U.S. Magistrate Judge L. Patrick Auld offered a recommendation to the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina that the Cabarrus County Sheriff’s Office and its detention center director be granted summary judgment in a case accusing them of denying a prisoner medical treatment for hepatitis C.
In a memorandum opinion and recommendation issued May 28, Auld found that physician assistant Karen Russell of Southern Health Partners and Cabarrus County Sheriff Van Shaw should be granted motions on their qualified immunity and official capacity defenses, respectively. Plaintiff Roger Dale Connell alleged that Russell and Shaw violated his Eighth and 14th Amendment rights to adequate medical care, causing deterioration of his liver.