Opinion ID: 2978087
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Defendants’ Absolute Immunity Claims

Text: Detective Ingles, Dr. Warnick, and Fournier also challenge the district court’s denial of their claims of absolute testimonial or witness immunity, which they assert in response to those claims arising out of (or based in part on) their testimony at trial. Unlike qualified immunity, the denial of a defense of absolute witness immunity generally is not immediately appealable because the “lack of interlocutory appeal from denials of witness immunity does not ‘imperil [a] substantial public interest.’” Kelly, 447 F.3d at 949. Despite acknowledging that testimonial immunity “strengthens the substantial public interest of having witnesses come forward and testify truthfully,” we nevertheless concluded in Kelly that the denial of such claims does not imperil that overarching interest because “private individuals . . . will appear as witnesses, at most, only a few times in their lives.” Id. On that basis, we reasoned that permitting a suit to proceed against “private individuals” does not implicate the same interests as an appeal from the denial of public official immunity, where the relevant interest is more significant given that “the official, by spending more time than necessary to defend himself or herself in an action, would spend less time on the tasks for which he or she Nos. 07-2115/2116/2117 Moldowan v. City of Warren, et al. Page 15 was hired and cost the public additional money in defending a suit that should have been dismissed.” Id. Unlike the defendants before us in Kelly, however, the defendants asserting testimonial immunity in this case are a police officer, a forensic consultant, and the victim of a brutal crime. Moreover, each asserts immunity based on testimony delivered in the course of a criminal prosecution. In light of these factors, we conclude that the balance of interests at issue in this case differs dramatically from the interests implicated by the denial of immunity in Kelly. Because Kelly does not dispose of the question presented here, we must determine whether the denial of an absolute witness immunity claim asserted under these particular circumstances imperils a substantial public interest. We conclude that it does. As to Detective Ingles and Dr. Warnick, the interests implicated by the district court’s denial of their testimonial immunity claims are sufficiently akin to those implicated by the denial of public official immunity to support interlocutory review. As the Court noted in Kelly: Official immunity seeks to protect the ability of an official to exercise discretion in accomplishing public tasks and to prevent the official from spending time in court defending actions that are reasonably thought to be legal. Without interlocutory appeal from district court denials of immunity, the official, by spending more time than necessary to defend himself or herself in an action, would spend less time on the tasks for which he or she was hired and cost the public additional money in defending a suit that should have been dismissed. The lack of speedy resolution of the claim also threatens the official’s decisiveness in taking action while the action is proceeding to trial. 447 F.3d at 949 (citation omitted). Those same interests are at stake where, as here, a district court denies the absolute immunity claim of a police officer or forensic investigator who testifies on behalf of the state as part of a criminal prosecution. See Vakilian v. Shaw, 335 F.3d 509, 515-16 (6th Cir. 2003) (considering interlocutory appeal from the denial of immunity asserted by a government investigator). Exposing police officers and forensic investigators to suit based on testimony they deliver as part of their official duties and on behalf of the state undoubtedly implicates their ability to exercise Nos. 07-2115/2116/2117 Moldowan v. City of Warren, et al. Page 16 their discretion and potentially inhibits them from performing their duties.4 Unlike the parties before us in Kelly, “[s]ection 1983 lawsuits against police officer witnesses, like lawsuits against prosecutors, ‘could be expected with some frequency.’ Police officers testify in scores of cases every year, and defendants often will transform resentment at being convicted into allegations of perjury by the State’s official witnesses.” Briscoe v. LaHue, 460 U.S. 325, 343 (1983) (quoting Imbler v. Pachtman, 424 U.S. 409, 425 (1976)). Furthermore, because Detective Ingles and Dr. Warnick represented the State of Michigan in the underlying criminal proceedings against Moldowan, their exposure to suit also “would cause a continuing injury to the State’s dignitary interests every additional day that [its officials] must remain in federal court.” Kelly, 447 F.3d at 949. As to Fournier, we also conclude that the denial of her assertion of absolute immunity warrants immediate review as it would imperil substantial public interests. Although Fournier undoubtedly is a “private individual” and not a public official, the balance of interests implicated here differs significantly from those at issue in Kelly because the claims against her arose out of testimony she delivered as a victim witness in the course of a criminal trial. Extending interlocutory review to the denial of a testimonial immunity claim in this context serves several important public interests. Most obviously, immunity from suit prevents witness intimidation and self-censorship. Declining interlocutory review under these circumstances would expose victims of crimes who testify in criminal proceedings to suit—including the discovery, depositions, hearings, trials, and other proceedings that attend civil actions—and thus would create a substantial disincentive for victims to come forward to identify their attackers. That concern, in turn, implicates 4 Among other things, Moldowan claims that this Court lacks jurisdiction to consider Detective Ingles’ appeal because Ingles is now retired. Moldowan, however, offers no authority to support his contention that this is a relevant consideration. Moreover, Moldowan’s claims against Detective Ingles arise out of testimony Ingles delivered as an active police officer with the Warren Police Department in the course of his official duties. Consequently, granting Moldowan’s motion obviously will resound much further than the limits of this case. Indeed, by denying Detective Ingles’ assertion of immunity with respect to Moldowan’s Brady claims, the district court implicitly concluded that Brady could support a claim against a police officer who fails to disclose exculpatory materials to the prosecutor’s office, as that question of law lay at the heart of those claims. That conclusion obviously has implications that reach beyond the unique circumstances of this case. Accordingly, this Court has jurisdiction to consider Detective Ingles’ appeal. See City of Elyria, 502 F.3d at 489-90. Nos. 07-2115/2116/2117 Moldowan v. City of Warren, et al. Page 17 the effective administration of the criminal justice system, which is undoubtedly a weighty public interest. See Briscoe, 460 U.S. at 343 (recognizing absolute testimonial immunity for police officers because their testimony, among other things, provides a significant “contribution to the judicial process”). This concern is all the more significant in this particular context because Fournier was the victim of a brutal sexual assault, and thus the threat of being dragged through the rigors of a civil suit based on her identification of, and testimony against, her alleged attacker would create a tremendous emotional hardship on her. Declining to consider Fournier’s appeal ultimately would create a significant disincentive for other victims of rape and sexual assault to come forward and testify against their attackers. Victims of crimes, especially the types of crimes that occurred here, must feel secure that cooperating with the police will not expose them to lengthy and invasive civil proceedings. The denial of immunity imperils that interest because subjecting victim witnesses to the proceedings attendant to civil litigation potentially re-exposes them to significant emotional trauma. As Fournier’s brief to this Court succinctly frames the issue: “If a woman who has been sodomized, beaten and left permanently disabled can be sued and subjected to an endless retread of the brutalization against her through deposition and discovery, the entire criminal justice system is put at risk.” Fournier Br. at 22. We agree. Moreover, as the Supreme Court has noted, it is “the right and privilege” of individuals “to aid in the execution of the laws of his country by giving information to the proper authorities of violations of those laws,” and that right “may properly be said to be secured by the Constitution and laws of the United States.” Motes v. United States, 178 U.S. 458, 462-63 (1900). For these reasons, we hereby DENY Moldowan’s motions to dismiss. The collateral order doctrine is satisfied here because Defendants’ absolute and qualified immunity claims not only would be irretrievably lost if this case were to proceed to trial, but also because subjecting these particular Defendants to civil proceedings implicates Nos. 07-2115/2116/2117 Moldowan v. City of Warren, et al. Page 18 substantial public interests. Again, however, we may consider Defendants’ appeals only to the extent that they raise pure questions of law. See Johnson, 515 U.S. at 313-18.