⚖ Oral Arguments, with Context

The Sixth Circuit hears Kristina McClure’s appeal over her brother Colton’s death after detention in Trumbull County, Ohio. Colton entered the jail visibly intoxicated. During his detention, he showed prolonged agitation and difficulty standing. Staff performed intake checks and placed him under observation, but his estate says a later requested medical examination was never completed. He was eventually taken to a hospital, where he died. Kristina, his sister and estate administrator, sued jail officials and medical providers. The district court granted the defendants summary judgment, ending the claims without a trial. The appeal asks whether the evidence, viewed in the estate’s favor, could allow a jury to find a constitutional violation. It is not a jury verdict about whether the defendants caused his death. Deliberate indifference requires knowing of a substantial risk of serious harm and disregarding it, not simply providing negligent care. The Sixth Circuit recently restored that actual-knowledge standard in Poynter. Knowledge can be inferred from circumstances; an official need not admit recognizing the risk. The panel will consider whether the district court should apply the standard again on remand, meaning a return to the lower court. Adam Winn, for the estate, will argue that the prolonged symptoms and the officers’ own testimony permit a jury to find they recognized a need for care. John McLandrich, for the officers, will argue that they did not recognize a medical emergency and sought medical assistance. John Latchney, for the medical defendants, will argue that an examination could not safely be completed and that the conduct was not unconstitutional. For the officers, qualified immunity also asks whether the right was clearly established when these events occurred. The judges will separately consider Ohio medical-malpractice claims. Supplemental jurisdiction allows a federal court to hear related state-law claims. But after dismissing all federal claims, it may decline to decide the state claims. The parties disagree about whether the district court should have decided them here.

Kristina McClure v. Trumbull County (No. 25-3952) — U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, argued October 22, 2026.