C A R O L S O L E S , P E R S O N A Lrepresentative of the Estate of Aaron Frayer,… v. Ingham County

*The Honorable Karl S. Forester, United States District Judge for the Eastern District of
Kentucky, sitting by designation.
NOT RECOMMENDED FOR FULL-TEXT PUBLICATION
File Name: 05a0747n.06
Filed: August 24, 2005
No. 04-1548
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE SIXTH CIRCUIT
C A R O L S O L E S , P E R S O N A L
REPRESENTATIVE OF THE ESTATE OF
AARON FRAYER, DECEASED,
Plaintiff-Appellant
v.
INGHAM COUNTY; CLINTON-EATON-
INGHAM OFFICE OF COMMUNITY
MENTAL HEALTH; ELIZABETH
MITCHELL; JUDY CATES; DEPUTY JOHN
HAVEN; UNDERSHERIFF MATTHEW
MEYERS,
Defendants-Appellees.
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ON APPEAL FROM THE UNITED
STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE
WESTERN DISTRICT OF MICHIGAN
Before: MARTIN and ROGERS, Circuit Judges; and FORESTER, District Judge.*
ROGERS, Circuit Judge. Carol Soles, the representative of the estate of Aaron Frayer,
appeals the District Court’s grant of summary judgment to defendants Ingham County, Clinton-
Eaton-Ingham Office of Community Mental Heath, Elizabeth Mitchell, Judy Cates, and Deputy John
Haven in Soles’ § 1983 causes of action. After reviewing the record, the parties’ briefs, and the
applicable law, this court determines that no jurisprudential purpose would be served by a panel

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opinion and affirms the lower court’s decision for the reasons stated in Parts I through III of that
court’s opinion.
This court’s decision in Comstock v. McCrary, 273 F.3d 693 (6th Cir. 2001), is consistent
with this analysis. In Comstock, this court denied qualified immunity to a prison psychologist, on
the grounds that the psychologist exhibited deliberate indifference to an inmate’s risk for suicide.
Id. at 706-711. The psychologist had met with the inmate the day before the inmate’s death; the
inmate reported feeling suicidal, but with no specific plan. Id. at 698. The psychologist placed the
decedent inmate in observation. The psychologist stated in his deposition that he suspected that day
that the decedent might be having problems with other inmates. The next day, a physician’s
assistant met with the decedent. The decedent told the physician’s assistant that he was viewed as
a snitch and would be killed if returned to a non-safe area. The psychologist, without reviewing the
physician’s assistant’s treatment notes, reevaluated the decedent immediately after the physician’s
assistant did. The decedent stated that he was not feeling suicidal. The psychologist noted that he
showed an improved affect and recommended transferring the decedent out of the observation cell.
Id. at 699. Later the same afternoon, the decedent committed suicide.
Our court in Comstock relied on factual considerations not present in this case. Our holding
that there was sufficient evidence of the subjective element of deliberate indifference in Comstock
was based on the psychologist’s admitted suspicion on the day preceding the suicide that “something
was going on between [the decedent] and the other men on the block” and the psychologist’s
conclusion that the decedent was suicidal enough to be placed under close observation, along with
the fact that the decedent’s mental state had been affected by the other inmates’ dislike for him. Id.
at 706. The psychologist could not simply disregard his strong suspicions. Id. In this case, by

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contrast, the deceased had not expressed suicidal thoughts for a period of approximately two weeks
before defendant mental health worker Mitchell and defendant medical director Cates recommended
that decedent be returned to the general population of the jail. Furthermore, and perhaps most
importantly, when Mitchell evaluated decedent, there was no glaring, new factor closely related to
suicidal thoughts that Mitchell negligently or recklessly failed to investigate, such as the decedent’s
fears of retribution in Comstock. Instead, Mitchell had no new evidence indicating that decedent
was at an increased risk for suicide. Under such circumstances, no reasonable juror could find that
Mitchell or Cates was aware that decedent was at a substantial risk for suicide. The District Court
properly granted summary judgment to these defendants, and, thus, its judgment is AFFIRMED.

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