Supreme Court Dismisses Closely Watched Prosecutorial Immunity Case
The National Law Journal reports on the Supreme Court’s dismissal of a case challenging the principle of full prosecutorial immunity after the parties came to a monetary settlement at end of 2009.
As was reported by the Washington Post when the case was argued at the Supreme Court last November, two former prosecutors in Iowa were alleged to have failed to disclose exculpatory evidence (another suspect) during a murder investigation and to have made a star witness of a minor who had key facts wrong. Ultimately two men were jailed for 25 years, but were later released when evidence of the other suspect surfaced. The Supreme Court was to determine whether, if the prosecutors in fact mishandled evidence during the pre-trial criminal investigation, they could be sued for it, or whether the absolute immunity that prosecutors enjoy for conduct in the courtroom extends to pre-trial investigatory work. The Iowa-based Daily Nonpareil had also covered the case’s move to the Supreme Court.
As regards the Court’s dismissal of the case, the NLJ quotes J. Douglas McCalla, counsel for one of the plaintiffs, as saying, “I would have liked to see what the Supreme Court had to say about the case.” But “there are a lot of risks in that,” he added. “This is a good solution for my client.”