United States Eighth Circuit

In suits by two men convicted for murder and released over twenty years later, alleging constitutional violations by the original prosecutors and defamation by the current prosecutor, orders of the district court are affirmed in part and reversed in part where: 1) defendant-current prosecutor was entitled to sovereign immunity on the defamation claim; and 2) with respect to defendants-original prosecutors, the district court erred in failing to conduct an analysis of the scope of their employment for sovereign immunity purposes distinct from the court's analysis of whether they were entitled to absolute immunity.

Appellate Information

• Decided 11/21/2008
• Published 11/21/2008

Judges

• RILEY, Circuit Judge., Before RILEY, TASHIMA, and SMITH Circuit Judges.

Court

• United States Eighth Circuit

Counsel

• For Appellant:
  
• Stephen Sanders, argued, Chicago, IL, Robert M. Livingston, on the brief, Council Bluffs, IA, for appellant.


• For Appellees:
  
• Mel C. Orchard, argued, Jackson, WY, Stephen D. Davis, Chicago, IL, Gary L. Spence and Larissa A. McCalla, Jackson, WY, Thomas P. Frerichs, Waterloo, IA, on the brief, for appellees.