Goss

Goss v. Oregon

Good Law
36 F. App'x 595
United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth CircuitJune 10, 2002No. 00-35987; D.C. No. CV-00-212-OMPCalifornia413 words

Opinion

Lead Opinion

MEMORANDUM **

FANNER, Senior Judge, Presiding.

We affirm the district Court’s partial dismissal and partial summary judgment for defendants on immunity grounds.

The district court properly dismissed Goss’s claim against District Attorney Se-well because a prosecutor’s decision to file charges is afforded absolute immunity. 1 Even if we accept Goss’s contention that Sewell took himself out of his prosecutorial role by signing the criminal complaint as a complaining witness, Sewell would be entitled to qualified immunity for the reasons discussed below.

The district court did not abuse its discretion by denying Goss’s motion to amend his complaint. A prosecutor’s decision as to when to dismiss charges is entitled to absolute prosecutorial immunity because it is “intimately associated with the judicial phase of the criminal process” 2 and involves the prosecutor’s “role as advocate for the State.” 3 Thus, Goss had no chance of prevailing on his claim that Sewell should have dismissed the charges sooner, and the district court properly denied Goss’s motion to amend.

The district court properly granted summary judgment to the individual defendants Hood River County and Hood River…

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