Opinion ID: 473050
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Issuance of Complaints and Arrest Warrants Based on False Statements

Text: 21 Even taking as true, as we must for purposes of this appeal, the allegations that the prosecutors knowingly obtained issuance of criminal complaints and arrest warrants against the Josephs based on false, coerced statements elicited from Morrow by the prosecutors and police, we find that such conduct, however reprehensible, would be protected by absolute immunity. The decision to file a criminal complaint and seek issuance of an arrest warrant are quasi-judicial duties involved in initiating a prosecution, which is protected under Imbler, 424 U.S. at 431, 96 S.Ct. at 995. Martinez v. Winner, 771 F.2d 424, 437 (10th Cir.1985); Lerwill v. Joslin, 712 F.2d 435, 437-38 (10th Cir.1983); Macko v. Bryon, 641 F.2d 447, 449 (6th Cir.1981) (per curiam); Hampton v. Hanrahan, 600 F.2d 600, 632 (7th Cir.1979); Smart v. Jones, 530 F.2d 64 (5th Cir.), cert. denied, 429 U.S. 887, 97 S.Ct. 240, 50 L.Ed.2d 168 (1976). To be sure there are some cases which hold that such conduct is not subject to absolute immunity either because it is viewed as investigatory activity, McSurely, 697 F.2d at 320, or because the prosecutor sought the warrant and filed the complaint out of a wholly personal motivation unrelated to his official duties, Beard v. Udall, 648 F.2d 1264 (9th Cir.1981); Brooks v. Fitch, 534 F.Supp. 129 (D.N.J.1981). However, we believe that securing the person of the defendant is part of initiating a prosecution and should be insulated. Without the presence of the accused, the initiation of a prosecution would be futile. Lerwill, 712 F.2d at 438. Moreover, extending absolute immunity to this function is consistent with the public policy and common law considerations outlined in Imbler: 22 A prosecutor is duty bound to exercise his best judgment ... in deciding which suits to bring.... The public trust of the prosecutor's office would suffer if he were constrained in making every decision by the consequences in terms of his own potential liability in a suit for damages.... [A] defendant often will transform his resentment at being prosecuted into the ascription of improper and malicious actions to the State's advocate.... To be sure, this immunity does leave the genuinely wronged defendant without civil redress against a prosecutor whose malicious or dishonest action deprives him of liberty. But the alternative of qualifying a prosecutor's immunity would disserve the broader public interest. It would prevent the vigorous and fearless performance of the prosecutor's duty that is essential to the proper functioning of the criminal justice system. 424 U.S. at 424-25, 427-28, 96 S.Ct. at 992-93, 993-94. 23 In addition, the judicial process is available to help safeguard the ultimate interests of the accused. Indeed, in this case the charges were dismissed upon preliminary examination by the circuit court. 24