Opinion ID: 874538
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Stoppello

Text: Section 1983, on its face admits of no defense of official immunity. Buckley v. Fitzsimmons, 509 U.S. 259, 268, 113 S.Ct. 2606, 2612, 125 L.Ed.2d 209, 222 (1993). This statute, however, is to be read in harmony with general principles of tort immunities and defenses rather than in derogation of them. Imbler v. Pachtman, 424 U.S. 409, 418, 96 S.Ct. 984, 989, 47 L.Ed.2d 128, 136 (1976). The Supreme Court of the United States has recognized that some officials are entitled to absolute immunity from suit under section 1983. Buckley, 509 U.S. at 268-69, 113 S.Ct. at 2612-13, 125 L.Ed.2d at 222-23. The official seeking immunity bears the burden of proving he or she is entitled to absolute immunity because such immunity is justified by the function in question. Id. at 269, 113 S.Ct. at 2613, 125 L.Ed.2d at 223-24. Absolute immunity is only sparingly recognized for state actors. Forrester v. White, 484 U.S. 219, 224, 108 S.Ct. 538, 542, 98 L.Ed.2d 555, 563 (1988). It should not be extended further than its justification would warrant. Harlow v. Fitzgerald, 457 U.S. 800, 811, 102 S.Ct. 2727, 2734, 73 L.Ed.2d 396, 406 (1982). Prosecutorial immunity from section 1983 suits was first recognized in Imbler. There, the Court recognized that the common law rule of immunity was well settled, 424 U.S. at 424, 96 S.Ct. at 992, 47 L.Ed.2d at 139-40, and was based upon the concern that harassment by unfounded litigation would cause a deflection of the prosecutor's energies from his public duties, and the possibility that he would shade his decisions instead of exercising the independence of judgment required by his public trust. Id. at 423, 96 S.Ct. at 991, 47 L.Ed.2d at 139. The Court then held that prosecutors are entitled to absolute immunity for activities intimately associated with the judicial phase of the criminal process  initiating a prosecution and presenting the state's case. Id. at 430-31, 96 S.Ct. at 994-95, 47 L.Ed.2d at 143-44. This approach focuses on the conduct for which immunity is claimed, not whether that conduct was lawful or may have caused harm. Buckley, 509 U.S. at 271, 113 S.Ct. at 2614-15, 125 L.Ed.2d at 224-25. This conduct can include actions away from the courtroom and includes acts which occur in the course of a prosecutor acting as an advocate for the state. Id. at 272-73, 113 S.Ct. at 2615-16, 125 L.Ed.2d at 225-26. Finding immunity was error, the corrections officers assert, because Stoppello was not performing an advocacy role when he disclosed the unredacted forms in discovery, but rather was performing an administrative role. Stoppello contends that he was acting as an advocate for the state when he provided discovery to Persons, and therefore he is entitled to immunity. The issue for this Court to determine, then, is whether disclosing documents during criminal discovery is an act intimately associated with the judicial phase of the criminal process that occurs when the prosecutor is acting as an advocate for the state. Two other state appellate courts have examined a nearly identical issue  whether to afford prosecutors absolute immunity for discovery actions  and determined absolute immunity should apply. In Arizona v. Superior Court of the State of Arizona, that state's court of appeals determined that a prosecutor was absolutely immune from suit under section 1983 for discovery violations. 186 Ariz. 294, 921 P.2d 697, 701 (App.1996). The court reasoned that absolute immunity applies, since the conduct of discovery is both quasi-judicial and within the prosecutor's authority. Id. Under a factual situation virtually identical to the instant case, the Minnesota Court of Appeals held that a prosecutor was immune for releasing information in response to a discovery request. S.J.S. v. Faribault County, 556 N.W.2d 563, 566 (Minn. App.1996). There, a prosecutor released the transcript of a minor relating details of incidents of criminal sexual conduct. Id. at 565. The transcript contained the minor's full name, and the criminal defendant shared this information with his friends and kept the copy provided by his attorney on his coffee table. Id. The minor brought suit against the prosecutor, arguing that releasing the minor's unedited statement in response to a discovery request and complying with a discovery request was not a function inherent in initiating or maintaining a criminal action. Id. at 566. The court disagreed, reasoning that [c]omplying with discovery requests is an integral part of the prosecutor's adversarial role and a function inherent in maintaining criminal actions. Id. We hold that conducting discovery is an activity intimately associated with the judicial phase of a criminal case and that a prosecutor conducting discovery is acting as an advocate for the state. As such, the district court did not err when it afforded Stoppello immunity from the corrections officers' section 1983 actions.