Opinion ID: 8598
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: State Law Claims--Rocha

Text: 45 Under Texas law, [g]overnment officials are entitled to immunity from suit arising from performance of their (1) discretionary duties in (2) good faith as long as they are (3) acting within the scope of their authority. City of Lancaster v. Chambers, 883 S.W.2d 650, 653 (Tex.1994). Rocha was performing a discretionary function within the scope of his authority for immunity purposes. See id. at 654 (citing Wyse v. Department of Public Safety, 733 S.W.2d 224, 227 (Tex.App.--Waco 1986, writ ref'd n.r.e.) for the proposition that the investigatory duties of police officers are discretionary) and id. at 658 (an official is acting within the scope of granted authority for immunity purposes when discharging duties generally assigned to that official, even though the official may be acting unlawfully). An official acts in good faith if any reasonably prudent officer could have believed that the conduct was consistent with the plaintiff's rights. Id. at 656-57. Thus, Texas' law of qualified or official immunity is substantially the same as federal immunity law. Id. at 656. There is, however, one important difference. Summary judgment is not appropriate, as it is in the federal system, simply on a showing that the right alleged to have been violated was not clearly established. Id. at 657 (good faith test for immunity from nonconstitutional torts does not incorporate a threshold legal question analogous to federal immunity law's clearly established law requirement). Texas' test focuses solely on the objective legal reasonableness of the officer's conduct. Id. at 656-57. Accordingly, whether Rocha is entitled immunity on any of the state law claims depends solely on whether his actions were objectively reasonable. 46 Cantu's third amended petition alleges two state law claims against Rocha, invasion of privacy and defamation.
47 Although Texas law makes several types of conduct actionable as an invasion of privacy, see Moore v. Big Picture Co., 828 F.2d 270, 272 (5th Cir.1987), Cantu's third amended complaint alleges only that Rocha's remarks placed her in a false light before the public. Texas has soundly rejected the false light tort as being duplicative of existing causes of action which provide more procedural safeguards. Cain v. Hearst Corp., 878 S.W.2d 577, 578 (Tex.1994) ([W]e have never embraced nor recognized ... the false light tort. We decline to do so today.). Cantu's brief therefore attempts to turn her false light claim into one for public disclosure of private matters, which is actionable when publication would be highly offensive to a reasonable person and there is no legitimate public concern meriting disclosure. Industrial Foundation of the South v. Texas Indus. Accident Bd., 540 S.W.2d 668, 682-83 (Tex.1976), cert. denied, 430 U.S. 931, 97 S.Ct. 1550, 51 L.Ed.2d 774 (1977). In such a case, the information disclosed must have been confidential, in the sense that it was previously secret and that disclosure would cause harm. Id. at 683. Rocha did not disclose previously secret information to Galvan, Escobar or Solis. The three witnesses were in fact in the process of disclosing the very same information to Rocha. Rocha's comments, however crude, summarized his impressions of the women's testimony. A reasonably prudent officer could have believed that the remarks were consistent with Cantu's rights and Rocha is entitled to state law immunity from suit on Cantu's state law invasion of privacy claim.
48 An oral statement published to a third person is slanderous under Texas law when it is (1) defamatory, (2) false, (3) refers to an ascertainable person and (4) is not protected by any privilege. Reeves v. Western Co. of N. Am., 867 S.W.2d 385, 393 (Tex.App.--San Antonio 1993, writ denied). Cantu claims that Rocha's comment to the witnesses that he was going to interview Cantu and that if he felt she was lying to him he was going to arrest her was slanderous per se because it falsely and unambiguously imputed criminal conduct to Cantu. See Reeves, 867 S.W.2d at 395-96 (statement that unambiguously and falsely imputes criminal conduct to plaintiff is slanderous per se ). Rocha's entitlement to immunity from suit on Cantu's defamation claim depends on an analysis of Rocha's objective good faith. Rocha's comment does not unambiguously impute criminal conduct to Cantu. Reeves, 867 S.W.2d at 396 (statement does not unambiguously impute criminal conduct to plaintiff unless an ordinary person would reasonably assume that the plaintiff was charged with a violation of criminal law). Galvan and Escobar could not reasonably have concluded that Cantu was then charged with a criminal act. Police officers must be afforded a certain degree of latitude when conducting investigatory interviews. Taken in context of the information disclosed in the interview, a reasonably prudent officer might have proceeded along the same lines. We conclude that Rocha's comment was made with a good faith belief that it would further the investigation. Therefore, Rocha is entitled to immunity from suit on Cantu's state law defamation claim.