RBC | The Colorado Court of Appeals has ruled that the Rio Blanco County Sheriff’s Office can be held civilly liable for the death by suicide of Catherine Rowell in 2016 while Rowell was held in the Rio Blanco County Detention Center.
Rowell was arrested in Rangely on Feb. 12, 2016, for allegedly violating a protection order that prohibited her from contacting her husband, Gary Heidel. The protection order stemmed from an August 2015 case in which Rowell was arrested for third-degree assault. She pleaded guilty to harassment charges about six weeks later. In February 2016, officers were called to Heidel’s home on a report that he had assaulted a third party. Rowell was in the home when officers arrived. She was arrested and was being held in detention awaiting a hearing for allegedly violating the protection order when she died by suicide on Feb. 15, 2016.
Members of Rowell’s family, including Heidel, filed a lawsuit against the RBCSO, alleging an underlying constitutional violation and “deliberate indifference” by Sheriff Anthony Mazzola. The suit also individually named a sergeant and three deputies, none of whom are currently employed by the department.
Attorneys for the RBCSO argued the CGIA barred the wrongful death claims made by Heidel, et. al. based on the Colorado Governmental Immunity Act (CGIA) which limits the circumstances under which a public entity or public employee may be held liable in tort actions (a tort is a type of legal claim for injuries or damages caused by another’s wrongful actions). CGIA immunity applies in cases where detainees have been convicted of a crime and incarcerated pursuant to a conviction, but there is an exception for those who have yet to be convicted.
The federal case in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit was dismissed, with the court finding that Rowell’s estate was unable to prove and Rowell’s estate filed an appeal in district court.
An article in Colorado Politics about the outcome of that case states, “District Court Judge John F. Neiley disagreed with that argument because Rowell was not being held on the harassment charge for which she had already been convicted.”
The RBCSO turned to the Court of Appeals, which heard oral arguments 11 months ago and issued a precedent-setting opinion on May 18, 2023: Because Rowell died before being found guilty of the alleged offense for which she was incarcerated, the case fits within the exception to governmental immunity, and the RBCSO can be held liable.
BY NIKI TURNER | [email protected]
