Opinion ID: 792927
Heading Depth: 7
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: A private witness testifying at trial is absolutely immune for her testimony;

Text: 67 (2) A private witness testifying at a grand jury is absolutely immune for her testimony; 68 (3) A private witness testifying as a complaining witness has no immunity for her testimony. 69 This Court finds that Defendant is a complaining witness. 3 In Wyatt, the Supreme Court ruled that although public prosecutors and judges were accorded absolute immunity at common law, such protection did not extend to complaining witnesses who, like respondents, set the wheels of government in motion by instigating a legal action. 504 U.S. at 164-65, 112 S.Ct. 1827 (citation omitted). Here, Defendant instigated the legal action of garnishment and set the wheels of government in motion. In order to do so, Defendant swore to the truth of a certain set of facts, i.e., it had reasonable belief that the target property of the garnishment was non-exempt. Because of this affidavit, the state court then bound Plaintiff's bank account. Defendant's garnishment action is the result of Defendant's complaint that Plaintiff had non-exempt property, and that Plaintiff thus owed this non-exempt property to Defendant. 70 From this Court's perspective, Defendant's actions mirror the instigation of an action in replevin. As explained in Wyatt, the Supreme Court had grouped together replevin and garnishment actions in the § 1983 context, and with good reason. The two actions are quite similar: in both claims, the plaintiff believes the defendant holds property to which the plaintiff is entitled; in both claims, the plaintiff files an affidavit that swears to his belief; in both claims, the court then dispossesses the defendant of the property or otherwise limits the defendant's use; and in both claims, the defendant then has the right to a hearing to prove that the property properly belongs to him. In Wyatt, the Supreme Court noted that a private defendant was not immune from suit for instigating an improper replevin action under a claim of malicious prosecution or abuse of process; the defendant did, however, have the defense of good faith. 504 U.S. at 164-65, 112 S.Ct. 1827. This Court sees no principled distinction that justifies differing treatment for an improper garnishment action. 71 Defendant may argue that an action in replevin is a prejudgment action, whereas a garnishment action is a postjudgment action. This is a trivial distinction. The fact that Defendant obtained an underlying judgment in support of the garnishment is irrelevant; the validity of the underlying judgment does not extend to an ancillary action. This Court looks only to the garnishment action itself to determine whether that claim was properly made. 72 Defendant argues that the complaining witness analysis does not apply because the complaining witness analysis deals only with arrest warrants, and no analogy can be drawn to this case because the probable cause requirement for arrest warrants derives from the Constitution, whereas Plaintiff does not and cannot make the same constitutional claim for an improper garnishment. While the Supreme Court used the complaining witness analysis in Malley in its treatment of a police officer's statement to support probable cause for an arrest warrant, the analysis derives from the common law tort of malicious prosecution. Malley, 475 U.S. at 341 n. 3, 106 S.Ct. 1092. If a private defendant instituted a baseless civil suit without probable cause and with malice against the plaintiff, then the plaintiff would have a cause of action against the defendant based not in the Constitution but in the common law, and the defendant would be a complaining witness without absolute immunity. Likewise, if a private defendant instituted an improper garnishment action without probable cause and with malice, the plaintiff garnishee would have a cause of action at common law. See supra. Thus, the complaining witness analysis applies outside of the constitutional context. 73 Defendant next argues that no analogy can be drawn between a claim for malicious prosecution and a claim that an affidavit in aid of garnishment contains a false statement. (Def. Reply Br. 7.) This Court disagrees. As explained above, a plaintiff garnishee can use malicious prosecution as a claim to remedy an improper garnishment, so malicious prosecution is not just analogously on point; it is directly on point. This is logical, as malicious prosecution is defined as a suit for damages brought by one against whom a criminal prosecution, civil suit, or other legal proceeding has been instituted maliciously and without probable cause, after the termination of the former proceedings in favor of the defendant. 52 Am.Jur.2d Malicious Prosecution § 1. Here, Defendant instituted a garnishment proceeding against Plaintiff, and the proceeding ended in favor of Plaintiff. Plaintiff claims the proceeding was instituted maliciously and without probable cause because Defendant did not have a reasonable basis to believe that Plaintiff's property was non-exempt. Plaintiff could thus sufficiently state a claim of malicious prosecution to which Defendant could not assert a defense of absolute immunity. Wyatt, 504 U.S. at 164, 112 S.Ct. 1827. 74 Defendant argues that as long as the underlying judgment is valid, there can be no claim of malicious prosecution with respect to a garnishment action. None of the cases to which Defendant cites support this contention. In Vanover v. Cook, the court found that the plaintiff had failed to state a malicious prosecution claim, because no judgment had been entered in the plaintiff's favor. 260 F.3d 1182, 1189-90 (10th Cir.2001). It is undisputed in the instant case that the state court dismissed the garnishment of Plaintiff's bank account. Novick v. Becker actually supports Plaintiff's position: the court found that the detention of the funds of a party by garnishment is such interference with his property as to sustain an action of malicious prosecution. 4 Wis.2d 432, 90 N.W.2d 620, 622 (1958). The court ultimately found that the plaintiff did not properly allege lack of probable cause on the part of the defendant. Id. at 623. Duckworth v. Boykin dealt with a case where the plaintiff in the malicious prosecution suit made an unsuccessful attempt to obtain a judgment that the money raised by the garnishment was exempt from that process. 114 Ga. 969, 41 S.E. 62 (1902). In other words, the garnishment action was good, and thus the malicious prosecution claim failed, because the plaintiff failed to show that the garnished property was exempt. Here, Plaintiff has shown and the state court has ruled that the garnished property was exempt. Salsgiver v. Standard Oil Co. was a case where the plaintiff failed to prove malice; it did not state that a plaintiff could never maintain a malicious prosecution claim if there was a valid underlying judgment. No. 77 C.A. 66, 1978 WL 214778 (Ohio App. 7 Dist1978). 75 The only case that possibly lends support to Defendant's contention is Delk v. Colonial Fin. Co., 118 Ohio App. 451, 194 N.E.2d 885 (Ohio App. 1 Dist.1963). There, the state court reasoned that [i]t is obvious that the existence of defendant's valid judgment provided complete probable cause for instituting garnishment proceedings. Id. at 888. This Court agrees that generally, when a creditor has obtained a judgment, she may then seek garnishment; however, this general probable cause does not equate to the specific probable cause requirement of Ohio law that Defendant have a reasonable basis to believe that the property garnished is non-exempt. In other words, it is no answer that Plaintiff owes Defendant money, and that Plaintiff owns property; Defendant must show that it reasonably believes the garnished property is non-exempt. Moreover, Delk could not possibly encompass this specific form of probable cause, as it was decided well before the existence of the Ohio statutory requirement of the affidavit. While the language in Delk was applicable to the days when the creditor could garnish property without investigating the nature of the property, those days are no more in Ohio. 76 Defendant's actions could properly be characterized as malicious prosecution. As a result, it is a complaining witness without absolute immunity. The fact that Plaintiff is suing under the FDCPA and not the common law claim does not affect the immunity status of Defendant. As the Supreme Court stated in Kalina, in determining immunity, we examine the nature of the function performed. 522 U.S. at 127, 118 S.Ct. 502 (internal quotations and citation omitted). In this case, Defendant functioned as a complaining witness, so it may not assert absolute immunity against any claim in connection with this role. 77 From a practical perspective, treating Defendant as a complaining witness without immunity simply makes sense. The Court reserves absolute immunity for individuals when they functionally serve as integral parts of the judicial process, such as judges, advocates, and witnesses in their ordinary judicial roles. Briscoe, 460 U.S. at 335, 103 S.Ct. 1108. The purpose of this immunity is to preserve the integrity of our judicial system, not to assist a self-interested party who allegedly lies in an affidavit to initiate a garnishment proceeding.