Sylvester Barbee v. Cheri Ellis, No. 16-3009 (8th Cir. 2017)

Annotate this Case

Court Description: Per Curiam - Before Gruender, Bowman and Shepherd, Circuit Judges] Prisoner case - Prisoner civil rights. The district court did not err in finding that even if the conditions of plaintiff's confinement amounted to a substantial risk of harm, there was no jury issue as to whether these defendants were deliberately indifferent to that risk, and the defendants were entitled to summary judgment.

Download PDF
United States Court of Appeals For the Eighth Circuit ___________________________ No. 16-3009 ___________________________ Sylvester Barbee lllllllllllllllllllll Plaintiff - Appellant v. Cheri Ellis, US Department of Agriculture Inspector, Egg Processor, Cummins Unit; Aundrea Weekly, Safety and Sanitation Officer, Cummins Unit; Troy Moore, Dr., Physician of CMS, Cummins Unit; Marie Austin, Health Service Administrator of CMS, Cummins Unit; Jason Boyd, Poultry/Swine Company Inspector of Egg Process Room, Cummins Unit; John Doe, Hen House Sanitation Inspector 2012, Cummins Unit; Angelika Smarjesse, Food Preparation and Service Manager, Cummins Unit (originally named as Angelika Smarjessi) lllllllllllllllllllll Defendants - Appellees ____________ Appeal from United States District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas - Pine Bluff ____________ Submitted: July 25, 2017 Filed: July 28, 2017 [Unpublished] ____________ Before GRUENDER, BOWMAN, and SHEPHERD, Circuit Judges. ____________ PER CURIAM. Sylvester Barbee appeals from the order of the District Court1 granting summary judgment to defendants Cheri Ellis and Audrea Weekly in Barbee’s 42 U.S.C. § 1983 action arising from conditions of his confinement while he was held at the Cummins Unit.2 We agree with the district court that even assuming Barbee was incarcerated under conditions that amounted to a substantial risk of harm, he has shown no jury issue whether these defendants were deliberately indifferent to that risk. See Kulkay v. Roy, 847 F.3d 637, 643 (8th Cir. 2017) (noting that an official is deliberately indifferent if she fails to respond reasonably to a known substantial risk); see also Cullor v. Baldwin, 830 F.3d 830, 836 (8th Cir. 2016) (reviewing an order granting summary judgment de novo). We affirm the judgment. ______________________________ 1 The Honorable J. Leon Holmes, United States District Judge for the Eastern District of Arkansas, adopting the report and recommendations of the Honorable Jerry W. Cavaneau, United States Magistrate Judge for the Eastern District of Arkansas. 2 Barbee has waived his remaining claims by failing to brief them. See Dick v. Dickinson State Univ., 826 F.3d 1054, 1058 n.2 (8th Cir. 2016). -2-

Some case metadata and case summaries were written with the help of AI, which can produce inaccuracies. You should read the full case before relying on it for legal research purposes.

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.