Genoa M. White v. United States

HARRY T. EDWARDS, Circuit Judge.

This case arises under the Federal Tort Claims Act and involves appellant’s claim for damages for injuries suffered when she was attacked and brutally stabbed by a psychiatric patient from St. Elizabeths Hospital.

On December 7, 1979, Dwayne White, a patient confined to St. Elizabeths Hospital (“St. Elizabeths” or “Hospital”) by court order after acquittal of murder by reason of insanity, left the Hospital grounds and repeatedly stabbed his wife, Genoa White, with a pair of scissors. At the time of the attack, Dwayne White had “grounds privileges,” permitting…