Slade v. City of Marshall, No. 15-40517 (5th Cir. 2016)
Annotate this CasePlaintiff, mother of decedent Marcus Dewayne Slade, filed a wrongful death suit under 42 U.S.C. 1983 against the City and various local officials after Marcus died in police custody. The cause of death was determined to be PCP toxicity. Plaintiff concedes that she does not have evidence sufficient to recover under Texas's wrongful death statute because she cannot demonstrate that defendants' wrongful actions more likely than not caused Marcus's death. However, plaintiff urges the court to decline to apply Texas's causation standard. The court rejected plaintiff's claim that case law supports an exception when the need for medical care is obvious, and that the standard is inconsistent with federal law. Accordingly, the court affirmed the judgment.
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