United States Third Circuit

Dismissal of plaintiff-estate’s complaint alleging that defendants Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office (BCPO) and Former Chief Detective Mordaga improperly disclosed the decedent's informant status leading to his murder, is: 1) vacated in part, where neither Mordaga nor the BCPO acted within their classic investigatory and prosecutorial functions with respect to the state-created danger claim, and were thus amenable to suit under 42 U.S.C. sections 1983 and 1985; 2) vacated in part, where the district court improperly conflated the jurisprudence interpreting the term “person” in the context of section 1983 with the concept of Eleventh Amendment sovereign immunity; 3) vacated in part, where the district court failed to apply the proper standard in analyzing the qualified immunity status of Mordaga; 4) affirmed with respect to the dismissal of Count 3, which is barred by the statute of limitations; and 5) vacated in part and remanded for plaintiff to file a second amended complaint, where dismissal with prejudice was improper, as the district court did not make a finding of futility.

Appellate Information

• Decided 10/15/2014
• Published 10/15/2014

Judges

• Vanaskie

Court

• United States Third Circuit

Counsel