Background
Tyrone Clofer appealed the district court’s dismissal of his action brought under Section nineteen hundred and eighty-three of Title forty-two of the United States Code. Clofer alleged that the defendants, acting as prosecutors, suborned perjured testimony and presented it to a grand jury to secure an indictment. He argued these actions fell outside the scope of their prosecutorial duties.
The court’s reasoning
The court concluded that absolute immunity bars the plaintiff’s civil rights claims against the former prosecutors. The court found that Clofer failed to demonstrate error in the district court’s determination that the defendants were protected by absolute immunity. The court noted that the plaintiff had abandoned all other claims presented in the district court.
What it means going forward
Prosecutors in the Fifth Circuit remain shielded from civil liability for alleged misconduct involving the presentation of evidence to a grand jury, provided the conduct falls within the scope of their prosecutorial functions.