Spurlock v. Thompson’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

12 federal appellate · 1 district · 1 state decisions

Most-quoted passages

The sentences later courts lift from this opinion, ranked by how many decisions quote each — the parts of the opinion doing the work. These counts are smaller than the citation total above because most of the 37 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “A prosecutor’s administrative duties and those investigatory functions that do not relate to an advocate’s preparation for the initiation of a prosecution or for judicial proceedings are not entitled to absolute immunity. We have not retreated, however, from the principle that acts undertaken by a prosecutor in preparing for the initiation of judicial proceedings or for trial, and which occur in the course of his role as an advocate for the State, are entitled to the protections of absolute immunity. Those acts must include the professional evaluation of the evidence assembled by the police and appropriate preparation for its presentation at trial or before a grand jury after a decision to seek an indictment has been made. * * * There is a difference between the advocate’s role in evaluating evidence and interviewing witnesses as he prepares for trial, on the one hand, and the detective’s role in searching for the clues and corroboration that might give him probable cause to recommend that a suspect be arrested, on the other hand. When a prosecutor performs the investigative functions normally performed by a detective or police officer, it is “neither appropriate nor justifiable that, for the same act, immunity should protect the one and not the other.” Thus, if a prosecutor plans and executes a raid on a suspected weapons cache, he “has no greater claim to complete immunity than activities of police officers allegedly acting under his direction.””

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. 6 F. Supp. 3d 730 - Buchanan v. Metz · Skinner v. Govorchin

2. “Since the Court’s decision in Imbler , courts have taken a functional approach to absolute immunity. See Higgason v. Stephens, 288 F.3d 868, 877 (6th Cir.2002) (looking to the “nature of the function performed, not the identity of the actor who performed it”). Using this approach, courts have concluded that a prosecutor is protected “in connection with his duties in functioning as a prosecutor.” Id. Accordingly, prosecutors are absolutely immune from many malicious prosecution claims. Burns v. Reed, 500 U.S. 478 , 485 n. 4, 111 S.Ct. 1934 , 114 L.Ed.2d 547 (1991) (citing Yaselli v. Goff, 275 U.S. 503 , 48 S.Ct. 155 , 72 L.Ed. 395 (1927)). Likewise, absolute immunity is appropriate for claims based on the prosecutor’s appearance at a probable cause hearing and before a grand jury. Id. at 487 & n. 6, 111 S.Ct. 1934 . Absolute immunity applies to “acts ... including] the professional evaluation of the evidence assembled by the police and appropriate preparation for its presentation at trial or before a grand jury after a decision to seek an indictment has been made.” Buckley v. Fitzsimmons, 509 U.S. 259, 273 , 113 S.Ct. 2606 , 125 L.Ed.2d 209 (1993). Preparation of witnesses for trial is protected by absolute immunity. Higgason, 288 F.3d at 878 (discussing Imbler's conclusion that “an out-of-court effort to control the presentation of a witness’ testimony was entitled to absolute immunity because it was fairly within the prosecutor’s function as an advocate” (modifications in or”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Dale Beckett v. Jack Ford

3. “is advocacy—whether the actions in question are those of an advocate.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Skinner v. Govorchin