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Home > Practice Areas > Criminal Law > Can prosecutors be sued for presenting false testimony?
Can prosecutors be sued for presenting false testimony?
By:
Kimberly Atkins
Published: April 20, 2009
Tags: immunity, prosecutor, Supreme Court
The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to decide whether prosecutors can be civilly liable for a wrongful conviction and incarceration where they allegedly procured false testimony during a criminal investigation, and then introduced that testimony against the defendant at trial.
The case stems from the 1979 convictions of two men for murdering a retired police department captain who was working as a security guard. They were sentenced to life in prison.
In 2002, the Iowa Supreme Court vacated the convictions, finding that prosecutors erred by failing to disclose evidence of an alternative suspect.
Both men sued the county and the former prosecutors, arguing they used unconstitutionally perjured and fabricated testimony and withheld evidence. They also alleged that one prosecutor defamed them.
The prosecutors moved for summary judgment based on qualified and absolute immunity.
A U.S. District Court said some of the prosecutors were not immune from suit.
The 8th Circuit agreed.
“We find immunity does not extend to the actions of a county attorney who violates a person’s substantive due process rights by obtaining, manufacturing, coercing and fabricating evidence before filing formal charges, because this is not ‘a distinctly prosecutorial function,’” the court said.
A decision from the Supreme Court is expected next term.
U.S. Supreme Court. Pottawattamie County v. McGhee, No. 08-1065. Certiorari granted April 20, 2009. Ruling below: 547 F.3d 922 (8th Cir. 2008).
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Comments
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Bonnie Russell says:Posted on 04/21/09 at 9:45 am
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Larry Watson says:
The Judiciary is granting excessive protection to justices and prosecutors without requiring mandatory investigation and prosecution by federal authorities, who solely can bring criminal complaints and possible relief to private citizens. Immunity is now available to clerks of the court. Soon you won’t be able to address offenses committed by the coffee man at the courthouse because his role will be deemed integral to the judicial process
Posted on 04/22/09 at 8:18 am
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Either perjury is a lie, or it isn’t. Ask the former DA for Houston.