Opinion ID: 2978742
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Failing to disclose the Opinion of Air Force OSI

Text: SA Goodnight to the Grand Jury or Plaintiff concerning the alleged Incirlik Air Base sketches. 8 Smith was a State Department officer stationed in Jordan who was present during Thomas and Convertino’s trip to Jordan. 9 Because this statement is somewhat unclear, it bears noting that there was only one trip to Jordan, which Thomas and Convertino made together. Ray Smith was also present during the trip because he was stationed in Jordan as an officer for the State Department. No. 09-1016 Koubriti v. Convertino Page 7 On May 9, 2008, Convertino filed a Motion to Dismiss Pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6) for Failure to State a Claim Upon Which Relief Can Be Granted. In his brief supporting the motion, Convertino argued that alternative forms of relief and other special factors counseled against recognizing a Bivens remedy at all, and in the alternative, that as prosecutor he was entitled to absolute immunity from the claims. On December 3, 2008, the district court denied Convertino’s motion to dismiss the case. Addressing the immunity issue first, the court found that several of the allegations did in fact fall within the absolute immunity doctrine: specifically, the claim that Convertino failed to turn over government photographs of the Queen Alia Hospital as well as the claim that Convertino failed to disclose the opinions of government agents regarding the alleged Incirlik Air Base sketches. The court found that the rest of the allegations of the First Amended Complaint referred to actions by Convertino that were investigatory in nature and thus not entitled to absolute immunity. The court suggested that Convertino would only have qualified immunity for these claims. It did not analyze the claims under the qualified immunity standard, however. Rather, it ruled that “dismissal at this procedural juncture [would be] premature.” Finally, the court ruled that Koubriti’s Fifth Amendment Due Process claims were cognizable as the basis for a Bivens action because alternative remedies were insufficient to protect Koubriti’s interests and because it did not believe there were any special factors counseling against recognizing the cause of action in this case. Accordingly, the court denied Convertino’s motion to dismiss. This appeal followed. Koubriti has not cross-appealed the district court’s ruling that the allegations other than ¶¶ 27 B and C were barred by absolute immunity. Consequently, the only questions we have before us are whether the remaining allegations are barred by absolute prosecutorial immunity or qualified immunity and, if not, whether a Bivens remedy should even be recognized for these alleged constitutional violations. No. 09-1016 Koubriti v. Convertino Page 8 JURISDICTION/STANDARD OF REVIEW This case comes to us on a denial of a motion to dismiss, a posture which is not normally appealable to this Court. “A district court’s denial of a claim of qualified immunity, [however,] to the extent that it turns on an issue of law is an appealable final decision within the meaning of 28 U.S.C. § 1291, notwithstanding the absence of a final judgment.” Mitchell v. Forsyth, 472 U.S. 511, 530 (1985); see also Carvajal v. Dominguez, 542 F.3d 561, 566 (7th Cir. 2008) (quoting Mitchell, 472 U.S. at 530). Furthermore, as the Seventh Circuit has noted: The Supreme Court recently clarified that the scope of [the collateral order] doctrine includes jurisdiction over whether ‘to devise a new Bivens damages action’ and explained: We recognized just last Term that the definition of an element of the asserted cause of action was “directly implicated by the defense of qualified immunity and properly before us on interlocutory appeal.” Hartman v. Moore, 547 U.S. 250, 257 n.5 . . . (2006). Because the same reasoning applied to the recognition of the entire cause of action, the Court of Appeals had jurisdiction of this issue, as do we. Carvajal, 542 F.3d at 566 (quoting Wilkie v. Robbins, 551 U.S. 537, 550 n.4 (2007)); see also Moldowan v. City of Warren, 578 F.3d 351, 374 (6th Cir. 2009) (finding jurisdiction to review denial of summary judgment in case asserting a § 1983 claim against state police officers because qualified immunity was at stake). Thus, we have jurisdiction over the questions presented by Convertino in this appeal, and we will review the district court’s decisions de novo. See Moldowan, 578 F.3d at 374 (“Whether a defendant is entitled to absolute or qualified immunity from liability . . . is a legal question that this Court reviews de novo.”). No. 09-1016 Koubriti v. Convertino Page 9