Opinion ID: 767499
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Principles of Appellate Review

Text: 22 Where we have jurisdiction over a district court's denial of summary judgment on qualified immunity grounds, our review is de novo. See Tierney v. Davidson, 133 F.3d 189, 196 (2d Cir. 1996). Not every such denial is an appealable final order, however. [A] district court's denial of a claim of qualified immunity, 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. Mitchell v. Forsyth, 472 U.S. 511, 530 (1985) (emphasis added); see Kaluczky v. City of White Plains, 57 F.3d 202, 206 (2d Cir. 1995). 23 In the qualified immunity context, purely legal questions may include, inter alia, whether plaintiffs have asserted a violation of a federally protected right in the first instance, see X-Men Security, Inc. v. Pataki, 196 F.3d 56, 66 (2d Cir. 1999), whether that right was clearly established at the time of the challenged conduct, see id., and whether the facts as alleged demonstrate the objective reasonableness of the public official's conduct, see Tierney, 133 F.3d at 194 (issue of whether defendants acted reasonably should be determined by the court). See also Lennon v. Miller, 66 F.3d 416, 422 (2d Cir. 1995) (whether objectively reasonable for officers to believe they did not violate plaintiff's rights is purely legal question for the court). 24 By contrast, we have recently said that [d]eterminations of evidentiary sufficiency at summary judgment are not immediately appealable . . . if what is at issue in the sufficiency determination is nothing more than whether the evidence could support a finding that particular conduct occurred. . . . Smith v. Edwards, 175 F.3d 99, 104 (2d Cir. 1999) (internal quotation omitted). See also Grune v. Rodriguez, 176 F.3d 27, 32 (2d Cir. 1999) (no appellate jurisdiction where defendant challenges trial court's determination that the record shows a disputed issue of fact); Salim v. Proulx, 93 F.3d 86, 91 (2d Cir. 1996) (appeal impermissible where defendant contends district court committed error in finding plaintiff's evidence sufficient to create a jury issue on facts relevant to immunity defense); Genas v. New York Dep't of Correctional Servs., 75 F.3d 825, 830 (2d Cir. 1996) (distinguishing appealable denials of qualified immunity claims from non-appealable ones). 25 Applying these principles, we find that we have jurisdiction to review the district court's denial of summary judgment with respect to the qualified immunity defenses of Sergeant McCauley, Captain Rosa, and Assistant Chief Simonetti, since our inquiry as to these defendants turns on an issue of law -- whether the district court erred in its finding of objective unreasonableness, see Tierney, 133 F.3d at 194. We find, however, that because immediate appeal is not permitted if the district court's denial of summary judgment for qualified immunity rests on a finding that there were material facts in dispute, Genas, 75 F.3d at 830, we do not have jurisdiction to hear Officer Heinz-Faljean's appeal. 26