Opinion ID: 2583901
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Pitts

Text: In Pitts, persons whose child molestation convictions were reversed on appeal brought civil actions against County of Kern, its district attorney, and his employees, asserting civil rights violations under section 1983 arising from alleged misconduct during the criminal prosecution. The district attorney and his employees prevailed under the doctrine of prosecutorial immunity and, accordingly, Pitts was concerned only with the liability of the county. ( Pitts, supra, 17 Cal.4th at pp. 345-347, 352, 70 Cal.Rptr.2d 823, 949 P.2d 920.) The plaintiffs' action against the county alleged that its district attorney had established a pattern or practice of procuring false statements and testimony by threats, promises, and intimidation, and also failed to provide adequate training procedures and regulations to prevent such conduct. ( Pitts, supra, 17 Cal.4th at p. 352, 70 Cal.Rptr.2d 823, 949 P.2d 920.) As noted above, although the county could not be held vicariously liable under section 1983, it could be held directly liable for constitutional violations carried out under its own policies. ( Monell, supra, 436 U.S. at pp. 690-692, 98 S.Ct. 2018.) Pitts held, however, that a district attorney represents the state rather than the county when preparing to prosecute crimes and training and developing policies for prosecutorial staff. Although Pitts involved district attorneys rather than sheriffs, the court relied on statutes and analysis applying to both kinds of officers. In Pitts, we first observed that the question whether a public official represents a county or a state when acting in a particular capacity is analyzed under state, not federal law. ( Pitts, supra, 17 Cal.4th at pp. 352-353, 356, 70 Cal.Rptr.2d 823, 949 P.2d 920; see McMillian, supra, 520 U.S. at p. 786, 117 S.Ct. 1734 [determining actual functions of government officer is dependent on relevant state law].) For guidance in resolving this question, Pitts next turned to McMillian, which had examined Alabama state law to determine whether a sheriff was a state or county official. In McMillian, after his murder conviction was reversed due to suppression of exculpatory evidence, the plaintiff sued an Alabama sheriff for damages under section 1983 for intimidating a witness and withholding evidence. The United States Supreme Court examined Alabama's constitutional and statutory provisions concerning sheriffs and concluded that, while executing their law enforcement duties in Alabama, sheriffs are executive officers of the state, not the county, and accordingly are immune from section 1983 liability. ( McMillian, supra, 520 U.S. at pp. 791-793, 117 S.Ct. 1734.) Among other factors, the McMillian court considered the role of sheriffs as state representatives under the Alabama Constitution and Alabama statutes, the authority of Alabama sheriffs to enforce state criminal laws in their counties, and the lack of similar enforcement authority by the counties themselves. ( McMillian, supra, 520 U.S. at pp. 787-791, 117 S.Ct. 1734.) McMillian concluded that these factors outweighed several countervailing factors that supported the conclusion that Alabama sheriffs were officers of the county, namely, that the county paid the sheriffs' salary and provided them with equipment, lodging and expenses, that the sheriffs' jurisdiction was limited by county borders, and that county voters elected these sheriffs. ( Id. at pp. 791-792, 117 S.Ct. 1734.) Pitts applied McMillian's analytical framework to conclude that a California district attorney acts on behalf of the state rather than the county in preparing to prosecute crimes and in training and developing policies for prosecutorial staff. ( Pitts, supra, 17 Cal.4th at pp. 356-366, 70 Cal.Rptr.2d 823, 949 P.2d 920.) In reaching its conclusion, the court considered several constitutional and statutory provisions tending to support or negate state agency, but placed special emphasis on article V, section 13, of the state Constitution, providing that [t]he Attorney General shall have direct supervision over every district attorney ... in all matters pertaining to the duties of their ... offices.... Under this same provision, the Attorney General may require district attorneys to make appropriate reports concerning the investigation, detection, prosecution, and punishment of crime in their respective jurisdictions, and may prosecute violations of law if, in his or her opinion, state laws are not adequately being enforced in any county. ( Pitts, supra, 17 Cal.4th at pp. 356-357, 70 Cal.Rptr.2d 823, 949 P.2d 920.) We also noted in Pitts that Government Code sections 12550 and 12524, and Penal Code section 923 contain similar provisions placing county district attorneys under the supervision of the state Attorney General. ( Pitts, supra, at pp. 357-358, & fn. 5, 70 Cal.Rptr.2d 823, 949 P.2d 920.) We observed in Pitts that, in contrast to the broad supervisory powers of the Attorney General over district attorneys, Government Code section 25303 bars county boards of supervisors from affecting or obstructing the district attorneys' investigative or prosecutorial functions. ( Pitts, supra, 17 Cal.4th at p. 358, 70 Cal.Rptr.2d 823, 949 P.2d 920.) We also pointed out that a district attorney acts in the name of the people of the state when prosecuting criminal violations of state law. ( Id. at p. 359, 70 Cal.Rptr.2d 823, 949 P.2d 920.) Pitts readily acknowledged that other constitutional and statutory provisions would support a conclusion that a district attorney is a county officer: For example, county voters elect district attorneys (Cal. Const., art. XI, ง 4, subd. (c)), who are listed as county officers (Gov.Code, ง 24000, subd. (a)), are generally ineligible to hold office unless they are registered voters of the county in which they perform their duties (Gov.Code, ง 24001), and are compensated as prescribed by the county board of supervisors (Gov.Code, ง 25300). ( Pitts, supra, 17 Cal.4th at pp. 360-361, 70 Cal.Rptr.2d 823, 949 P.2d 920.) Furthermore, under Government Code section 25303, the county board of supervisors supervises the district attorney's official conduct and expenditure of funds, although it cannot affect the district attorney's independent investigative and prosecutorial functions. ( Pitts, supra, at p. 361, 70 Cal.Rptr.2d 823, 949 P.2d 920.) Necessary expenses incurred by the district attorney in the prosecution of criminal cases are considered county charges. (Gov.Code, ง 29601, subd. (b)(2).) Yet, after balancing the competing factors, and relying on McMillian's similar analysis, we concluded in Pitts that, when preparing to prosecute and prosecuting crimes, a district attorney represents the state, and is not considered a policy maker for the county. ( Pitts, supra, 17 Cal.4th at p. 362, 70 Cal.Rptr.2d 823, 949 P.2d 920.) We similarly concluded that a district attorney does not represent the county when training staff and developing policy in the area of criminal investigation and prosecution. We stated that [n]o meaningful analytical distinction can be made between these two functions [i.e., prosecuting crime on the one hand, and training/ policymaking regarding criminal investigation and prosecution on the other]. Indeed, a contrary rule would require impossibly precise distinctions. ( Ibid. ) Thus, the constitutional and statutory provisions discussed above give the Attorney General oversight not only with respect to a district attorney's actions in a particular case, but also in the training and development of policy intended for use in every criminal case. ( Id. at p. 363, 70 Cal.Rptr.2d 823, 949 P.2d 920.)