Snelling v. Westhoff, s. 92-1067
Decision Date | 09 September 1992 |
Docket Number | Nos. 92-1067,92-1208,s. 92-1067 |
Parties | Lonnie D. SNELLING, Appellant/Cross-Appellee, v. Thomas A. WESTHOFF, David K. Dowling, Charles Edward Cobb, Lester Eugene Smith, Carl Porter, James P. Calloway, Appellees/Cross-Appellants. Lonnie D. SNELLING, Appellee/Cross-Appellant, v. Thomas A. WESTHOFF, Appellant/Cross-Appellee, David K. Dowling, Charles Edward Cobb, Lester Eugene Smith, Carl Porter, James P. Calloway, Defendants. |
Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Eighth Circuit |
Lonnie D. Snelling, pro se.
Jane A. Smith, Jefferson City, Mo., for appellee/cross-appellant Thomas Westhoff.
David H. Wendt, St. Louis, Mo., for appellee/cross-appellant David Dowling.
Before FAGG, BOWMAN, and WOLLMAN, Circuit Judges.
Lonnie D. Snelling appeals the District Court's 1 judgment in favor of defendants in Snelling's civil rights action. Thomas A. Westhoff appeals the District Court's order denying his motion for sanctions under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 11. We affirm.
After Snelling was convicted of second-degree trespass in state court, he brought this action under 42 U.S.C. §§ 1983, 1985(2), and 1986 (1988). He alleged that Westhoff, a state conservation agent, violated his First, Fifth, and Fourteenth Amendment rights by unlawfully detaining him and issuing a trespass summons to him because he is black; Westhoff and James Calloway, a private landowner who signed the trespass complaint, conspired to deprive him of his constitutional rights by agreeing to use a false trespass complaint against him; Westhoff and Charles Cobb, a witness in the state's case, conspired with David Dowling, a state prosecuting attorney, by agreeing to give false testimony at his trial; and Lester Smith and Carl Porter, witnesses in the state's case, conspired with Dowling by agreeing to disobey subpoenas. The District Court granted summary judgment in favor of defendants, denied Snelling's motion to alter or amend judgment, and denied Westhoff's motion for sanctions.
We conclude that the District Court properly dismissed the conspiracy claims against Dowling on the ground of absolute prosecutorial immunity. See Imbler v. Pachtman, 424 U.S. 409, 431-32, 96 S.Ct. 984, 995-96, 47 L.Ed.2d 128 (1976) ( ); White v. Bloom, 621 F.2d 276, 280 (8th Cir.) (same holding in suit brought under sections 1983 and 1985), cert. denied, 449 U.S. 995, 101 S.Ct. 533, 66 L.Ed.2d 292 (1980), and cert. denied, 449 U.S. 1089, 101 S.Ct. 882, 66 L.Ed.2d 816 (1981); See also Myers v. Morris, 810 F.2d 1437, 1446 (8th Cir.) (allegations that prosecutor presented false testimony or withheld evidence do not defeat immunity), cert. denied, 484 U.S. 828, 108 S.Ct. 97, 98 L.Ed.2d 58 (1987). The District Court also properly dismissed the conspiracy claims against Westhoff, Calloway, Cobb, Smith, and Porter on the ground of absolute witness immunity. See Conley v. Office of the Pub. Defender, 653 F.2d 1241, 1242 (8th Cir.1981) ( ); House v. Belford, 956 F.2d 711, 720-21 (7th Cir.1992) (per curiam) ( ). See also Briscoe v. LaHue, 460 U.S. 325, 329-46, 103 S.Ct. 1108, 1112-21, 75 L.Ed.2d 96 (1983) ( ).
Even if defendants were not absolutely immune from liability for the alleged conspiracies, we conclude that Snelling's conspiracy allegations were conclusory and failed to state a claim. See Rogers v. Bruntrager, 841 F.2d 853, 856 (8th Cir.1988) (...
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