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Kelsie Brantley, As Administratrix Of The Estate Of Lisa Michelle Ariail Et Alv.Andrew Jones Et Al

CourtCourt of Appeals of Georgia
Docket No.A21A1251
DecidedMarch 11, 2022
Reporter361 Ga. App. 496
JudgesCourt of Appeals of Georgia
Tags
CivilTort LawWrongful DeathGovernment LawSovereign ImmunityOfficial ImmunityReversalRemand
Case Summary

After police arrested Lisa Michelle Ariail for driving under the influence, she was taken to the Paulding County jail, where she died by suicide. Her daughter sued the arresting officer, the City of Hiram, and county detention officers, alleging negligence in the arrest and in the jail’s required fifteen-minute visual-surveillance procedure. The Court of Appeals of Georgia affirmed summary judgment for the city and arresting officer because sovereign and official immunity barred those claims. It also affirmed the detention officers’ judgment for alleged acts other than the surveillance duty, because that ruling was not properly challenged. But the court reversed as to the claim that the officers negligently failed to perform their ministerial duty to watch Ariail every fifteen minutes. The record did not establish causation as a matter of law; whether a breach of that duty proximately caused her death was for a jury. The case was therefore affirmed in part and reversed in part, with the surviving negligence claim remanded.

Opinion

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Kelsie Brantley, As Administratrix Of The Estate Of Lisa Michelle Ariail Et Al V. Andrew Jones Et Al — The Atlanta Gleaner