Julius L. Finkelstein v. Louis P. Bergna

Julius Finkelstein brought suit against Louis Bergna in federal court under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 claiming violations of first and fourteenth amendment rights in addition to several pendent state law claims. Bergna moved for summary judgment on the ground that he was entitled to qualified immunity from suit on all claims. The district court denied Bergna’s motion. Bergna appeals. We have jurisdiction over this interlocutory appeal under 28 U.S.C. § 1291 . Mitchell v. Forsyth, 472 U.S. 511, 530 , 105 S.Ct. 2806, 2817 , 86 L.Ed.2d 411 (1985). We affirm.

In 1982 Julius Finkelstein was a deputy district attorney in Santa Clara County, California. Finkelstein worked for Louis Bergna, the elected District Attorney in Santa Clara County. Bergna did not run for reelection in 1982. Finkelstein and Leo Himmelsbach, another deputy district attorney, were running for Bergna’s position. Bergna supported Himmelsbach’s bid to succeed him in office. Finkelstein lost the election.

Shortly before the election, the press received information about Himmelsbach’s allegedly improper conduct while a deputy district attorney in 1974. Bergna believed that Finkelstein was the source of the “leak” to the…