(KNOX) –The North Dakota Supreme Court has overturned the dismissal of a civil lawsuit involving the death of a 41-year-old man in a Cass County Jail cell six years ago.
The court ruled unanimously that the case that the family of Luke Laducer filed against Cass County, the City of Fargo, Cass County Sheriff Jesse Jahner and other county employees must be reopened. The malpractice and negligence lawsuit is about how Laducer bled to death in 2020.
The Fargo Police Department responded to reports of Laducer being suicidal. He was spitting up, coughing up or sneezing blood when officers arrived at his apartment on December 18, 2020 at 2:23 a.m.
Laducer was taken to Essentia Health for both a mental health and intoxication level check. Doctors medically cleared Laducer, but Fargo officers arrested him on a warrant for a Class B felony charge. Laducer was accused of using someone’s personal information to obtain credit. A criminal complaint alleged he withdrew $1,300 from someone’s credit card without permission.
The lawsuit said Laducer was only in the hospital for five minutes before he was released to law enforcement. Medical staff are also being accused of ignored his suicidal comments, and he was taken to the jail with a blood alcohol content of 0.35 percent.
Jahner says jail staff checked on Laducer throughout the day but saw no indication he needed medical assistance until 5:16 p.m. Jahner also says at that time a deputy noticed Laducer needed help and went to his aid.
The lawsuit says Laducer died from diffuse hemorrhagic gastritis and colitis with hepatic steatosis.
Laducer’s family initially filed a civil rights lawsuit in federal court against Essentia Health, Cass County, Jahner and several other county staff back in December 2022 . North Dakota U.S. District Court Judge Peter Welte granted a motion in October 2024 to dismiss the case. He says the family “did not comply with certain procedural rules” in the case.
The family appealed the 2024 ruling to the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The federal appeals court has yet to issue an opinion.
Laducer’s family eventually filed a similar lawsuit in Cass County District Court in November 2024. Essentia Health was not named a defendant in that case.
Southeast District Judge Bradley Cruff serves in Wahpeton and he took on the case after all the East Central District Judges recused themselves. The East Central District includes Cass County. Cruff grante Cass County’s and Fargo’s motion to dismiss the case on the basis of “res judicata.”
The State Supreme Court disagreed. “Res judicata” is a court principle that says a case can’t be relitigated once a court makes a ruling.
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