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IMBLER V. PACHTMAN, 424 U. S. 409 - Volume 424 - 1976 - Full Text - US Supreme Court Center - USSC Cases - Nolo
US Supreme Court Center > Volume 424 > IMBLER V. PACHTMAN, 424 U. S. 409 (1976) > Full Text
The State's case consisted of eyewitness testimony from Hasson's wife and identification testimony from three men who had seen Hasson's assailants fleeing after the shooting. Mrs. Hasson was unable to identify the gunman because a hat had obscured his face, but, from police photographs, she identified the killer's companion as Leonard Lingo. The primary identification witness was Alfred Costello, a passerby on the night of the crime, who testified that he had a clear view both as the gunman emerged from the market and again a few moments later when the fleeing gunman -- after losing his hat -- turned to fire a shot at Costello [Footnote 1] and to shed his coat [Footnote 2] before continuing on. Costello positively identified Imbler as the gunman. The second identification witness, an attendant at a parking lot through which the gunman ultimately escaped, testified that he had a side and front view as the man passed. Finally, a customer who was leaving Hasson's market as the robbers entered
In his brief to the Supreme Court of California on this habeas petition, Imbler's counsel described Pachtman's post-trial detective work as "[i]n the highest tradition of law enforcement and justice," and as a premier example of "devotion to duty." [Footnote 6] But he also charged that the prosecution had knowingly used false testimony and suppressed material evidence at Imbler's trial. [Footnote 7] In a thorough opinion by then Justice Traynor, the Supreme Court of California unanimously rejected these contentions and denied the writ. In re Imbler,
The District Court held no hearing. Instead, it decided the petition upon the record, including Pachtman's letter to the Governor and the transcript of the referee's hearing ordered by the Supreme Court of California. Reading that record quite differently than had the seven justices of the State Supreme Court, the District Court found eight instances of state misconduct at Imbler's trial, the cumulative effect of which required issuance of the writ. Imbler v. Craven, 298 F.Supp. 795, 812 (CD Cal.1969). Six occurred during Costello's testimony, and amounted, in the court's view, to the culpable use by the prosecution of misleading or false testimony. [Footnote 8] The other two instances were suppressions of
The decision in Tenney established that § 1983 is to be read in harmony with general principles of tort immunities and defenses, rather than in derogation of them. Before today, the Court has had occasion to consider the liability of several types of government officials in addition to legislators. The common law absolute immunity of judges for "acts committed within their judicial jurisdiction," See Bradley v. Fisher, 13 Wall. 335 (1872), was found to be preserved under § 1983 in Pierson v. Ray, 386 U. S. 547, 386 U. S. 554-555 (1967). [Footnote 12] In the same case, local police officers sued for a deprivation of liberty resulting from unlawful arrest were held to enjoy under § 1983 a "good faith and probable cause" defense coextensive with their defense to false arrest actions at
common law. 386 U.S. at 386 U. S. 555-557. We found qualified immunities appropriate in two recent cases. [Footnote 13] In Scheuer v. Rhodes, 416 U. S. 232 (1974), we cocluded that the Governor and other executive officials of a State had a qualified immunity that varied with "the scope of discretion and responsibilities of the office and all the circumstances as they reasonably appeared at the time of the action. . . ." Id. at 416 U. S. 247. [Footnote 14] Last Term, in Wood v. Strickland, 420 U. S. 308 (1975), we held that school officials, in the context of imposing disciplinary penalties, were not liable so long as they could not reasonably have known that their action violated students' clearly established constitutional rights, and provided they did not act with malicious intention to cause constitutional or other injury. Id. at 420 U. S. 322; cf. O'Connor v. Donaldson, 422 U. S. 563, 422 U. S. 577 (1975). In Scheuer and in Wood, as in the two earlier cases, the considerations underlying the nature of the immunity of the respective officials in suits at common law led to essentially the same immunity under § 1983. [Footnote 15] See 420 U.S. at 420 U. S. 318-321; 416 U.S. at 416 U. S. 239-247, and n. 4.
This case marks our first opportunity to address the § 1983 liability of a state prosecuting officer. The Courts of Appeals, however, have confronted the issue many times and under varying circumstances. Although the precise contours of their holdings have been unclear at times, at bottom, they are virtually unanimous that a prosecutor enjoys absolute immunity from § 1983 suits for damages when he acts within the scope of his prosecutorial duties. [Footnote 16] These courts sometimes have described the prosecutor's immunity as a form of "quasi-judicial" immunity, and referred to it as derivative of the immunity of judges recognized in Pierson v. Ray, supra. [Footnote 17] Petitioner focuses upon the "quasi-judicial" characterization, and contends that it illustrates a fundamental illogic in according absolute immunity to a prosecutor. He argues that the prosecutor, as a member of the executive branch, cannot claim the immunity reserved for the judiciary, but only a qualified immunity
The function of a prosecutor that most often invites a common law tort action is his decision to initiate a prosecution, as this may lead to a suit for malicious prosecution if the State's case misfires. The first American case to address the question of a prosecutor's amenability to such an action was Griffith v. Slinkard, 146 Ind. 117, 44 N.E. 1001 (1896). [Footnote 18] The complaint charged that a local prosecutor, without probable cause, added the plaintiff's name to a grand jury true bill after the grand jurors had refused to indict him, with the result that the plaintiff was arrested and forced to appear in court repeatedly before the charge finally was nolle prossed. Despite allegations of malice, the Supreme Court of Indiana dismissed the action on the ground that the prosecutor was absolutely immune. Id. at 122, 44 N.E. at 1002.
Moreover, suits that survived the pleadings would pose substantial danger of liability even to the honest prosecutor. The prosecutor's possible knowledge of a witness' falsehoods, the materiality of evidence not revealed to the defense, the propriety of a closing argument, and -- ultimately in every case -- the likelihood that prosecutorial misconduct so infected a trial as to deny due process, are typical of issues with which judges struggle in actions for post-trial relief, sometimes to differing conclusions. [Footnote 22] The presentation of such issues in a § 1983 action often would require a virtual retrial of the criminal offense in a new forum, and the resolution of some technical issues by the lay jury. It is fair to say, we think, that the honest prosecutor would face greater difficulty in meeting the standards of qualified immunity than other executive or administrative officials. Frequently acting under serious constraints of time and even information, a prosecutor inevitably makes many decisions that could engender colorable claims of constitutional deprivation. Defending these decisions, often years after they were made, could impose unique
The affording of only a qualified immunity to the prosecutor also could have an adverse effect upon the functioning of the criminal justice system. Attaining the system's goal of accurately determining guilt or innocence requires that both the prosecution and the defense have wide discretion in the conduct of the trial and the presentation of evidence. [Footnote 23] The veracity of witnesses in criminal cases frequently is subject to doubt before and after they testify, as is illustrated by the history of this case. If prosecutors were hampered in exercising their judgment as to the use of such witnesses by concern about resulting personal liability, the triers of fact in criminal cases often would be denied relevant evidence. [Footnote 24]
Gregoire v. Biddle, 177 F.2d 579, 581 (CA2 1949), cert. denied, 339 U.S. 949 (1950). See Yaselli v. Goff, 12 F.2d at 404; cf. Wood v. Strickland, 420 U.S. at 420 U. S. 320. [Footnote 27]
liability in suits under § 1983 does not leave the public powerless to deter misconduct or to punish that which occurs. This Court has never suggested that the policy considerations which compel civil immunity for certain governmental officials also place them beyond the reach of the criminal law. Even judges, cloaked with absolute civil immunity for centuries, could be punished criminally for willful deprivations of constitutional rights on the strength of 18 U.S.C. § 242, [Footnote 28] the criminal analog of § 1983. O'Shea v. Littleton, 414 U. S. 488, 414 U. S. 503 (1974); cf. Gravel v. United States, 408 U. S. 606, 408 U. S. 627 (1972). The prosecutor would fare no better for his willful acts. [Footnote 29] Moreover, a prosecutor stands perhaps unique, among officials whose acts could deprive persons of constitutional rights, in his amenability to professional discipline by an association of his peers. [Footnote 30] These checks undermine the argument that the imposition of civil liability is the only way to insure that prosecutors are mindful of the constitutional rights of persons accused of crime.
It remains to delineate the boundaries of our holding. As noted supra at 424 U. S. 416, the Court of Appeals emphasized that each of respondent's challenged activities was an "integral part of the judicial process." 500 F.2d at 1302. The purpose of the Court of Appeals' focus upon the functional nature of the activities, rather than respondent's status, was to distinguish and leave standing those cases, in its Circuit and in some others, which hold that a prosecutor engaged in certain investigative activities enjoys, not the absolute immunity associated with the judicial process, but only a good faith defense comparable to the policeman's. [Footnote 31] See Pierson v. Ray, 386 U.S. at 386 U. S. 557. We agree with the Court of Appeals that respondent's activities were intimately associated with the judicial phase of the criminal process, and thus were functions to which the reasons for absolute immunity apply with full force. [Footnote 32] We have no occasion to consider whether like or similar reasons require immunity for those aspects of the prosecutor's responsibility that cast him in the role of an administrator or investigative
United States v. Classic, 313 U. S. 299, 313 U. S. 326 (1941). It is manifest, then, that all state
officials as a class cannot be immune absolutely from damage suits under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, and that, to extend absolute immunity to any group of state officials is to negate pro tanto the very remedy which it appears Congress sought to create. Scheuer v. Rhodes, 416 U. S. 232, 416 U. S. 243 (1974). Thus, as there is no language in 42 U.S.C. § 1983 extending any immunity to any state officials, the Court has not extended absolute immunity to such officials in the absence of the most convincing showing that the immunity is necessary. Accordingly, we have declined to construe § 1983 to extend absolute immunity from damage suits to a variety of state officials, Wood v. Strickland, 420 U. S. 308 (1975) (school board members); Scheuer v. Rhodes, supra, (various executive officers, including the State's chief executive officer); Pierson v. Ray, 386 U. S. 547 (1967) (policemen); and this notwithstanding the fact that, at least with respect to high executive officers, absolute immunity from suit for damages would have applied at common law. Spalding v. Vilas, 161 U. S. 483 (1896); Alzua v. Johnson, 231 U. S. 106 (1913). Instead, we have construed the statute to extend only a qualified immunity to these officials and they may be held liable for unconstitutional conduct absent "good faith." Wood v. Strickland, supra at 420 U. S. 315. Any other result would "deny much of the promise of § 1983." Id. at 420 U. S. 322. Nonetheless, there are certain absolute immunities so firmly rooted in the common law and supported by such strong policy reasons that the Court has been unwilling to infer that Congress meant to abolish them in enacting 42 U.S.C. § 1983. Thus, we have held state legislators to be absolutely immune from liability for damages under § 1983 for their legislative acts, Tenney v. Brandhove, 341 U. S. 367 (1951), [Footnote 2/1] and state
In justifying absolute immunity for certain officials, both at common law and under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, courts have invariably rested their decisions on the proposition that such immunity is necessary to protect the decisionmaking process in which the official is engaged. Thus, legislative immunity was justified on the ground that such immunity was essential to protect "freedom of speech and action in the legislature" from the dampening effects of threatened lawsuits. Tenney v. Brandhove, supra at 341 U. S. 372. Similarly, absolute immunity for judges was justified on the ground that, no matter how high the standard of proof is set, the burden of defending damage suits brought by disappointed litigants would "contribute not to principled and fearless decisionmaking, but to intimidation." Pierson v. Ray, supra at 386 U. S. 554. In Bradley v. Fisher, 13 Wall. 335, 80 U. S. 347 (1872), the Court stated:
The majority articulates other adverse consequences which may result from permitting suits to be maintained against public officials. Such suits may expose the official to an unjust damage award, ante at 424 U. S. 425; such suits will be expensive to defend even if the official prevails, and will take the official's time away from his job, ante at 424 U. S. 425; and the liability of a prosecutor for unconstitutional behavior might induce a federal court in a habeas corpus proceeding to deny a valid constitutional claim in order to protect the prosecutor, ante at 424 U. S. 427. However, these adverse consequences are present with respect to suits against policemen, school teachers, and other executives, and have never before been thought sufficient to immunize an official absolutely, no matter how outrageous his conduct. Indeed, these reasons are present with respect to suits against all state officials, [Footnote 2/3] and must necessarily have been rejected by Congress as a basis for absolute immunity under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, for its enactment
Harper & James § 4.3, pp. 305 306, quoting Yaselli v. Goff, 8 F.2d 161, 162 (SDNY 1925). Indeed, in deciding whether or not to prosecute, the prosecutor performs a "quasi-judicial" function. 1 Harper & James 305; Yaselli v. Goff, 12 F.2d at 404. Judicial immunity had always been extended to grand jurors with respect to their actions in returning an indictment, id. at 403, and "the public prosecutor, in deciding whether a particular prosecution shall be instituted . . . performs much the same function as a grand jury.'" Id. at 404, quoting Smith v. Parman, 101 Kan. 115, 165 P. 633 (1917). The analogy to judicial immunity is a strong one. Moreover, the risk of injury to the judicial process from a rule permitting malicious prosecution suits against prosecutors is real. There is no one to sue the prosecutor for an erroneous decision not to prosecute. If suits for malicious prosecution were permitted, [Footnote 2/4] the prosecutor's incentive would always be not to bring charges. Moreover, the "fear of being harassed by a vexatious suit, for acting according to their consciences" would always be the greater "where powerful" men are involved, 1 W. Hawkins, Pleas of the Crown 349 (6th ed. 1787). Accordingly, I agree with the majority that, with respect to suits based on claims that the prosecutor's decision to prosecute was malicious and without probable cause -- at least where there is no independent allegation that the prosecutor withheld exculpatory information from a grand jury or the court, see 424 U. S. infra -- the judicial process is better served by absolute immunity than by any other rule.
Veeder, supra, 9 Col.L.Rev. at 469. For the above-stated reasons, I agree with the majority that history and policy support an absolute immunity for prosecutors from suits based solely on claims [Footnote 2/5] that they knew or should have known that the testimony of a witness called by the prosecution was false; and I would not attribute to Congress an intention to remove such immunity in enacting 42 U.S.C. § 1983.
There was no absolute immunity at common law for prosecutors other than absolute immunity from suits for malicious prosecution and defamation. There were simply no other causes of action at common law brought against prosecutors for conduct committed in their official capacity. [Footnote 2/6] There is, for example, no reported case of a suit at common law against a prosecutor for suppression or nondisclosure of exculpatory evidence. Thus, even if this Court had accepted the proposition, which
The absolute immunity extended to prosecutors in defamation cases is designed to encourage them to bring information to the court which will resolve the criminal case. That is its single justification. Lest they withhold valuable but questionable evidence or refrain from making valuable but questionable arguments, prosecutors are protected from liability for submitting before the court information later determined to have been false to their knowledge. [Footnote 2/7] It would stand this immunity rule on its head, however, to apply it to a suit based on a claim that
Equally important, unlike constitutional violations committed in the courtroom -- improper summations, introduction of hearsay evidence in violation of the Confrontation Clause, knowing presentation of false testimony -- which truly are an "integral part of the judicial process," ante at 424 U. S. 416, the judicial process has no way to prevent or correct the constitutional violation of suppressing evidence. The judicial process will by definition be ignorant of the violation when it occurs; and it is
all relate to background information about only one of the three eyewitnesses to testify for the State, and were in large part concededly known to the defense, and thus may not be accurately described as suppressed. The single alleged fact not concededly known to the defense which might have been helpful to the defense was that the State's witness had written some bad checks for small amounts, and that a criminal charge based on one check was outstanding against him. However, the witness had an extensive criminal record which was known to but not fully used by the defense. Thus, even taken as true, the failure to disclose the check charges is patently insufficient to support a claim of unconstitutional suppression of evidence. [Footnote 2/9] The Court