Margaret Williams v. Georgia Department of Human Resources, D/B/A Central State Hospital

In thé instant case, the district court granted a “directed verdict” in favor of the defendants without holding a trial. Because the district court had no authority to direct a verdict at the pretrial stage of the case, we reverse.

Plaintiff-appellant Margaret Williams was incarcerated in the Women’s Unit of the Middle Georgia Correctional Institute during the year 1980. In May 1980, while appellant was incarcerated, she gave birth to a child. The child was born in an emergency delivery, during which appellant was given sedatives but no anesthesia. The placenta was not spontaneously expelled…