KRL

Defendants Todd Riebe, Ron Hall and David Irey appeal the district court’s denial of summary judgment, contending that they are entitled to immunity from the action brought by KRL, a California general partnership, and several members of the Womack family (together with KRL, “Plaintiffs”).

BACKGROUND

In April 1998, KRL purchased a defunct gasoline station in Jackson, California, in order to convert the real property into a parking lot. Robert Womack (“Womack”) oversaw the removal of an underground gasoline storage tank. Upon learning of the removal of the storage tank, Amador County officials expressed concern about environmental contamination and referred the matter to the Amador County District Attorney’s office (the “D.A.’s office”), which began a criminal investigation in June 1998.

The investigation was conducted by Hall, an investigator employed by the D.A.’s office, and Irey, a San Joaquin County Deputy District Attorney who was specially appointed to conduct the investigation in Amador County, assisted by Russell Moore, a California Highway Patrol Officer. Hall and Irey located the removed storage tank and obtained a copy of a check, drawn from a KRL bank account, used…