Summary
In Minicozzi v. City of Glen Cove (97 A.D.2d 815), we held that "allegations that the prosecutor failed to thoroughly investigate the matter and that he unnecessarily delayed the ultimate dismissal of the criminal charges involve activities intimately associated with the judicial phase of the criminal process, e.g., pretrial preparation, which were performed by the prosecutor in his quasi-judicial capacity," and his actions were therefore immune from prosecution.
Summary of this case from Johnson v. Kings County Dist. Attorney'sOpinion
November 21, 1983
In an action to recover damages for false arrest, false imprisonment and malicious prosecution, plaintiff appeals, as limited by his brief, from so much of an order of the Supreme Court, Nassau County (Wager, J.), dated April 20, 1983, as granted the motion of the defendant County of Nassau for summary judgment dismissing plaintiff's complaint as against it and denied as moot that branch of plaintiff's cross motion which sought an order directing the county to comply with his motion to take a deposition upon oral examination. Order affirmed, insofar as appealed from, without costs or disbursements. Defendant County of Nassau's motion for summary judgment was properly granted. The county is charged with vicarious liability for the acts of a certain Assistant District Attorney in its employ. A prosecutor is entitled to absolute immunity for quasi-judicial actions taken within the scope of his official duties ( Imbler v Pachtman, 424 U.S. 409; Whitmore v City of New York, 80 A.D.2d 638; Brenner v County of Rockland, 67 A.D.2d 901, mot for lv to app den 47 N.Y.2d 705). Plaintiff's allegations that the prosecutor failed to thoroughly investigate the matter and that he unnecessarily delayed the ultimate dismissal of the criminal charges involve activities intimately associated with the judicial phase of the criminal process, e.g., pretrial preparation, which were performed by the prosecutor in his quasi-judicial capacity ( Brenner v County of Rockland, supra). Therefore, the prosecutor and his employer, the county, are fully protected from civil liability under the doctrine of absolute immunity. We have considered the plaintiff's remaining contentions and find them to be without merit. Lazer, J.P., Bracken, Brown and Niehoff, JJ., concur.