Prosecutor Denied Immunity Over Snitch’s Fabricated Testimony

A former assistant district attorney in Pennsylvania who helped to wrongfully convict an innocent man of murder isn’t entitled to absolute immunity in the man’s lawsuit, the US Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit said.

The doctrine of absolute immunity for prosecutors only applies to conduct that serves a quasi-judicial function: It doesn’t apply when a prosecutor performs investigative work, the court said. Former ADA John Baer allegedly “engaged in quintessential police investigative work’” when he allegedly helped the detective on the case find a witness to testify as to a motive, the court said.

“To serve a quasi-judicial ...