C LD

- 010 NOT PRECEDENTIAL

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE THIRD CIRCUIT

___________ No. 12

- 2850

___________ LEROY T. MOORE , Appellant

v. MIDDLESEX COUNTY PROSECUTORS OFFICE; CHRISTOPHER KUBERIET; JENNIFER SESSA, individually and in her o fficial capacity; BRUCE KAPLAN, in his official capacity

____________________________________ Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey (D.C. Civil No. 2

- 11

- cv - 03879 ) District Judge: Honorable Jose L. Linares

___________ _________________________ Submitted for Possible Dismissal Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2)(B) or Summary Action Pursuant to Third Circuit LAR 27.4 and I.O.P. 10.6 October 12, 2012 Before: RENDELL, JORDAN and GARTH, Circuit Judges (Opinion filed : Nov ember 2 , 2012 )

_________ OPINION OF THE COURT

_________2 PER CURIAM On July 7, 2012, Leroy T. Moore , a state inmate confined at the Northern State Prison in Newark, New Jersey, filed a pro se complaint in the United States District Court for the Distri ct of New Jersey , alleging that the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office, Middlesex County Prosecutor Bruce Kaplan, Assistant Prosecutor Christopher Kuberiet, and Prosecutor’s Agent Jennifer Sassa violated his civil rights in connection with his prosecutio n on multiple drug charges in state criminal court

. Moore’s 42 U.S.C. § 1983 complaint allege d that Assistant Prosecutor Kuberiet violated his constitutional rights by continually deceiving the state criminal court by stating that Moore was in possession o f “several grams of dope” when he was arrested in 2009 and withholding exculpatory lab reports from both the court and Moore’s defense counsel showing that the actual weight of the drugs Moore was in possession of at the time of his arrest was less than on e gram. The complaint further allege d that Prosecutor’s Agent Sassa conspired with Kuberiet to withhold exculpatory evidence by forwarding a discovery packet to M oore ’s lawyer without including the exculpatory “lab reports as to the CDS & amount.” County Prosecutor Bruce Kaplan was named as a defendant for failing to adequately train and supervise Kuberiet and Sassa. Moore’s complaint sought

an unspecified amount of compensatory and punitive monetary damages

. On May 10, 2012, t he District Court granted M oore leave to proceed in forma pauperis but then sua sponte dismissed his complaint with prejudice as against all defendants pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §§ 1915(e)(2)(B)(iii) and 1915A(b)(2). In an opinion3 accompanying the order of dismissal, the District Court explained that Moore’s complaint must be dismissed because prosecutors enjoy absolute immunity from claims based on their failure to disclose exculpatory evidence , provided that they did so while functioning
in a prosecutorial capacity , and that Moore’s c omplaint did not contain allegations with respect to willful destruction or other aggravating circumstances sufficient to pierce the defendants’ absolute prosecutorial immunity. Moore timely filed this appeal. We have jurisdiction to hear this appeal unde r 28 U.S.C. § 1291 , given the District Court’s dismissal of Moore’s complaint with prejudice. See Borelli v. City of Reading

State p rosecutors are afforded absolute immunity from civil suit under § 1983 f or the init iation and pursuit of criminal prosecution s
. , 532 F.2d 950, 951

- 52 (3d Cir. 1976).

Imbler v. Pachtman , 424 U.S. 409,
4 31 (1976). Prosecutors also enjoy absolutely immunity for actions undertaken in preparation for judicial proceedings or for trial, provided those actions occur in the course of their role as a prosecutor. Buckley v. Fitzsimmons , 509 U.S. 259, 273 (1993). Although a prosecutor’s deliberate destruction of exculpatory evidence is not entitled to absolute immunity, the decision to withhold such evidence from the defense while fu nctioning as an advocate for the state is p rotected by absolute immunity. Imbler , 424
U.S. at 431

- 32 n.34; Yarris v. Cnty

. of Delaware Supervisory prosecutors are absolutely immune both from suit s for acts undertaken in relation to an individual trial , and from suits charging that they failed to provide adeq uate training and supervision. , 465 F.3d 129, 137 (3d Cir. 2006)

.

Van de Kamp v. Goldstein , 555 U.S. 335,4 346

- 4 9 (2009). The employee of an attorney, including the employee or agent of a prosecutor, i s also granted absolute immunity from § 1983 suits where the function of the employee and the judicial process are closely allied

. Waits v. McGowan , 516 F.2d 203, 206 (3d Cir. 1975)

. This Court has held, for example, that absolute immunity extends to
emp loyees of prosecutors who perform investigative work in furtherance of a criminal prosecution. Davis v. Grusemeyer We agree with the District Court that Moore’s complaint seeks monetary relief from defendants who are absolutely immune from suit under § 1983, and that dismissal under sections 1915(e)(2)(B)(iii) and 191 5A(b)(2) was therefore proper. Moore sought
money damages from a prosecutor, his supervisor, and his agent, each of who m is immune from such relief under settled law

. Moreover, we detect no abuse of discretion in the District Court’s decision to dismiss the complaint without offering leave to amend. , 996 F.2d 617, 631

- 32 (3d Cir. 1993)

.

See Grayson v. Mayview State Hosp. , 293 F. 3d 103, 110

- 11 (3d Cir. 2002). For all of these reasons, we wil l therefore summarily affirm the judgment of the District Court

.