Rodney FLETCHER, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Lynne KALINA, Defendant-Appellant

We must decide whether a state prosecutor who allegedly made false statements in an affidavit supporting an application for a search warrant should be accorded absolute immunity. We hold that, based on Malley v. Briggs, 475 U.S. 335, 342 , 106 S.Ct. 1092, 1096-97 , 89 L.Ed.2d 271 (1986) and the functional analysis test, the prosecutor is not entitled to absolute immunity. We affirm and remand.

BACKGROUND:

In determining immunity, we must accept the plaintiffs allegations as true. See Buckley v. Fitzsimmons, 509 U.S. 259, 261 , 113 S.Ct. 2606, 2609 , 125 L.Ed.2d 209 (1993). Lynne Kalina, a deputy prosecutor, was assigned to work on a case involving alleged theft of computer equipment from a private school in Seattle. She prepared an application for an arrest warrant and an information charging Rodney Fletcher with second-degree burglary. The warrant application was accompanied by a “Certification for Determination of Probable Cause,” a sworn declaration describing the results of the police investigation. Based on this document, which she signed, the court issued an arrest warrant for Fletcher. The burglary charge was eventually dismissed when Fletcher’s attorney discovered…