Opinion ID: 721475
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Scope of Appellate Jurisdiction Over Interlocutory Appeals of Denials of Qualified Immunity Defense

Text: 34 A district court's order denying a defense of qualified immunity is an appealable final decision within the meaning of 28 U.S.C. § 1291 to the extent that it turns on a question of law. Mitchell v. Forsyth, 472 U.S. 511, 530, 105 S.Ct. 2806, 2817, 86 L.Ed.2d 411 (1985). The Supreme Court recently construed this rule allowing immediate appeals of denials of qualified immunity to permit immediate appeals only of the purely legal issues of what law was clearly established and whether the facts alleged violate that law. Johnson v. Jones, 515 U.S. 304, ----, 115 S.Ct. 2151, 2156, 132 L.Ed.2d 238 (1995) (citing Mitchell, 472 U.S. at 528 & n. 9, 105 S.Ct. at 2817 & n. 9). The Supreme Court held that when a district court denies summary judgment in a qualified immunity case based on its resolution of a fact-related dispute--such as whether the evidence is sufficient to show a genuine issue of fact for trial--the order is not an immediately appealable final decision. Id. 35 McMillian contends that many of the arguments that Tate, Ikner, and Benson raise on appeal are, in substance, challenges to the district court's resolution of factual disputes. As such, McMillian contends, these issues are not cognizable on this appeal under Johnson v. Jones. Though McMillian's argument finds some support in Johnson, this circuit has not construed Johnson to bar immediate appellate review of fact-based rulings in all circumstances, and the Supreme Court's subsequent decision in Behrens v. Pelletier, 516 U.S. 299, 116 S.Ct. 834, 133 L.Ed.2d 773 (1996), confirms that Johnson did not work such a constriction of interlocutory appellate jurisdiction over orders denying a qualified immunity defense. 36 In Johnson v. Clifton, 74 F.3d 1087 (11th Cir.1996), petition for cert. filed, 64 U.S.L.W. 3742 (U.S. Apr. 25, 1996) (No. 95-1743), we held that an appellate court may address a district court's resolution of factual issues when the core qualified immunity issue is also raised on appeal from a denial of summary judgment. Id. at 1091. We reasoned that an appellate court may address the factual issue of what conduct the defendant engaged in because the issue is a necessary part of the core qualified immunity analysis of whether the defendant's conduct violated clearly established law. Id. See also Cottrell v. Caldwell, 85 F.3d 1480 (11th Cir.1996); Dolihite v. Maughon, 74 F.3d 1027, 1034 n. 3 (11th Cir.1996). If, as in Johnson v. Jones, only the factual issue of evidentiary sufficiency is raised on appeal, a final, collateral order is not being appealed, and the appellate court has no jurisdiction to hear the case. Johnson v. Clifton, 74 F.3d at 1091. But so long as the core qualified immunity issue is raised on appeal, a final, collateral order is being appealed, and the appellate court has jurisdiction to hear the case, including challenges to the district court's determination that genuine issues of fact exist as to what conduct the defendant engaged in. Id.; Cottrell, 85 F.3d at 1485-86. 37 Even when the core qualified immunity issue is raised, however, we may decline to review the district court's determination of the facts for purposes of summary judgment. See Johnson v. Clifton, 74 F.3d at 1093. [W]e are not required to make our own determination of the facts for summary judgment purposes; we have discretion to accept the district court's findings, if they are adequate. Cottrell, 85 F.3d at 1486, (citing Johnson v. Jones, 515 U.S. at ----, 115 S.Ct. at 2159). We follow that approach here, 6 for the district court's determination of the genuine issues for trial is exhaustive and detailed. Rather than undertaking our own review of the record in the light most favorable to McMillian to determine the facts for purposes of summary judgment, we accept the district court's determination of the relevant facts for purposes of summary judgment and, using those facts, analyze whether Tate, Ikner, and Benson's conduct violated clearly established law. See Cottrell, 85 F.3d at 1486-87 (following same approach). 38 We emphasize that we accept the district court's determinations of the facts only for purposes of this interlocutory appeal. At trial, it may turn out that these facts are not the real facts. As we explained in Cottrell, 39 a defendant who does not win summary judgment on qualified immunity grounds may yet prevail on those grounds at or after trial on a motion for a judgment as a matter of law.... What we decide in this interlocutory appeal is only whether the district court should have granted summary judgment on qualified immunity grounds. 40 85 F.3d at 1487 (citations omitted) (quoting Kelly v. Curtis, 21 F.3d 1544, 1546-47 (11th Cir.1994)). Johnson v. Jones does not affect the scope of appellate review after final judgment.