Light v. Haws, 05-4516.

• Decision Date: 03 January 2007
• Docket Number: No. 05-4516.,05-4516.
• Citation: 472 F.3d 74
• Parties: John D. LIGHT v. Charles B. HAWS; Robert Belfonti; Tony Rathfon; Steve Bartus, all individually; Secretary of the Department of Environmental Protection; Governor of Pennsylvania, in their official capacities only, Appellants.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Third Circuit

Page 74

472 F.3d 74

John D. LIGHT v. Charles B. HAWS; Robert Belfonti; Tony Rathfon; Steve Bartus, all individually; Secretary of the Department of Environmental Protection; Governor of Pennsylvania, in their official capacities only, Appellants.

No. 05-4516.

United States Court of Appeals, Third Circuit.

Submitted Under Third Circuit LAR 34.1(a) November 6, 2006.

Filed January 3, 2007.

Michael L. Harvey, Office of Attorney General of Pennsylvania, Department of Justice, Harrisburg, PA, Attorney for Appellants.

Donald A. Bailey, Bailey & Ostrowski, Harrisburg, PA, Attorney for Appellee.

Before SLOVITER, CHAGARES and NYGAARD, Circuit Judges.

OPINION OF THE COURT

SLOVITER, Circuit Judge.

Before us is an appeal by Charles B. Haws, Assistant Counsel for the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection ("DEP"), from the order of the District Court denying his motion for summary judgment on the ground of absolute prosecutorial immunity in this action brought pursuant to the Civil Rights Act, 42 U.S.C. § 1983. Light v. Haws, 2005 WL 2230026 (M.D.Pa. Sept.13, 2005). Plaintiff, John D. Light, is a former farmer and businessman who owns and operates almost 200 apartment units throughout south-central Pennsylvania.

I.

The dispute arises out of actions taken by the DEP following complaints by neighbors and reports from its own investigators with respect to Light's maintenance of a large variety of assorted material and furnishings within and outside the garage and barn of his farm in Lebanon County. The District Court noted that the material observed on the property included "trucks, tractors, log skidders, and farming equipment," as well as "[c]onstruction waste, farming supplies, several thousand stacked tires, and piles of scrap metal overgrown with brush[.]" Id. at * 1-2.

Following discovery, Haws and the other defendants, Robert Belfonti, Tony Rathfon, and Steve Bartus,¹ all of whom are employees of the DEP, the Secretary of the DEP, and the Governor of Pennsylvania, filed a motion for summary judgment. The District Court granted the motion in favor of defendants on Light's claims that the Pennsylvania Solid Waste Management Act, 35 Pa. Stat. Ann. § 6018.101 et seq., is unconstitutionally vague and that the actions of the Governor and the Secretary of the DEP violated the state constitution. The District Court denied the remainder of the defendants' motion for summary judgment. Only Haws appeals, as the denial of a claim of absolute immunity, to the extent it raises questions of law, may be the subject of an interlocutory appeal. See Mitchell v. Forsyth, 472 U.S. 511, 530, 105 S.Ct. 2806, 86 L.Ed.2d 411 (1985). On a pre-trial denial of immunity, "we review the legal issues in light of the facts that the District Court determined had sufficient evidentiary support for summary judgment purposes." Hamilton v. Leavy, 322 F.3d 776, 782 (3d Cir. 2003).

In this case, consideration of the facts is difficult because they have not been presented by the parties in a coherent manner and because some of the relevant facts are contested. It is apparent, however, that following the complaints about material on Light's property, DEP investigator Robert Belfonti inspected the property and issued a compliance order on November 20, 2001 for violations found on the property. Light's administrative appeal of that order was dismissed for failure to comply with discovery orders during his prosecution of the appeal. Because Light never sought a supersedeas, Haws began enforcement proceedings against Light by filing a petition to enforce the November 20, 2001 order in the Commonwealth Court.

Following a hearing, that court found Light in violation of the November 20, 2001 order and, by order dated April 16, 2002, directed that he comply with the November 20, 2001 order within ninety days. Light failed to comply with the April 16, 2002 order and Haws filed a petition for contempt. On September 19, 2002, the Commonwealth Court held a hearing on the contempt petition and deferred ruling on the condition that Light comply with the April 16, 2002 order. In an order issued that same day, the Court directed the DEP to monitor Light's compliance, and "apply forthwith to the Court for an order of contempt" if Light failed to comply with the order. App. at 246-47.

Light alleges that after the end of the hearing, his counsel showed Haws a copy of a federal civil rights complaint that Light was prepared to file that afternoon. According to Light, Haws angrily told him in response that "[W]hat goes around comes around[. I]f you think you've been harassed before, you wait to see what we do now." App. at 49 (Am.Compl. ¶ 51). Light further asserts that when he and his counsel complained that this was a threat and that "it was unlawful for DEP to threaten retaliation in this manner, [Haws] aggressively offered that `it isn't a threat — it's a promise.'" Id. at ¶ 51. Light alleges he was "extremely frightened" by this encounter, and deferred filing the complaint in an attempt to avoid conflict with the DEP. Id. at ¶ 54.

Light also alleges that on two separate occasions following the September 19, 2002 hearing, Haws and Belfonti visited his property. The record does not establish either when these visits took place or their purpose although Light asserts in the Amended Complaint that "the only purpose of [one of the alleged visits] was to display [Haws'] power and to intimidate [Light.]" Id. at ¶ 55. Light's affidavit discusses an undated "walk through" of his property that occurred at some point with Judge Pellegrini, at which Haws was present. App. at 289. Haws' declaration states that he has "entered Mr. Light's property solely for the purpose of preparing for Commonwealth Court hearings or when accompanied by the Judge presiding over those hearings." App. at 73.

On March 30, 2003, Haws filed a second petition for contempt regarding Light's failure to comply with the April 16, 2002 and September 19, 2002 orders. Between August 2003 and January 2004, the Court found Light in contempt of its orders multiple times on the basis of several non-compliance certifications Haws filed with the Court based on inspection of the property by DEP personnel. The Court found that Light had failed to purge his contempt and directed that Light be confined nightly in Lebanon County Prison between January and April 2004. On January 25, 2005, following a status conference, Haws filed a certificate of compliance in the Commonwealth Court and requested that the matter be marked closed on that date.

Light filed his § 1983 action in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania in April 2003. In his Amended Complaint he charges that Haws violated his Fourth Amendment right to be free from warrantless searches and retaliated against him in violation of the First Amendment when he issued the courtroom threat in response to Light's federal civil rights complaint. See App. at 47, 49 (Am.Compl. ¶¶ 43, 54). Light also claims that Haws selectively enforced the Commonwealth's environmental laws against him, set "perjury traps" for him, sought harsher penalties, and manipulated and misled the Commonwealth Court. App. at 46-50 (Am.Compl. ¶¶ 41, 42, 46, 56, 57). As noted earlier, the only issue before us is whether Haws is entitled to absolute prosecutorial immunity.

II.

"Most public officials are entitled only to qualified immunity" from Section 1983 actions. Yarris v. County of Delaware, 465 F.3d 129, 135 (3d Cir.2006); Buckley v. Fitzsimmons, 509 U.S. 259, 273, 113 S.Ct. 2606, 125 L.Ed.2d 209 (1993) (ordinarily, "[q]ualified immunity represents the norm") (internal quotation marks and citations omitted). Nonetheless, in Imbler v. Pachtman, 424 U.S. 409, 96 S.Ct. 984, 47 L.Ed.2d 128 (1976), the Supreme Court held that, in light of the immunity historically accorded prosecutors at common law, state prosecutors are absolutely immune from liability under § 1983 for actions performed in a quasi-judicial role. Id. at 427, 431, 96 S.Ct. 984. This protection is "not grounded in any special esteem for those who perform these functions, and certainly not from a desire to shield abuses of office, but because any lesser degree of immunity could impair the judicial process itself." Kalina v. Fletcher, 522 U.S. 118, 127, 118 S.Ct. 502, 139 L.Ed.2d 471 (1997) (internal quotation marks and citations omitted).

This court has since amplified that "participation in court proceedings and other conduct intimately associated with the judicial phases of litigation" are "actions performed in a quasi-judicial role." Carter v. City of Philadelphia, 181 F.3d 339, 356 (3d Cir.1999) (internal quotation marks and citations omitted). We have given as other examples of prosecutorial actions that warrant absolute immunity, "acts undertaken by a prosecutor in preparing for the initiation of judicial proceedings or for trial, and which occur in the course of his role as an advocate for the State[.]" Yarris, 465 F.3d at 135 (internal quotation marks and citations omitted); McArdle v. Tronetti, 961 F.2d 1083, 1085 (3d Cir.1992) (holding that prison physician and prison counselor were absolutely immune as to their testimony in court and psychiatric reports to the judge, as that was an "integral part of the judicial process").

The burden to establish prosecutorial immunity is on the prosecutor. Haws argues that the District Court erred by focusing solely on his alleged courtroom threat to Light rather than considering separately each of Haws' actions "as a prosecutor." Appellant's Br. at 11. Moreover, Haws asserts that his comments to Light in the courtroom also fall within the scope of prosecutorial immunity.

Both parties treat Haws, an assistant DEP counsel, as a prosecutor in the classic sense. Although Haws, as counsel to an administrative agency, is not in precisely the same position as a district attorney, his authority includes, inter alia, filing actions to...