medical personnel examined Laducer at the jail.

Staff checked his condition throughout the day and found no signs of ill health as of 5:16 p.m. on December 18, 2020, Jahner previously told The Forum. The North Dakota Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation said the prison was operating in accordance with state correctional facility standards during Laducer’s medical emergency.

Prison staff were not aware that Laducer needed medical attention until after 5 p.m. on the day of his death, Welte ruled. Welte wrote that prison staff then tried to take life-saving measures.

Earlier this year, Laducer’s family agreed to dismiss a lawsuit against Essentia Health and the doctors who examined him before he was sent to prison.