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Thomas v. Cook County Sheriff's Dep't

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ARGUED DECEMBER 9, 2008

Before FLAUM, WOOD, and WILLIAMS, Circuit Judges.

Norman Smith, a thirty-two year-old pretrial detainee, arrived at Cook County Jail on April 24, 2004, and died less than a week later from pneumococcal meningitis. His mother, Marlita Thomas, sued Cook County, the Cook County Sheriff, and a number of correctional employees, under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, alleging that the defendants violated her son’s constitutional rights by failing to respond to his serious medical needs. At trial, a number of Smith’s fellow inmates testified that Smith’s condition rapidly deteriorated while prison officials turned a blind eye. The jury agreed with this assessment. It returned a verdict in Thomas’s favor and awarded damages in the amount of $4,450,000 against Cook County, the Sheriff, and three individual officers. The district court denied the defendants’ motion for judgment as a matter of law and the defendants now appeal. Specifically, they challenge the sufficiency of the evidence supporting each of the jury’s liability determinations, the trial court’s evidentiary rulings, and the jury’s compensatory damages calculation.

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