Joy Laskar, PH.D. v. Phillip W. Hurd ( 2020 )

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[PUBLISH]
IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT
________________________
No. 19-11719
________________________
D.C. Docket No. 1:18-cv-04570-WMR
JOY LASKAR, PH.D.,
Plaintiff-Appellant,
versus
PHILLIP W. HURD,
PATRICK A. JENKINS,
JILDA D. GARTON,
MARK G. ALLEN.
Defendants-Appellees.
________________________
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Northern District of Georgia
________________________
(August 28, 2020)
Before WILLIAM PRYOR, Chief Judge, ROSENBAUM, Circuit Judge, and
MOORE, * Chief District Judge.
*
Honorable K. Michael Moore, Chief United States District Judge for the Southern
District of Florida, sitting by designation.
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WILLIAM PRYOR, Chief Judge:
The main issue in this appeal is whether the dismissal of a prosecution as
untimely satisfies the favorable-termination element of a claim for malicious
prosecution under the Fourth Amendment. Joy Laskar’s complaint alleges that
Jilda Garton, Mark Allen, Patrick Jenkins, and Phillip Hurd—four officials at the
Georgia Institute of Technology—played a role in creating a report that falsely
accused him of stealing resources from the Institute, which then led to his arrest
and prosecution for racketeering and theft. After a state trial judge dismissed the
prosecution as untimely, Laskar sued the officials in the district court for malicious
prosecution under the Fourth Amendment. The officials moved to dismiss the
complaint and invoked qualified immunity. The district court concluded that the
dismissal of Laskar’s prosecution was not a favorable termination and granted the
motion. We disagree and conclude that a dismissal for untimeliness qualifies as a
favorable termination. We also conclude that Laskar has alleged that Hurd and
Jenkins, but not Garton and Allen, violated his clearly established constitutional
rights. We affirm in part, reverse in part, and remand.
I. BACKGROUND
Laskar was an electrical engineer and professor at Georgia Tech who served
as the director of the Georgia Electronic Design Center, a research entity affiliated
with Georgia Tech. The Center established partnerships with technology
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companies that provided funding to the Center in exchange for collaborating with
researchers from Georgia Tech. Laskar founded and directed one such company,
Sayana Wireless LLC, which became a paying member of the Center, entitled to
use the facilities, equipment, and staff of Georgia Tech.
In December 2009, Garton, the Associate Vice Provost for Research, and
Allen, the Senior Vice Provost for Research and Innovation, requested that the
auditing department at Georgia Tech investigate around $650,000 in cost overruns
at the Center. Over the next two months, Garton and Allen expressed their
concerns to Hurd, the Chief Audit Executive, that Laskar was mixing his work at
Georgia Tech with his work for Sayana and that money at the Center was being
“double spent.” Hurd, who led the investigation, expanded the audit to all of the
Center’s finances.
In April 2010, Hurd and his audit team, which included Jenkins, produced a
report that accused Laskar of lying to the Internal Revenue Service, misusing
equipment and other property of Georgia Tech to benefit Sayana, and committing
other violations of Georgia law. Hurd later reported that the amount of theft “may
be as great as $700,000 to $1,470,000.”
Hurd gave the report to the Associate Vice Chancellor of Georgia Tech, who
notified the Attorney General of Georgia. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation
began to investigate Laskar. In May 2010, a special agent from the Bureau
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submitted an affidavit to two state judges to secure warrants for the search and
seizure of Laskar and his property. The affidavit explained that the “primary source
of information” supporting the request was the audit. It also clarified that “[u]nless
otherwise indicated,” Hurd provided the information supporting the affidavit.
The warrant affidavit reiterated that “Laskar had used his position at Georgia
Tech to steal money and other resources from the Institute.” It stated that Laskar
used funds from Georgia Tech to pay for fully functional microchips that Sayana
then sold. It also asserted that Laskar abused his position at Georgia Tech to give
Sayana illegal access to the school’s equipment, employees, and other resources.
The accusations in the warrant affidavit were false. After an investigation,
the Internal Revenue Service determined that Sayana and Laskar owed no tax
penalties. Sayana was entitled to use the equipment and resources of Georgia Tech
at the Center. And the only microchips that Sayana used were chip prototypes it
provided to students and faculty at Georgia Tech for research purposes. Sayana
never sold these chips, which had no market value; instead, it had a collaborative
research agreement with an outside company to test and evaluate the microchip
prototypes.
The investigation that Hurd and his audit team conducted, which provided
the basis for the affidavit, was less than thorough. For example, Hurd and Jenkins
did not investigate whether Laskar or Sayana had sold the microchips. Nor did they
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have any evidence that Laskar had ever taken or used these microchips. And
although Hurd ostensibly expanded the audit to all of the Center’s finances, the
investigation focused exclusively on Sayana’s relationship with the Center. Had
Hurd and Jenkins examined the Center more broadly, they would have found that
Sayana, like numerous other companies, gained access to the Center’s resources in
exchange for paying a membership fee.
Both judges issued the warrants after concluding that probable cause existed
to find that Laskar had violated Georgia law. State law-enforcement officers and
officials from Georgia Tech executed the warrants the next week. They raided 21
locations, including Laskar’s home, office, and vehicle. They seized many of
Laskar’s personal items, including his computers. Laskar was also arrested and
“deprived of his personal liberty.”
The accusations against Laskar led to a failed prosecution against him in
state court. In December 2014, a grand jury indicted Laskar for racketeering and
theft. The trial court dismissed the charges against Laskar nearly two years later. It
ruled that any potentially criminal act by Laskar could have occurred only outside
the statute of limitations.
Laskar filed a complaint of malicious prosecution under the Fourth
Amendment against Hurd, Jenkins, Garton, and Allen. See 42 U.S.C. § 1983. The
complaint alleged that these four officials “knowingly provid[ed] false, misleading
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and materially incomplete information” about Laskar “to law enforcement and
prosecutors” and that they “maliciously instigat[ed] . . . the criminal prosecution
[against him] without probable cause.”
The officials moved to dismiss Laskar’s complaint. They argued that
Laskar’s claim failed because the dismissal of the prosecution against him as
untimely was not a favorable termination. The officials also invoked qualified
immunity and argued that Laskar had not alleged that they acted without probable
cause, that they acted with malice, or that they caused his prosecution. The district
court agreed with the officials that Laskar had failed to allege a favorable
termination and dismissed his complaint.
II. STANDARD OF REVIEW
We review de novo a dismissal for failure to state a claim. Echols v. Lawton,
913 F.3d 1313, 1319 (11th Cir. 2019). “We accept the factual allegations in the
complaint as true and construe them in the light most favorable to the plaintiff.” Id.“To survive a motion to dismiss, a complaint must contain sufficient factual
matter, accepted as true, to state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face.” Id.(internal quotation marks omitted).
III. DISCUSSION
“Qualified immunity shields public officials from liability for civil damages
when their conduct does not violate a constitutional right that was clearly
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established at the time of the challenged action.” Id. (internal quotation marks
omitted). This immunity “protect[s] from suit all but the plainly incompetent or
one who is knowingly violating the federal law.” Kjellsen v. Mills, 517 F.3d 1232,
1237 (11th Cir. 2008) (internal quotation marks omitted), abrogated on other
grounds by Williams v. Aguirre, 965 F.3d 1147, 1162–65 (11th Cir. 2020). To
receive qualified immunity, the state official “bears the initial burden to prove that
he acted within his discretionary authority.” Dukes v. Deaton, 852 F.3d 1035, 1041
(11th Cir. 2017). Officials that act within their discretionary authority are “entitled
to qualified immunity under § 1983 unless (1) they violated a federal statutory or
constitutional right, and (2) the unlawfulness of their conduct was clearly
established at the time.” District of Columbia v. Wesby, 138 S. Ct. 577, 589 (2018)
(internal quotation marks omitted). Laskar does not dispute that the officials acted
within their discretionary authority, so he bears the burden of proving that they are
not entitled to qualified immunity from his claim of malicious prosecution.
To state a claim of malicious prosecution, Laskar must overcome two
hurdles. First, he must prove that he suffered a seizure pursuant to legal process
that violated the Fourth Amendment. See Williams, 965 F.3d at 1157–59;
Kingsland v. City of Miami, 382 F.3d 1220, 1235 (11th Cir. 2004). This burden
requires him to “establish (1) that the legal process justifying his seizure was
constitutionally infirm and (2) that his seizure would not otherwise be justified
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without legal process.” Williams, 965 F.3d at 1165. Second, Laskar must satisfy
“the elements of the common law tort of malicious prosecution.” Id. at 1157
(quoting Paez v. Mulvey, 915 F.3d 1276, 1285 (11th Cir. 2019)). Under these
elements, Laskar must prove that the officials instituted criminal process against
him “with malice and without probable cause” and that the broader prosecution
against him terminated in his favor. Id. (quoting Paez, 915 F.3d at 1285). Although
the common-law elements of malicious prosecution also require proof of damages,
see Paez, 915 F.3d at 1285; Wood v. Kesler, 323 F.3d 872, 881–82 (11th Cir.
2003), we have long held that “a plaintiff may recover nominal damages even
though he suffers no compensable injury” when he raises a claim of malicious
prosecution under the Fourth Amendment. Kelly v. Curtis, 21 F.3d 1544, 1557
(11th Cir. 1994); accord Williams, 965 F.3d at 1161, 1168.
Laskar alleges that he suffered a seizure pursuant to legal process. Although
the officials are correct that the search and seizure of Laskar’s property cannot give
rise to a claim of malicious prosecution, see, e.g., Williams, 965 F.3d at 1164,
Laskar alleges that state law enforcement obtained a warrant for his seizure. He
also alleges that he was arrested and “deprived of his personal liberty.” Taken
together, these allegations suffice to plead a seizure pursuant to legal process.
The officials contend that Laskar failed to allege several of the common-law
elements of malicious prosecution. To start, they argue that Laskar cannot satisfy
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the favorable-termination requirement. Next, the officials argue that Laskar failed
to allege that they initiated proceedings against him without probable cause and
with malice. Finally, they contend that Laskar failed to allege that they caused his
injury. We consider each of the officials’ arguments under this standard before
considering whether Laskar alleged that the officials violated his clearly
established rights.
A. Laskar Received a Favorable Termination.
The officials argue that Laskar did not receive a favorable termination. They
explain that several of our sister circuits define favorable terminations as those that
“indicate the innocence of the accused.” Cordova v. City of Albuquerque, 816 F.3d
645, 651 (10th Cir. 2016) (internal quotation marks omitted); accord Jordan v.
Town of Waldoboro, 943 F.3d 532, 545–46 (1st Cir. 2019); Lanning v. City of
Glens Falls, 908 F.3d 19, 26 (2d Cir. 2018); Kossler v. Crisanti, 564 F.3d 181, 187
(3d Cir. 2009) (en banc) (citing Donahue v. Gavin, 280 F.3d 371, 383 (3d Cir.
2002)); Salley v. Myers, No. 19-6374, 2020 WL 4664808, at *3–4 (4th Cir. Aug.
10, 2020); Jones v. Clark Cnty., 959 F.3d 748, 763–64 (6th Cir. 2020); Awabdy v.
City of Adelanto, 368 F.3d 1062, 1068 (9th Cir. 2004). But cf. Manuel v. City of
Joliet, 903 F.3d 667, 670 (7th Cir. 2018) (holding that the favorable-termination
requirement does not apply to a claim for unconstitutional pretrial detention).
Laskar cannot satisfy the favorable-termination element, they contend, because the
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trial court dismissed the prosecution against him as untimely, which does not
suggest that he was innocent of the charges facing him.
This argument requires us to decide whether a termination must contain
evidence of a plaintiff’s innocence to be favorable. We have held that a claim of
malicious prosecution accrues when the prosecution against the plaintiff terminates
in his favor. See Whiting v. Traylor, 85 F.3d 581, 585–86 (11th Cir. 1996),
abrogated on other grounds by Wallace v. Kato, 549 U.S. 384, 389–90 (2007). We
have also held that a prosecutor’s unilateral dismissal of charges against a plaintiff
constitutes a favorable termination. See Uboh v. Reno, 141 F.3d 1000, 1005–06
(11th Cir. 1998). But the details of the favorable-termination requirement,
including whether a termination must suggest a plaintiff’s innocence, otherwise
remain unsettled.
This question implicates our “two-step approach to ‘defining the contours
and prerequisites of a § 1983 claim.’” Williams, 965 F.3d at 1159 (quoting Manuel
v. City of Joliet, 137 S. Ct. 911, 920 (2017)). We must first look to the common-
law principles that were “well settled” when Congress enacted section 1983.
Nieves v. Bartlett, 139 S. Ct. 1715, 1726 (2019) (internal quotation marks omitted);
accord Manuel, 137 S. Ct. at 920. “After identifying the relevant common-law
rule, we must consider whether that rule is compatible with the constitutional
provision at issue.” Williams, 965 F.3d 1159–60.
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Because the tort of malicious prosecution is the common-law analogue to the
constitutional violation that Laskar alleges, see id., we examine the favorable-
termination element of malicious prosecution as it existed when Congress enacted
section 1983 in 1871. We then consider whether the relevant common-law rule is
compatible with the Fourth Amendment.
At common law, the favorable-termination requirement ensured that
plaintiffs could not “recover in the [civil] action, and yet be afterwards convicted
on the original prosecution.” Fisher v. Bristow (1779) 99 Eng. Rep. 140, 140; 1
Dougl. 215, 215. Although the predecessor to malicious prosecution, the writ of
conspiracy, required the plaintiff to prove that a petit jury had acquitted him, see
Edward Coke, The Third Part of the Institutes of the Laws of England 143 (6th ed.
1680); Hurlestone v. Glaseour (1587) 75 Eng. Rep. 988, 988; Gould. 51, 51 (Star
Chamber), English courts relaxed this requirement for the common-law tort of
malicious prosecution. For example, they held that the favorable-termination
element did not apply when the relevant proceedings against the plaintiff were ex
parte because the plaintiff had no opportunity to secure a favorable termination.
See Steward v. Gromett (1859) 141 Eng. Rep. 788, 793–95; 7 Com. B.R. 191,
203–07. Additionally, the meaning of “favorable termination” encompassed more
than jury acquittals. See 3 William Blackstone, Commentaries *127 (“[A]n action
for a malicious prosecution may be founded on such an indictment whereon no
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acquittal can be; as if it be rejected by the grand jury, or be coram non judice, or be
insufficiently drawn.”); see also, e.g., Chambers v. Robinson (1725) 93 Eng. Rep.
787, 787; 2 Strange 691, 691–92. Indeed, plaintiffs could satisfy the requirement
with terminations that did not support their innocence. Dowell v. Beningfield
(1841) 174 Eng. Rep. 384, 384–85, 388; Carr. & Marsh. 8, 8–9, 15 (conviction by
a court that lacked jurisdiction); Pierce v. Street (1832) 110 Eng. Rep. 142, 143; 3
B. & Ad. 397, 399 (dismissal for want of prosecution).
American courts likewise used the favorable-termination requirement to
prevent plaintiffs from attacking criminal proceedings that either were ongoing or
had vindicated the defendant’s accusations. See Martin L. Newell, A Treatise on
the Law of Malicious Prosecution, False Imprisonment, and the Abuse of Legal
Process 331 (Chi., Callaghan & Co. 1892). Accordingly, plaintiffs could not
prevail when the prosecutions against them remained pending, see, e.g., Bacon v.
Waters, 84 Mass. (2 Allen) 400, 401–02 (1861); Bacon v. Townsend, 6 Barb. 426,
428–29 (N.Y. Gen. Term 1849), juries convicted them, see, e.g., Griffis v. Sellars,
20 N.C. (3 & 4 Dev. & Bat.) 315, 315 (1838), or they compromised with their
accusers and admitted guilt to end the prosecution, see, e.g., Clark v. Everett, 2
Grant 416, 417 (Pa. 1853). But like their English counterparts, American plaintiffs
could prevail without a favorable termination when the relevant proceedings
against them were ex parte. See, e.g., Swensgaard v. Davis, 23 N.W. 543, 543
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(Minn. 1885); see also Fortman v. Rottier, 8 Ohio St. 548, 552–53 (1858)
(applying this rule in the context of a civil prosecution).
The clear majority of American courts did not limit favorable terminations to
those that suggested the accused’s innocence. Only the Supreme Court of Rhode
Island held that the favorable-termination requirement turned on evidence of a
plaintiff’s innocence. Rounds v. Humes, 7 R.I. 535, 537 (1863) (requiring, “with
reluctance,” that the termination “furnish prima facie evidence that the action was
without foundation”) (quoting Wilkinson v. Howel (1830) 173 Eng. Rep. 1236,
1236; 1 M. & M. 495, 496 (dicta)). Elsewhere, plaintiffs could prevail even when
the termination of the prosecutions against them did not bear on the merits,
including when a court dismissed the prosecution after the accuser failed to appear,
see, e.g., Fay v. O’Neill, 36 N.Y. 11, 13 (1867), failed to file an indictment, see,
e.g., Murray v. Lackey, 6 N.C. (2 Mur.) 368, 368–69 (1818), or abandoned the
prosecution, see, e.g., Driggs v. Burton, 44 Vt. 124, 143–44 (1871); Brown v.
Randall, 36 Conn. 56, 61–63 (1869); Page v. Cushing, 38 Me. 523, 527 (1854);
Chapman v. Woods, 6 Blackf. 504, 505–06 (Ind. 1843); Sayles v. Briggs, 45 Mass.
(4 Met.) 421, 425–26 (1842); Yocum v. Polly, 40 Ky. (1 B. Mon.) 358, 359 (1841);
Burhans v. Sanford, 19 Wend. 417, 418 (N.Y. 1838); Cotton v. Wilson, Minor 203,
203 (Ala. 1824).
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Many States also defined the favorable-termination element without regard
to a plaintiff’s innocence. For example, the Indiana Supreme Court held that the
dismissal of a prosecution at an accuser’s request was a favorable termination even
though “the want of probable cause [was] not spread upon the record.” Chapman, 6
Blackf. at 505. The only requirement, the court reasoned, was that “the original
prosecution, wherever instituted, is at an end.” Id. at 506. New York’s highest
court agreed and concluded that “the technical prerequisite” of a favorable
termination “is only that the particular prosecution be disposed of in such a manner
that [it] cannot be revived, and the prosecutor must be put to a new one.” Clark v.
Cleveland, 6 Hill 344, 347 (N.Y. 1844); see also Fay, 36 N.Y. at 13. And when
one accuser contended that the underlying prosecution must end with a judicial
finding that probable cause did not exist, the Iowa Supreme Court held that
“nothing” about the favorable-termination element required the court in the
underlying prosecution to find “any precise matter in a certain form.” Paukett v.
Livermore, 5 Iowa 277, 282 (1857). Other courts of last resort endorsed similar
standards. See Thomas v. De Graffenreid, 11 S.C.L. (2 Nott & McC.) 143, 145
(1819) (“[A] person may have his action after a bill rejected by the grand jury, or
even where no bill has been preferred, if there is a final end of the prosecution and
the party discharged.”); Murray, 6 N.C. at 369 (holding that a plaintiff could
proceed when he established that “proceedings are at end and cannot be revived”).
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The number of States that defined the favorable-termination requirement in a
similar manner grew in the years soon after Congress enacted section 1983.
Decrying the “great injustice” of “refus[ing] a remedy for such a wanton injury
. . . on a ground which is purely technical,” the Michigan Supreme Court held that
an action for malicious prosecution could continue “whenever the particular
proceeding has come to an end, so that the prisoner can be no further pursued upon
it.” Stanton v. Hart, 27 Mich. 539, 540 (1873). The Supreme Court of New Jersey
held that “[e]xcept to confer on the accused the capacity to sue, the manner in
which the prosecution terminated is irrelevant.” Apgar v. Woolston, 43 N.J.L. 57,
59 (1881). The Supreme Courts of New Hampshire and Kansas agreed. See
Woodman v. Prescott, 22 A. 456, 456–57 (N.H. 1891) (“The law requires only that
the particular prosecution complained of shall have been terminated, and not that
the liability of the plaintiff to prosecution for the same offense shall have been
extinguished . . . .”); Marbourg v. Smith, 11 Kan. 554, 562 (1873) (“[I]t is not
necessary that there should have been a trial upon the merits of the alleged
malicious prosecution. If the action has been dismissed . . . that is sufficient, if the
action has not been commenced again.”); see also Kennedy v. Holladay, 25 Mo.
App. 503, 517 (1887) (“The essential thing is, that the prosecution, on which the
civil action is predicated, should have come to an end. How it came to an end can
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make no difference to the rights of the person injured thereby.”). The Supreme
Court of Nebraska captured the dominant view of its sister States:
[T]he weight of authority, as well as of reason, is in favor of the position
that the right of action is complete whenever the particular prosecution
be disposed of in such a manner that [it] cannot be revived, and the
prosecutor, if he proceeds further, will be put to a new one.
Casebeer v. Drahoble, 14 N.W. 397, 397 (Neb. 1882) (internal quotation marks
omitted). Even Hawai‘i, which was then an independent kingdom and not a state or
even a territory, followed the same rule, despite the dissent’s suggestion to the
contrary. McCrosson v. Cummings, 5 Haw. 391, 392 (1885) (“The action for
malicious prosecution lies whenever the proceeding has come to an end, whatever
may be the form of its termination.” (internal quotation marks omitted)).
To be sure, States did not adopt “perfectly reconcilable” approaches to the
favorable-termination requirement, see 1 Francis Hilliard, The Law of Torts or
Private Wrongs 475 (Bos., Little, Brown & Co. 4th ed. 1874), but their disputes
reflected concerns of finality, not whether evidence of innocence existed. For
example, courts split over whether a plaintiff received a favorable termination
when a grand jury returned a no bill but the trial court did not dismiss the
indictment. Some courts refused to allow the plaintiff to proceed because the
plaintiff did not receive “a legal discharge” and “a subsequent grand jury might
. . . find a bill upon the same complaint.” Knott v. Sargent, 125 Mass. 95, 98
(1878); accord, e.g., Thomas, 11 S.C.L. at 146. Other courts held that the plaintiff
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received a favorable termination when the prosecution had functionally ended even
though a grand jury might still issue an indictment on the same complaint. See,
e.g., Woodruff v. Woodruff, 22 Ga. 237, 245 (1857). These competing conceptions
of an “end” to prosecution created similar splits over whether a nolle prosequi—a
prosecutor’s record notice that he was ending the prosecution—was a favorable
termination, see Thomas M. Cooley, A Treatise on the Law of Torts 186 & nn.6–7
(Chi., Callaghan & Co. 1880) (collecting decisions), and over whether a discharge
pursuant to writ of habeas corpus was a favorable termination, compare Walker v.
Martin, 43 Ill. 508, 512–13 (1867) (holding that a plaintiff who was discharged on
a habeas writ did not receive a favorable termination because he did not prove that
the prosecution itself had ended), with Zebley v. Storey, 12 A. 569, 571–72 (Pa.
1888) (holding that a habeas writ “effectually puts an end to the prosecution
. . . although a new charge may be afterwards made” (internal quotation marks
omitted)).
States instead channeled questions about the effect of the termination of
underlying proceedings into other elements of the tort—ordinarily the probable-
cause requirement. Some terminations—convictions or settlements in which the
defendant admitted guilt—were fatal to a plaintiff’s ability to establish the absence
of probable cause. See, e.g., Griffis, 20 N.C. at 315 (holding that a conviction
creates conclusive evidence of probable cause); Morton v. Young, 55 Me. 24, 27
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(1867) (holding that a plaintiff who settled a prosecution by paying part of the
amount his accuser demanded was estopped from contesting the absence of
probable cause). Courts also debated the evidentiary effect, if any, that other
terminations had on the plaintiff’s burden to prove the absence of probable cause.
See Newell, supra, at 289–303; see also Annotation, Acquittal, Discharge, or
Discontinuance as Evidence of Want of Probable Cause in Action for Malicious
Prosecution, 24 A.L.R. 261 (1923) (collecting decisions contemporary to the
enactment of section 1983). For example, some states held that a decision by a
grand-jury to issue an indictment was evidence of probable cause. See Cooley,
supra, at 186. In addition to probable cause, the nature of a prior termination could
affect whether a plaintiff established damages. See Sears v. Hathaway, 12 Cal. 277,
278–79 (1859) (holding that a plaintiff who secured an acquittal in the underlying
suit on technical grounds but was “moral[ly] guilt[y]” of the conduct alleged could
not establish reputation damages).
In the light of this history, we have no trouble discerning a well-settled
principle of law to guide our analysis. Although States disputed whether a
prosecution could terminate without a court order, every State to reach the issue
other than Rhode Island agreed that a prosecution terminated when a court
formally dismissed the prosecution and discharged the plaintiff. And the vast
majority of courts to consider the favorable-termination requirement either adopted
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standards that excluded considering the merits of the underlying prosecution or
held that particular terminations that did not evidence plaintiffs’ innocence could
satisfy the requirement. Indeed, outside of Rhode Island, the only final
terminations that would bar a plaintiff’s suit were those that were inconsistent with
a plaintiff’s innocence—that is, if a jury convicted the plaintiff or if the plaintiff
compromised with his accuser to end the prosecution in a way that conceded his
guilt. So we can readily discern from that consensus the following principle: a
formal end to a prosecution in a manner not inconsistent with a plaintiff’s
innocence is a favorable termination.
The dissent does not dispute that only Rhode Island required evidence of a
plaintiff’s innocence to satisfy the favorable-termination element. It instead
stresses that courts did not agree on all aspects of the element and that no court
expressly endorsed the consensus rule we endorse. According to the dissent, courts
adopted three approaches to the favorable-termination element—“(1) those
accepting any termination that discharged the plaintiff . . . (2) those requiring that
the termination be such that the claimant could not be prosecuted further on the
same criminal charge . . . and (3) those requiring a verdict on the merits.”
Dissenting Op. at 44. And this disagreement, the dissent concludes, precludes us
from concluding that any well-settled consensus existed.
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We are not persuaded. The dissent overstates the scope and nature of
disagreements over the favorable-termination requirement. Although States
disputed whether a formal termination to proceedings was necessary, they did not
split in the manner the dissent suggests—indeed, the dissent’s three “approaches”
bear no resemblance to the decisions it cites. See id. at 45–50. Accordingly, we
first correct the dissent’s misunderstanding of the common law before addressing
its remaining arguments.
The dissent incorrectly asserts that multiple states—Kentucky, Kansas,
Michigan, New Jersey, and New York—required a termination to bar any future
prosecution against the plaintiff for the same crime. Id. at 46. Each of these States,
like many States that the dissent places in other categories, required only that the
particular prosecution against a plaintiff formally ended, not that the termination
bar all future prosecutions for the same crime. See Apgar, 43 N.J.L. at 66 (holding
that a termination is sufficient if it requires the prosecutor to “institute proceedings
de novo” to “proceed further” against the plaintiff); Marbourg, 11 Kan. at 562
(holding that a dismissal is sufficient if “the action has not been commenced
again”); Stanton, 27 Mich. at 540 (explaining that the favorable-termination
element requires only that a “particular proceeding . . . come to an end, so that the
[plaintiff] can be no further pursued upon it”); Clark, 6 Hill at 347 (concluding that
the favorable-termination element is satisfied if the prosecution “cannot be revived,
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and the prosecutor must be put to a new one” to continue); Yocum, 40 Ky. at 359
(concluding that an abandonment of the prosecution satisfied the requirement); see
also Westerstorn v. Dunleavy, 9 Ky. Op. 635, 636 (1877) (stating that a plaintiff
needed to establish “at least a discharge from custody” to satisfy the requirement).
The treatise that the dissent cites for this proposition accords with these decisions.
See 2 Charles T. Boone, Forms of Pleadings Under the Codes 273 (S.F., Bancroft-
Whitney Co. 1886) (explaining that a claim of malicious prosecution accrues when
the prosecution terminates “in such a manner that it cannot be revived, and the
prosecutor if he proceeds further will be put to a new one” (emphasis added)). No
disagreement existed at common law about whether a termination needed to bar all
future prosecutions.
Nor did any State require an acquittal. With the exception of one decision
that does not support its argument, the dissent’s conclusion otherwise relies
entirely on decisions that suggested in passing dicta that a plaintiff needed an
acquittal to prevail. See Wheeler v. Nesbitt, 65 U.S. 544, 549 (1860) (dicta); Stone
v. Hutchinson, 4 Haw. 117, 123 (1878) (dicta), overruled by McCrosson, 5 Haw. at
392; Fortman, 8 Ohio St. at 550 (dicta); Bacon v. Towne, 58 Mass. (4 Cush.) 217,
235 (1849) (dicta); Jones v. Kirksey, 10 Ala. 839, 840–41 (1846) (dicta); see also
Kirkpatrick v. Kirkpatrick, 39 Pa. 288, 291 (1861) (syllabus of court reporter)
(reporting that the trial judge had stated in dicta that an acquittal was necessary
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when a prosecution had proceeded to trial). These decisions, which uncritically
echoed the conspiracy writ, did not reflect the common law. When actually faced
with a dispute over the favorable-termination requirement, every State the dissent
cites held that a plaintiff could proceed without an acquittal. See, e.g., Zebley, 12
A. at 571–72; McCrosson, 5 Haw. at 392–93; Fortman, 8 Ohio St. at 550 (allowing
a plaintiff to proceed without a jury acquittal in the underlying civil prosecution
and concluding that the favorable-termination requirement “is the same” when a
claim of malicious prosecution concerns a criminal prosecution); Long v. Rogers,
17 Ala. 540, 546–47 (1850); Sayles, 45 Mass. at 425–26; Cotton, Minor at 203; see
also Stewart v. Sonneborn, 98 U.S. 187, 195 (1878) (stating in dicta that a plaintiff
must allege that “the proceeding . . . has failed”); Cardival v. Smith, 109 Mass.
158, 159 (1872) (listing several terminations other than an acquittal that could
support a suit for malicious prosecution).
Indeed, other than an abrogated decision from New York, no State required
an acquittal. See M’Cormick v. Sisson, 7 Cow. 715, 716–17 (N.Y. 1827),
abrogated by Fay, 36 N.Y. at 13, Clark, 6 Hill at 346–47, and Burhans, 19 Wend.
at 418; see also Ragsdale v. Bowles, 16 Ala. 62, 64 (1849) (stating in dicta that the
favorable-termination element required a court judgment or a discharge following
judicial investigation), overruled by S. Car & Foundry Co. v. Adams, 32 So. 503,
506 (Ala. 1902). Even treatises that appeared sympathetic to the acquittal rule,
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including the treatise the dissent cites, conceded that the favorable-termination
requirement encompassed more than acquittals. See, e.g., Cooley, supra, at 186
(stating that the termination must “in general” be an acquittal but acknowledging
several exceptions); 2 Simon Greenleaf, A Treatise on the Law of Evidence § 452,
at 414–15 (John Wilder May ed., Bos., Little, Brown & Co. 13th ed. 1876)
(adopting a similar conclusion); 1 Morris M. Estee, Estee’s Pleadings, Practice
and Forms § 1791, at 653 (Carter P. Pomeroy ed., S.F., Bancroft-Whitney Co. 3d
ed. 1886) (“An action for malicious prosecution can not be maintained until the
plaintiff has been acquitted, or the prosecution is finally terminated in his favor.”
(emphasis added)).
Under an accurate understanding of the common law, the dissent is left with
three reasons to depart from our position: that some courts opined in dicta that the
favorable-termination element required an acquittal, that no court explicitly
advanced the standard we endorsed, and that courts disagreed over some aspects of
the favorable-termination element. None of these arguments has merit.
Although we agree that dicta can inform whether a well-settled rule of law
existed when Congress enacted section 1983, the dicta supporting the acquittal rule
does not offer meaningful guidance. To start, one of the states the dissent cites
never suggested that an acquittal was an element of malicious prosecution, see
Kirkpatrick, 39 Pa. at 298–99, and the Kingdom of Hawai‘i did so only in short-
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lived dicta after Congress enacted section 1983, see Stone, 4 Haw. at 123,
overruled by McCrosson, 5 Haw. at 392. More importantly, no decision to actually
opine that an acquittal was necessary justified its dicta, much less reasoned that an
acquittal was necessary because it provided evidence of a plaintiff’s innocence.
And as discussed, every State to reach the issue, including each State the dissent
cites, held that plaintiffs could proceed without an acquittal. See generally Bryan
A. Garner et al., The Law of Judicial Precedent § 4, at 69 (2016) (“Dictum should
never be taken as determining an issue of law when it conflicts with a holding on
point . . . .”); id. § 18, at 176 (explaining that the persuasiveness of an ancient
decision “depends on the degree to which its underlying principles have been
buttressed or weakened by later cases and events”). When weighed against the
mountain of caselaw to the contrary, the unreasoned dicta that the dissent marshals
does not change our view.
We also see no problem with deriving a common-law principle from
multiple bodies of well-established decisions. That common-law courts did not
explicitly reject the indication-of-innocence approach hardly indicts our
conclusion—courts outside of Rhode Island did not resolve the issue because no
defendant asked them to do so, which strongly suggests that the approach was
almost entirely unknown when Congress enacted section 1983. And as explained,
the principle we discern from the common law—that a formal end to a prosecution
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in a manner not inconsistent with a plaintiff’s innocence is a favorable
termination—closely tracks the dominant approaches to the favorable-termination
requirement.
Finally, we cannot agree that “there was no well-settled principle of law to
glean from the time § 1983 was enacted” because States did not agree about every
aspect of the favorable-termination requirement. Dissenting Op. at 50. The dissent
asks far too much of precedent when determining whether a “well-settled
principle” existed at common law. For example, the Supreme Court had no trouble
concluding that the probable-cause element of malicious prosecution was well
settled at common law, Nieves, 139 S. Ct. at 1726, even though States disputed the
evidentiary effect that certain favorable terminations had on this element, see
Newell, supra, at 289–303. Similarly, we are satisfied that the principle we discern
from the common law reflects an area of consensus between nearly every State,
even if some States held that plaintiffs satisfied the favorable-termination
requirement in additional circumstances.
In sum, whether a particular termination affirmatively supported a plaintiff’s
innocence was not material to the favorable-termination element in the vast
majority of States. As common-law courts on both sides of the Atlantic stressed, a
termination on technical grounds did not cure the harm that malicious prosecution
caused. See, e.g., Stanton, 27 Mich. at 540 (“The mischief is done by the arrest and
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disgrace caused by a charge of crime, and by the expense and annoyance attending
the proceeding. A discharge without a trial does not destroy the effect of the
mischief . . . .”); Wicks v. Fentham (1791) 100 Eng. Rep. 1000, 1000; 4 T.R. 247,
248 (“[A] bad indictment serve[s] all the purposes of malice, by putting the party
to expense and exposing him . . . .” (internal quotation marks omitted)). Instead,
the favorable-termination requirement prevented plaintiffs from using the tort to
collaterally attack ongoing criminal proceedings or unfavorable terminations. See
Newell, supra, at 331. And under prevailing standards, a plaintiff could satisfy the
favorable-termination element of malicious prosecution by proving that a court
formally ended the prosecution in a manner that was not inconsistent with his
innocence.
Because section 1983 is not merely “a federalized amalgamation of pre-
existing common-law claims,” Rehberg, 566 U.S. at 366, we must determine
whether this common-law understanding comports with relevant constitutional
principles, Williams, 965 F.3d at 1159–60. Here, nothing in the Fourth Amendment
supports departing from the weight of the common law. A claim of malicious
prosecution under the Fourth Amendment is only “shorthand” for a claim of
deprivation of liberty pursuant to legal process, so the validity of these claims
depends on whether the seizure was justified, not whether the prosecution itself
was justified, see Williams, 965 F.3d at 1157–59 (internal quotation marks
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omitted). That question almost always turns on whether the judicial officer who
authorized the seizure had sufficient information before him to support the seizure.
See Williams, 965 F.3d at 1162–65. Conversely, limiting favorable terminations to
those that affirmatively support a plaintiff’s innocence redirects the focus to
whether the entire prosecution was justified. In other words, the “indication-of-
innocence” approach to favorable terminations considers the wrong body of
information. Cf. Garmon v. Lumpkin Cnty., 878 F.2d 1406, 1409 (11th Cir. 1989)
(“A subsequent indictment does not retroactively provide probable cause for an
arrest that has already taken place.”). The Fourth Amendment does not require
plaintiffs to support their innocence with such a narrow, inapposite source of
evidence.
Because “the Fourth Amendment protects against ‘searches’ and ‘seizures’
(and not ‘prosecutions’),” Whiting, 585 F.3d at 584, the favorable-termination
requirement functions as a rule of accrual, not as a criterion for determining
whether a constitutional violation occurred. Indeed, we have never considered the
requirement outside of the accrual context. See Uboh, 141 F.3d at 1006 (holding
that the plaintiff’s claim was timely because the plaintiff had pleaded that he
received a favorable-termination within the statute of limitations); Whiting, 85 F.3d
at 585–86 (holding that the plaintiff’s claim was timely because it accrued when
the court dismissed the remaining charges against the plaintiff). In the light of this
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limited role, the favorable-termination requirement will bar a suit for malicious
prosecution only when the prosecution remains ongoing or terminates in a way that
precludes any finding that the plaintiff was innocent of the charges that justified his
seizure—that is, when the prosecution ends in the plaintiff’s conviction on or
admission of guilt to each charge that justified his seizure. See Uboh, 141 F.3d at
1005 (holding that a plaintiff received a favorable termination even though the
plaintiff was convicted on some charges because the prosecutor’s dismissal of the
other charges was “consistent with . . . a finding of innocence on these specific
counts”); see also Williams, 965 F.3d at 1165 (holding that a plaintiff “need only
prove that probable cause was absent for at least one of the . . . charges that
justified his seizure”). In other words, a plaintiff can satisfy the favorable-
termination requirement by proving that the prosecution against him formally
ended in a manner not inconsistent with his innocence on at least one charge that
authorized his confinement.
The officials and dissent contend that our decision in Uboh v. Reno, 141
F.3d 1000, forecloses this conclusion, see Dissenting Op. at 52–53, but they
misread that opinion. To be sure, Uboh prevents us from adopting the common-law
exception to the favorable-termination requirement for ex parte proceedings, see
id. at 1005–06 (holding that the favorable-termination requirement is an element of
claims of malicious prosecution under the Fourth Amendment), which might
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otherwise apply to warrant hearings, see Gerstein v. Pugh, 420 U.S. 103, 120
(1975) (holding that an adversary hearing is not required to justify a pretrial
detention). But Uboh does not otherwise restrict the favorable-termination element.
As part of its survey of approaches to the favorable-termination requirement, Uboh
explained that other courts had required terminations to provide evidence of the
accused’s innocence and mentioned in passing dicta that the dismissal before it
would meet that standard, but it did not endorse that or any particular approach.
141 F.3d at 1004–05. Indeed, Uboh suggested in dicta that a dismissal as untimely
would be a favorable termination. Id. at 1005.
We acknowledge that our conclusion departs from the consensus of our
sister circuits, but we do not agree with the dissent that these decisions should alter
our conclusion. To start, the dissent miscounts the circuits that have adopted the
indication-of-innocence approach to claims of malicious prosecution under the
Fourth Amendment. Although seven circuits have done so, see Jordan, 943 F.3d at
545–46; Lanning, 908 F.3d at 26; Donahue, 280 F.3d at 383; Salley, 2020 WL
4664808, at *3–4; Jones, 959 F.3d at 763–64; Awabdy, 368 F.3d at 1068; Cordova,
816 F.3d at 651, the dissent erroneously relies on decisions applying state or local
tort law to conclude that the Fifth, Seventh, and District of Columbia Circuits
followed suit. See Lemoine v. Wolfe, 812 F.3d 477, 479 (5th Cir. 2016) (applying
Louisiana tort law); Logan v. Caterpillar, Inc., 246 F.3d 912, 925 (7th Cir. 2001)
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(applying Illinois tort law); Whelan v. Abell, 953 F.2d 663, 669 (D.C. Cir. 1992)
(applying D.C. tort law). Indeed, the Seventh Circuit has held that a Fourth
Amendment claim for unlawful pretrial detention does not require any favorable
termination. See Manuel, 903 F.3d at 670. More importantly, when considering the
decisions of our sister circuits, “[w]e are not merely to count noses. The parties are
entitled to our independent judgment.” Fed. Trade Comm’n v. Credit Bureau Ctr.,
LLC, 937 F.3d 764, 785 (7th Cir. 2019) (internal quotation marks omitted). And
the justification that our sister circuits offered for the consensus view is
unpersuasive.
Each circuit to embrace the indication-of-innocence approach grounded its
decision in a comment in the Restatement (Second) of Torts or the modern
decisions of States that adopted that comment. See Restatement (Second) of Torts
§ 660 cmt. a (Am. L. Inst. 1977) (“Proceedings are ‘terminated in favor of the
accused’ . . . only when their final disposition is such as to indicate the innocence
of the accused.”); see also Restatement (First) of Torts § 660 cmt. a (Am. L. Inst.
1938) (stating the same). It is far from clear that the Second Restatement reflects
even a modern consensus. See Restatement (Third) of Torts: Liability for Economic
Harm § 23 cmt. a & n.a (Am. L. Inst. 2020) (acknowledging a split in authority,
rejecting the indication-of-innocence requirement, and endorsing a “not-
inconsistent-with-innocence” approach). Indeed, two of the three states in this
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Circuit, including the one in which Laskar’s seizure and prosecution occurred, do
not require an indication of innocence. Compare Vadner v. Dickerson, 441 S.E.2d
527, 528 (Ga. Ct. App. 1994) (holding that a dismissal on jurisdictional grounds is
a favorable termination if the prosecutor does not recommence the prosecution),
and Kroger Co. v. Puckett, 351 So. 2d 582, 585–86 (Ala. Civ. App. 1977)
(rejecting the approach in the Second Restatement (citing Adams, 32 So. 503)),
with Alamo Rent-A-Car, Inc. v. Mancusi, 632 So. 2d 1352, 1356 (Fla. 1994)
(requiring a termination “that indicates the innocence of the accused”).
Setting this issue aside, modern common law is not the touchstone when
defining a claim under section 1983. “[T]he Supreme Court has clarified that the
relevant common-law principles are those that were ‘well settled at the time of
section 1983’s enactment.’” Williams, 965 F.3d at 1159 (alteration adopted)
(quoting Nieves, 139 S. Ct. at 1726); see also Kalina v. Fletcher, 522 U.S. 118, 123
(1997) (explaining that section 1983 must be “construed in the light of common-
law principles that were well settled at the time of its enactment”). Although the
Restatements and modern treatises often reflect ancient legal principles, the
indication-of-innocence approach to favorable terminations has no such pedigree.
And we cannot base our decision on common-law doctrines that developed long
after Congress enacted section 1983.
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The dissent next faults us for attempting to “square the tort of malicious
prosecution with the Fourth Amendment,” Dissenting Op. at 58, and we readily
plead guilty to that charge. Although the dissent acknowledges that the Fourth
Amendment does not neatly overlap with the tort of malicious prosecution, it
nonetheless contends that we must adhere to the common law. Id. at 57–59. This
argument turns our approach to malicious prosecution on its head. Our oldest
decisions on the subject explained that “malicious prosecution” is only a
“shorthand way of describing” certain claims for unlawful seizure, not an
“independent Fourth Amendment right . . . to be free from a malicious
prosecution.” Whiting, 85 F.3d at 584; see also Kelly, 21 F.3d at 1553–55
(reversing a summary judgment against the plaintiff on a claim of malicious
prosecution under the Fourth Amendment without considering whether the plaintiff
satisfied the common-law elements). More recently, the Supreme Court has
explained that “[c]ommon-law principles are meant to guide rather than to control
the definition of § 1983 claims” and that we must “closely attend” to the
“constitutional right at issue” when defining these claims. Manuel, 137 S. Ct. at
921. To give priority to the common law over the Fourth Amendment, we would
need to depart from both our earliest decisions on the subject and the decisions of
the Supreme Court. Of course, we cannot do so.
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Finally, the dissent highlights the ostensible policy benefits of the indication-
of-innocence approach, such as the “additional opportunity” it could create “for
courts to stop false claims” at the pleading stage instead of at summary judgment,
Dissenting Op. at 61, but we fail to see how the operation of the Federal Rules of
Civil Procedure is relevant to our analysis of the Fourth Amendment. See Wallace,
549 U.S. at 390–95 (holding that a Fourth Amendment claim for unlawful seizure
without process does not require a favorable termination). We must adhere to the
clear commands of the law instead of favoring an alternative policy of judicial
economy. See Sorenson v. Sec’y of Treasury, 475 U.S. 851, 865 (1986) (“The
ordering of competing social policies is a quintessentially legislative function.”).
We need not redefine the favorable-termination requirement to provide extra
protection for defendants accused of malicious prosecution. The probable-cause
requirement already limits meritless claims by placing the burden on the plaintiff
to establish “(1) that the legal process justifying his seizure was constitutionally
infirm and (2) that his seizure would not otherwise be justified without legal
process.” Williams, 965 F.3d at 1165. On top of that, the plaintiff must overcome
qualified immunity by proving that the absence of probable cause was clearly
established. Id. at 1168–70. And a plaintiff seized without probable cause must
prove he suffered an injury to recover compensatory damages for the specific
charges he says were unfounded. See id. at 1161–62, 1168.
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After considering both the common law and Fourth Amendment, we hold
that the favorable-termination element of malicious prosecution is not limited to
terminations that affirmatively support the plaintiff’s innocence. Instead, the
favorable-termination element requires only that the criminal proceedings against
the plaintiff formally end in a manner not inconsistent with his innocence on at
least one charge that authorized his confinement. A formal end to criminal
proceedings will satisfy this standard unless it precludes any finding that the
plaintiff was innocent of the charges that justified his seizure, which occurs only
when the prosecution ends in the plaintiff’s conviction on or admission of guilt to
each charge that justified his seizure. Because Laskar’s complaint alleges that the
prosecution against Laskar formally terminated and does not allege that he was
convicted or that he admitted his guilt to each charge that justified his seizure,
Laskar has alleged that he received a favorable termination.
B. Laskar Alleged that Hurd and Jenkins, but Not Allen and Garton,
Initiated the Warrant Proceedings Without Probable Cause and with
Malice.
The officials contend that Laskar failed to allege that they initiated criminal
proceedings against him “with malice and without probable cause” under the
common-law elements of our standard. Paez, 915 F.3d at 1285 (internal quotation
marks omitted). Although some of our precedents were inconsistent on the
standards of probable cause and subjective intent that apply to a claim of malicious
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prosecution, compare, e.g., Kjellsen, 517 F.3d at 1238, and Kingsland, 382 F.3d at
1234–35 (dicta), with, e.g., Kelly, 21 F.3d at 1554–55, we recently reconciled
them, see Williams, 965 F.3d at 1162–65. Because a claim of malicious
prosecution concerns seizures pursuant to legal process, we consider whether the
judicial officer who issued the legal process had sufficient truthful information to
conclude that probable cause existed. Id. at 1162–65. In the context of an arrest
warrant, the plaintiff must establish either “that the officer who applied for the
warrant should have known that his application failed to establish probable cause”
or “that an official, including an individual who did not apply for the warrant,
intentionally or recklessly made misstatements or omissions necessary to support
the warrant.” Id. at 1165.
This standard governs whether a defendant initiated criminal process “with
malice and without probable cause” under the common-law elements of our
standard for malicious prosecution. Id. at 1157 (internal quotation marks omitted).
Regardless of common-law analogues, a challenge to “pretrial detention
unsupported by probable cause . . . lies in the Fourth Amendment.” Manuel, 137 S.
Ct. at 919. And Williams clarified the standards for probable cause and subjective
intent that the Fourth Amendment requires for the seizures involved in claims of
malicious prosecution. See 965 F.3d at 1165. Even setting Williams aside, adopting
multiple standards of probable cause and subjective intent would demand more of
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plaintiffs than the Constitution requires. We cannot do so. See Manuel, 137 S. Ct.
at 921 (“Common-law principles are meant to guide rather than to control the
definition of § 1983 claims . . . .”).
Our standard produces mixed results for Laskar. To establish that the
officials initiated criminal proceedings against him without probable cause, he
must allege that each official made false statements or omitted information “either
intentionally or in reckless disregard for the truth” and that “after deleting the
misstatement[s], the [warrant] affidavit is insufficient to establish probable cause.”
Williams, 965 F.3d at 1165 (internal quotation marks omitted). Laskar has met this
burden as applied to Hurd and Jenkins, but he has not done so for Allen and
Garton. We take each pair of officials in turn.
Laskar easily satisfies his burden to allege that Hurd and Jenkins initiated
criminal proceedings against him without probable cause. Laskar’s complaint
alleges that the affidavit that secured the arrest warrant against him relied entirely
on Hurd and the audit report that Hurd and Jenkins produced. The complaint also
alleges that the accusations in the affidavit were not only false, but knowingly or
recklessly so. For example, the affidavit accused Laskar of using funds from
Georgia Tech to pay for fully functional microchips that he then sold to financially
benefit Sayana, even though Hurd and his audit team knew that Sayana had never
sold microchips and had no evidence that Laskar had ever taken or used
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microchips. Finally, Laskar does not allege that the warrant contained any true
accusations—his complaint mentions only false or materially incomplete
allegations. So after excluding the alleged misstatements, we must conclude that
the warrant affidavit lacked any factual basis to support probable cause. See St.
George v. Pinellas Cnty., 285 F.3d 1334, 1337 (11th Cir. 2002) (reiterating that our
analysis is “limited to the four corners of the complaint” and that we must draw all
reasonable inferences in the plaintiff’s favor). “Of course, an affidavit does not
support probable cause if it lacks any facts that suggest a crime occurred.”
Williams, 965 F.3d at 1166–67.
Conversely, Laskar has failed to allege that Garton and Allen initiated the
warrant proceedings against him without probable cause. Laskar’s complaint does
not allege that either official intentionally or recklessly made false statements to
support the warrant for his seizure. Indeed, his complaint disclaims that possibility.
According to the complaint, the warrant affidavit qualified that “[u]nless otherwise
indicated, all facts presented herein are derived from [the submitting agent’s]
conversations and communications with Mr. Hurd.” The only other source of
information the affidavit cited was Hurd and Jenkins’s audit report. Although
Laskar’s complaint alleges that he later faced a second form of legal process—the
indictment four years after his initial seizure—he disclaimed at oral argument that
he was seized pursuant to that process. Oral Argument at 12:07–:16 (July 29,
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2020). And in any event, Laskar’s complaint does not allege that either Allen or
Garton made false statements to support the indictment. Without alleging that
Allen or Garton intentionally or recklessly made false statements to support the
legal process justifying his seizure, Laskar’s claims against them fail.
In short, Laskar has alleged that Hurd and Jenkins, but not Allen and Garton,
initiated criminal process against him without probable cause and with malice.
Because Laskar’s claims against Allen and Garton cannot proceed, we do not
consider their other arguments. We instead turn to Hurd and Jenkins’s remaining
arguments for affirmance.
C. Laskar Alleged that Hurd and Jenkins Caused His Seizure.
Hurd and Jenkins next argue that Laskar has not alleged causation because
his indictment was too attenuated from their accusations, but Williams v. Aguirre
forecloses this argument. In Williams, we held that “the relevant injury” for a claim
of malicious prosecution under the Fourth Amendment, “is the seizure that
followed the arrest warrant, not the broader prosecution.” 965 F.3d at 1167.
Further, we held that a plaintiff establishes causation if he proves that a
defendant’s false statements were material to his seizure pursuant to legal process.
Id. Laskar has satisfied this burden, so he has established causation.
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D. Laskar Alleged that Hurd and Jenkins Violated His Clearly Established
Right To Not Be Seized Based on Intentional and Material Misstatements
in a Warrant Application.
Because Hurd and Jenkins invoked qualified immunity, Laskar must also
establish that they violated a constitutional right of his that was “clearly
established” when they caused his seizure. Kjellsen, 517 F.3d at 1237 (internal
quotation marks omitted). “‘Clearly established’ means that, at the time of the
officer’s conduct, the law was sufficiently clear that every reasonable official
would understand that what he is doing is unlawful.” Wesby, 138 S. Ct. at 589(internal quotation marks omitted). “A constitutional right is clearly established
only if ‘every reasonable official would interpret controlling precedent to establish
the particular right the plaintiff seeks to apply’ and ‘the unlawfulness of the
officer’s conduct follows immediately from the conclusion that the right was
firmly established.’” Williams, 965 F.3d at 1168 (alterations adopted) (quoting
Wesby, 138 S. Ct. at 590).
Laskar has alleged that Jenkins and Hurd violated clearly established law.
This Court has long held that officials violate the Fourth Amendment if they
knowingly or recklessly make “false statements in an arrest affidavit about the
probable cause for an arrest in order to detain a citizen . . . if such false statements
were necessary to the probable cause.” Jones v. Cannon, 174 F.3d 1271, 1285
(11th Cir. 1999); see also Franks v. Delaware, 438 U.S. 154, 155–56 (1978). And
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if we accept Laskar’s allegations as true and draw all reasonable inferences in his
favor, Hurd’s and Jenkins’s liability “follow[s] immediately from the conclusion
that [the right] was firmly established.” Wesby, 138 S. Ct. at 590 (internal
quotation marks omitted). Laskar alleges that they knowingly or recklessly made
the false accusations against him that formed the basis of the warrant affidavit.
And because Laskar’s complaint does not allege that any statements in the warrant
affidavit were both truthful and materially complete, we must assume that the
affidavit contained no other facts that could support probable cause. So Hurd’s and
Jenkins’s accusations were also “necessary to the probable cause.” Jones, 174 F.3d
at 1285; see also Garmon, 878 F.2d at 1410 (holding that a warrant affidavit that
“contained no facts whatever” cannot form a reasonable basis for probable cause).
Because Laskar has alleged that Hurd and Jenkins violated his clearly established
rights under the Fourth Amendment, they are not entitled to qualified immunity at
this stage of the suit.
IV. CONCLUSION
We AFFIRM the dismissal of Laskar’s claims against Allen and Garton but
REVERSE the dismissal of his claims against Hurd and Jenkins, DENY as moot
his motion to supplement the record with a copy of his arrest warrant, DENY as
moot the appellees’ motion for supplemental briefing, and REMAND for further
proceedings consistent with this opinion.
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K. MICHAEL MOORE, Chief District Judge, dissenting:
Today, the majority adopts a legal standard for the favorable termination
element of a 42 U.S.C. § 1983 malicious prosecution claim that pushes us out-of-
step with our sister circuits and requires the Court to depart from its well-founded
opinion in Uboh v. Reno, 141 F.3d 1000 (11th Cir. 1998). The majority contends
that (1) it is bound to reject the indication of innocence standard by a review of
“well-settled” common-law principles at the time of § 1983’s passage, and (2) the
majority’s proposed standard better serves the constitutional concerns implicated by
§ 1983 and the Fourth Amendment. I dissent because there was no “well-settled”
common-law principle as to what was required of a malicious prosecution claimant
to meet the favorable termination element in the late 19th century. Further, the rule
adopted by majority is an inadequate filter for meritless claims.
I. LEGAL FRAMEWORK
The majority correctly relies on Nieves v. Bartlett for the proposition that a
court must look to common-law principles that were well-settled in 1871 when
“defining the contours” of a tort under § 1983. 139 S. Ct. 1715, 1726, 204 L. Ed. 2d
1 (2019). However, a court need not “adopt wholesale the rules that would apply in
a suit” in common-law. Manuel v. Cty. of Joliet, 137 S. Ct. 911, 920–21, 197 L. Ed.
2d 312 (2017). Rather, after successfully identifying a common-law principle that
was well-settled in 1871, a court is tasked with determining “whether that rule is
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compatible with the constitutional provision at issue.” Williams v. Aguirre, 965 F.3d
1147, 1159–60 (11th Cir. 2020) (citing Manuel, 137 S. Ct. at 921).
The Court applied this framework in Williams to determine whether “claims
of malicious prosecution are subject to the any-crime rule, which insulates officers
from false-arrest claims so long as probable cause existed to arrest the suspect for
some crime, even if it was not the crime that the officer thought or said had
occurred.” Id. at 1158. The Court opined that its sister circuits were split on the
matter and noted that the Court had not yet resolved the issue as it related to § 1983
malicious prosecution. Id. at 1159. Accordingly, the Court traced the history of the
probable cause element from English common-law to American courts’ and legal
scholars’ application of the tort in the nineteenth century. Id. at 1160–61. In so
doing, the Court determined that at the time of § 1983’s enactment, there was a
well-settled legal principle that a malicious prosecution defendant could not “shield
[himself or herself] from liability by establishing probable cause for other charges.”
Id. at 1160 (citations omitted). Then, the Court determined that applying the
common-law rule, rather than the any-crime rule, was not prohibited by the
constitutional considerations in § 1983. Id. at 1161.
II. NO WELL-SETTLED COMMON LAW PRINCIPLE
The majority has attempted to re-create the Williams analysis in this case.
However, the history of the favorable termination requirement is a square peg that
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does not fit into the round hole that is Williams. First, there is no “well-settled”
common-law principle as to what a malicious prosecution claimant had to aver to
satisfy the favorable termination requirement. While I concede that courts in most
states would permit a claim where the plaintiff’s prosecution ended in any
termination whereby the claimant was either discharged or could not be subject to
further prosecution on the same charge, several courts required far more. Thus,
while the Court was able to identify a well-settled principle that foreclosed the
any-crime rule in Williams, no such well-settled principle can be found with respect
to the favorable termination requirement. Second, and unlike in Williams, the Court
has already embraced this issue in Uboh. Third, there is no difference in opinion
between circuits on whether the favorable termination element requires that the
termination indicate the plaintiff’s innocence in some way.
As an initial matter, the majority looks to 19th century legal principles to
determine whether it was well-settled that a favorable termination requires some
indication of innocence. However, Nieves does not merely require the Court to
compare the modern rule to 19th century jurisprudence to determine whether the two
comport. Rather, the pertinent inquiry is whether there was a well-settled principle
at the time § 1983 was enacted. Despite this, the majority finds that there is a
well-settled principle because most courts did not consider innocence while
discounting other differences in the jurisprudence. While those courts might not
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have taken innocence into account, it is not dispositive of the question before the
Court.
Based on my own review of 19th century jurisprudence, I find that the
majority of cases that embraced the question of what constitutes a favorable
termination fall into three categories: (1) those accepting any termination that
discharged the plaintiff (“Discharged Cases”); (2) those requiring that the
termination be such that the claimant could not be prosecuted further on the same
criminal charge (“Jeopardy Cases”); and (3) those requiring a verdict on the merits
(“Merits Cases”). Looking to secondary sources from the time period does not
square these competing theories; in fact, some acknowledged the lack of cohesion
between courts on the issue. In today’s Majority Opinion, the majority performed
logical and legal gymnastics to the same set of cases and sources to reach the
conclusion that the “vast majority” of courts were in agreement. Op. at 25.
However, a sterile analysis reveals that no harmony existed between the courts on
the issue.
Discharged Cases make up the largest pool, and best support the rule set forth
by the majority. These cases tend to have less analysis to support the proposition
that any end short of a guilty plea or verdict is a sufficient end. C.f. II FRANK S.
RICE, GENERAL PRINCIPLES OF THE LAW OF EVIDENCE WITH THEIR APPLICATION TO
THE TRIAL OF CIVIL ACTIONS AT COMMON LAW, IN EQUITY AND UNDER THE CODES
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OF CIVIL PROCEDURE OF THE SEVERAL STATES 1062 (Rochester, The Lawyers’
Co-Operative Publishing Co. 1892). Indiana, Oregon, Maine, Tennessee, South
Carolina, West Virginia, Connecticut and Iowa applied this straightforward rule. See
Vinal v. Core, 18 W. Va. 1, 2 (1881) (holding that the termination need not bar any
subsequent prosecution for the same alleged crime, but merely that the “particular
prosecution was ended”); Merriman v. Morgan, 7 Or. 68, 73 (1879) (“[I]t [is]
necessary for the appellant to allege that the proceeding against him of which he
complained was finally terminated by his discharge or acquittal of the offense
charged against him.”); Brown v. Randall, 36 Conn. 56, 62–63 (1869) (rejecting
reasoning that a termination must foreclose subsequent prosecution on the charge,
and holding that “when a prosecution has been abandoned, . . . without any
arrangement with the accused [or] any request from him that it should be so
abandoned,” the favorable termination element is met); Paukett v. Livermore, 5
Clarke 277, 282 (Iowa 1857) (“It [is] sufficient if [the judge] discharged the accused;
and there is nothing demanding that it appear, that he found any precise matter in a
certain form.”); Page v. Cushing, 38 Me. 523, 527 (1854) (“In an action for a
malicious criminal prosecution, the plaintiff may show that the prosecution has
terminated without proving an acquittal; as that it has been abandoned . . . before his
arraignment, or before he has been required to plead.”); Chapman v. Woods, 6
Blackf. 504, 506 (Ind. 1843) (“If it be shown that the original prosecution, wherever
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instituted, is at an end, it will be sufficient.”); Thomas v. De Graffenreid, 11 S.C.L.
(2 Nott. & McC.) 143, 145 (S.C. 1819) (“It is not to be understood, that an action,
for a malicious prosecution, will not lie unless the party has been acquitted by a jury
on trial. On the contrary, a person may have his action . . . if there is a final end of
the prosecution and the party discharged.”).
Jeopardy Cases differ materially from Discharged Cases. They interpret the
favorable termination element to be met wherever “the criminal prosecution is
disposed of in such a manner that it cannot be revived.” II CHARLES T. BOONE,
FORMS OF PLEADINGS UNDER THE CODES WITH FULL REFERENCES TO THE
AUTHORITIES 273 (San Francisco, Bancroft-Whitney Co. Law Publishers and Law
Booksellers 1886); see also MELVILLE M. BIGELOW, ELEMENTS OF THE LAW OF
TORTS FOR THE USE OF STUDENTS 76 (3d ed., Boston, Little, Brown, and Company
1878) (noting that for the purposes of malicious prosecution, “[a] dismissal [after
the petit jury has been sworn] is a virtual acquittal, since a person cannot be put twice
in jeopardy for the same offence”). The caselaw indicates that this was the standard
in Kentucky, Kansas, Michigan, New Jersey, and New York. See Apgar v.
Woolston, 43 N.J.L. 57, 65–66 (N.J. 1881) (noting the “considerable diversity of
views with regard to the nature of the decision or determination which shall be
considered a final termination of the prosecution,” but holding that “the technical
prerequisite is only that the particular prosecution be disposed of in such a manner
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that it cannot be revived”); Blair v. Meshew, 7 Ky. Op. 103, 103 (Ky. 1873) (“It must
also appear that there has been a final termination of the prosecution against him
resulting in his favor, an acquittal or discharge, so that no further prosecution can be
had.”); Marbourg v. Smith, 11 Kan. 554, 562 (1873) (“If the action has been
dismissed . . . that is sufficient, if the action has not been commenced again.”);
Stanton v. Hart, 27 Mich. 539, 539–40 (1873) (acknowledging “some conflict in the
authorities” but determining that a malicious prosecution claim can be had upon the
criminal proceedings having “come to an end, by such an order or discontinuance as
will prevent a further prosecution without a new complaint”); Thomason v. Demotte,
18 How. Pr. 529 (N.Y. Sup. Ct. 1859) (“[I]t is essential that the complaint should
show that the alleged malicious prosecution has been terminated by the plaintiff’s
acquittal, or in such way that no further proceedings upon it can be had against
him.”).
The Acquittal Cases require that a plaintiff aver the following to establish a
favorable termination:
[that] the plaintiff has been acquitted . . . . The determination of the
prosecuting officer never to bring the indictment to trial, for the reason
that he deems the charge entirely unsupported is not sufficient. The
plaintiff’s acquittal must be alleged. An allegation that he has been
discharged is not sufficient. It is not enough to aver that the prosecuting
officer declared the complaint frivolous, and refused to try it.
I MORRIS M. POMEROY ESTEE & CARTER P. POMEROY, ESTEE’S PLEADINGS,
PRACTICE AND FORMS, ADAPTED TO ACTIONS AND SPECIAL PROCEEDINGS UNDER
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CODES OF CIVIL PROCEDURE 653 (3d ed., San Francisco, Bancroft-Whitney Co., Law
Publishers and Law Booksellers 1886). A merits acquittal was required in the
Kingdom of Hawai’i, Alabama, Pennsylvania, Ohio and Massachusetts, and
considered to be the standard by the Supreme Court. See Wheeler v. Nesbitt, 65 U.S.
544, 549 (1860) (“To support an action for malicious prosecution the plaintiff must
prove [that the prosecution] finally terminated in his acquittal.”); Stone v.
Hutchinson, 4 Haw. 117, 124 (1878) (“[T]he proposition that it is necessary in an
action for malicious prosecution to show that the previous action terminated in an
acquittal of the plaintiff, is so well established as not to be open for debate.”);
Kirkpatrick v. Kirkpatrick, 39 Pa. 288, 291, 299 (1861) (affirming the judgment of
the trial court declaring nonsuit in a malicious prosecution claim where the plaintiff’s
conviction was arrested and discharged and finding that “nothing short of an
acquittal will answer where the prosecution has progressed to a trial by a petit jury”);
Fortman v. Rottier, 8 Ohio St. 548, 550 (Ohio 1858) (“In an action for a malicious
prosecution . . . upon a criminal charge, it is well settled that the prosecution must
be shown to be at an end; and it must also appear that the plaintiff was acquitted of
the charge.”); Bacon v. Towne, 58 Mass. (4 Cush.) 217, 235 (1849) (“It must appear,
before this action will lie, that the defendant in the indictment has been fully
acquitted.”); Jones v. Kirksey, 10 Ala. 839, 840–41 (1846) (acknowledging
“apparent conflict in the cases” on the issue but opining, “[t]he general rule is, when
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the action is for a malicious prosecution on account of an alledged [sic] criminal
offence, that the declaration must show the prosecution is ended and determined by
the acquittal and discharge of the party accused”).
One state court actually applied a standard almost perfectly analogous to the
indication of innocence in the years immediately preceding § 1983’s passage. In
Rounds v. Humes, the Supreme Court of Rhode Island considered a malicious
prosecution case where the plaintiff and defendant/prosecutor had met during the
pendency of the prosecution and “settled their respective claims.” 7 R.I. 535, 537
(1863). The court set forth the rule that a plaintiff must allege “not only that the
proceeding complained of is terminated, but the manner in which it has been
terminated . . . must be such as to furnish prima facie evidence that the action was
without foundation.” Id. (internal citation and quotation marks omitted).
Accordingly, the court reversed the verdict in favor of the plaintiff because he “not
only failed to prove what was necessary to maintain his declaration, but proved the
precise contrary of it.” Id. at 538.
Ultimately, the practical difference between the approaches presented above
is of little importance. I group the cases together in the manner above to illustrate
how far apart the competing approaches to the favorable termination requirement
were in the late 19th century. To complicate matters further, I highlight both where
courts opined that their rule was “well-settled” and where others acknowledged
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significant disagreement between jurisdictions on the issue. It is clear upon such a
review that there was no well-settled principle of law to glean from the time § 1983
was enacted.
Even if malicious prosecution claimants who had been discharged but not
acquitted could successfully bring their suit in most states in 1871, I would not be
convinced that there was a “mountain of caselaw” indicating that the courts were in
accord. In contrast, the Court encountered a far more consistent body of 19th
century law as it applied to probable cause in Williams. The pertinent inquiry, both
here and in Williams, is whether there was a well-settled principle at the time § 1983
was enacted. And, upon determining that there was a principle, a court will
determine whether it is appropriate to apply that principle today. In Williams, the
cases and treatises that the Court reviewed sang in unison: “[A]ccusers could not
shield themselves from liability by establishing probable cause for other charges.”
Williams, 965 F.3d at 1160. There was no comparable well-settled principle
regarding favorable terminations—which explains why the most esteemed jurists of
the day failed to consistently articulate one.
The majority dismisses the Acquittal Cases as having stated such a rule only
in dicta. However, identifying “well-settled” principles of law 150 years ago is an
exercise that is as academic as it is practical. Dicta from courts of last resort—
particularly the Supreme Court—are good indications of whether principles of law
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were well-settled at the time. Just as treatises of learned scholars from the time
period help to inform our understanding of 1871 common-law, dicta by the states’
high courts provides much needed context to what the state of the law was at the
time.
The majority also contends that each Acquittal Case is met with a
corresponding case where that state’s court “held that a plaintiff could proceed
without an acquittal.” Op. at 22. However, these cases undermine the majority’s
argument in that they (1) were written before the corresponding Acquittal Case cited
herein—see Sayles v. Briggs, 45 Mass. (4 Met.) 421 (1842); Cotton v. Wilson, Minor
203 (Ala. 1824)—(2) were issued years after § 1983 was passed—Zebley v. Storey,
12 A. 569 (Pa. 1888); McCrosson v. Cummings, 5 Haw. 391 (1885)—or (3) simply
hold otherwise—Fortman, 8 Ohio St. at 550 (differentiating between the
requirement that a plaintiff complaining of a malicious criminal prosecution must
show that he or she was “acquitted of the charge” from the civil prosecution at issue
whereby the defendant had “procured an attachment to be issued”).
Based on my own review of 19th century precedent, I respectfully disagree
that there is a well-settled legal principle that commands that we abandon our
reasoning in Uboh and defy the sound logic exercised in nearly every other circuit.
Furthermore, the majority advances a standard that does not appear in any
19th century case, has been rejected by several of our sister circuits, and has not been
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adopted by any other circuit. The majority argues that its proposed standard more
accurately reflects the constitutional considerations at issue under the fourth
amendment. However, such considerations do not justify adoption of a rule that
appears out of thin air. To be clear, the Majority Opinion does not provide the source
of its “not inconsistent with his innocence on at least one charge that authorized his
confinement” rule. Op. at 28. That is likely because it has not been adopted by any
court with persuasive authority before today.
III. THE INDICATION OF INNOCENCE IN THE 11TH CIRCUIT
In the absence of a well-settled rule to adopt from 1871, the Court has no
reason to stray from its previous application of the indication of innocence standard
in Uboh. I am not convinced that common-law principles of 1871 or fourth
amendment concerns compel a different result.
In Uboh, the Court, for the first time, considered whether “a prosecutor’s
unilateral decision to dismiss specific counts of an indictment” could constitute a
termination in favor of a malicious prosecution plaintiff. 141 F.3d at 1004. The
Court noted that some courts adhere to the indication of innocence standard. Id. In
so doing, the Court acknowledged that the following terminations had been held to
be insufficient bases for a malicious prosecution charge: a withdrawal of criminal
charges pursuant to a compromise or agreement between the prosecutor and the
defendant; a dismissal of criminal charges “in the interests of justice”; and a reversal
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and remand of a criminal conviction. Id. at 1004–05. However, the Court noted that
other courts had found terminations such as acquittals, dismissals “reflecting an
affirmative decision not to prosecute,” dismissals pursuant to the expiration of the
statute of limitations, 1 noelle prosequi dismissals, and grants of writs of habeas
corpus to be favorable terminations. Id. at 1005 (citing Hilfirty v. Shipman, 91 F.3d
573, 584–85 (3d Cir. 1996); Brandley v. Keeshan, 64 F.3d 196, 199 (5th Cir. 1995)).
Finally, the Court held that, after reviewing the procedural context of the dismissal,
that the dismissal was “consistent with (though perhaps not dispositive proof of) a
finding of innocence.” 141 F.3d at 1005. The decision is narrowly tailored: while
it indicated that the facts surrounding that particular dismissal did likely indicate the
plaintiff’s innocence, it did not decide whether a voluntary dismissal tends to
indicate the innocence of the plaintiff. Id. at 1004–06; see also id. at 1005 n.8
(explaining that the holding was bolstered by “the unique combination of factors
present in this particular case”). Thus, while the Court did not formally adopt the
indication of innocence test in Uboh, it considered other courts’ application of the
standard and applied it to those specific facts.
1
The Court provided no citation for the proposition that dismissal by way of statute of
limitations is a favorable termination.
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IV. THE INDICATION OF INNOCENCE STANDARD’S UBIQUITY
Unlike the any-crime rule in Williams, a question that circuit courts were split
on, the indication of innocence standard has been adopted by all the circuit courts
that have resolved this question. As such, formal adoption of the indication of
innocence standard would synchronize the Court with our sister circuits.
The First, Second, Third, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Seventh, Ninth, Tenth, and D.C.
Circuits all rely on the indication of innocence standard, and no federal court of
appeals has adopted the majority’s rule. See Jordan v. Town of Waldoboro, 943 F.3d
532, 545–46 (1st Cir. 2019) (“[A] plaintiff must show that the prosecution was
terminated in such a way as to imply the plaintiff’s innocence.”); Lanning v. Cty of
Glen Falls, 908 F.3d 19, 25 (2d Cir. 2018) (declining to apply a “not inconsistent
with innocence” test to a § 1983 malicious prosecution claim and clarifying that, per
Manuel, the court’s “prior decisions requiring affirmative indications of innocence”
control); Kossler v. Crisanti, 564 F.3d 181, 187 (3d Cir. 2009) (requiring a § 1983
malicious prosecution claimant to establish that the termination of the prosecution
indicated his innocence); Salley v. Myers, — F.3d —, 2020 WL 4664808, at *4 (4th
Cir. 2020) (opining that the favorable termination element is satisfied in a § 1983
malicious prosecution claim where the termination indicates the plaintiff’s
innocence); Lemoine v. Wolfe, 812 F.3d 477, 479 (5th Cir. 2016) (“A nolle prosequi
based on an extradition policy cannot constitute a bona fide termination because such
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a dismissal is not indicative of innocence.”); Jones v. Clark Cnty, 959 F.3d 748, 763–
65 (6th Cir. 2020) (applying the indication of innocence standard to a § 1983
malicious prosecution claimant); Logan v. Caterpillar, Inc., 246 F.3d 912, 924–25
(7th Cir. 2001) (finding that a malicious prosecution claim failed where the plaintiff
had not introduced admissible evidence that the dismissal of the charges against him
indicated his innocence); Roberts v. Cty of Fairbanks, 947 F.3d 1191, 1201–02 (9th
Cir. 2020) (acknowledging that the favorable termination element of a malicious
prosecution claim—distinct from the favorable termination rule of a challenge to a
conviction or sentence—requires a termination that indicates the innocence of the
plaintiff); Cordova v. Cty of Albuquerque, 816 F.3d 645, 652–53 (10th Cir. 2016)
(applying the indication of innocence standard in a § 1983 malicious prosecution
case as opposed to a “not inconsistent with innocence” standard, opining that the
latter approach “flips the traditional rule on its head by presuming terminations are
favorable until proven otherwise”); Whelan v. Abell, 953 F.2d 663, 669–70 (D.C.
Cir. 1992) (applying the indication of innocence standard).
Although the Fifth, Seventh, and D.C. Circuits have only applied the
indication of innocence standard to state-law malicious prosecution claims, they
have utilized no alternative standard for the favorable termination element in § 1983
malicious prosecution. Furthermore, those courts’ application of the indication of
innocence to state-law malicious prosecution is (1) indicative of the confines of a §
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1983 claim in that jurisdiction, and (2) further evidence of the indication of
innocence standard’s pervasiveness throughout the federal court system. Cf.
Washington v. Summerville, 127 F.3d 552, 557–59 (7th Cir. 1997) (ruling that the
plaintiff failed to allege that his termination indicated his innocence pursuant to
Illinois law, and finding that his § 1983 malicious prosecution claim likewise failed
because he could not demonstrate a cognizable state-law claim).
That the indication of innocence standard continues to be used in light of
Manuel and Nieves speaks to its strength. The Second Circuit in Lanning opined
that the indication of innocence standard prohibits defendants from “relitigat[ing]
the issue of probable cause . . . thus posing the prospect of harassment, waste and
endless litigation.” 908 F.3d at 26 (quoting Singleton v. Cty of New York, 632 F.2d
185, 195 (2d Cir. 1980)). Indeed, allowing the favorable termination requirement to
retain its teeth sets the tort of § 1983 malicious prosecution apart from § 1983 false
arrest; to hold otherwise would reduce the malicious prosecution inquiry to a mere
determination of probable cause.
Finally, the Tenth Circuit expressly rejected the not inconsistent with
innocence standard. See Cordova, 816 F.3d at 654 (“It cannot be the case that all
dismissals that result from granted motions are favorable terminations for purposes
of malicious prosecution actions.”). In so doing, the Tenth Circuit noted that the
indication of innocence test is “a standard feature of the tort of malicious prosecution
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and a reflection of the idea that malicious prosecution actions are disfavored at
common law.” Id. at 653. And, the court emphasized the indication of innocence
standard balances the important considerations at play—noting that it may bar some
meritorious claims, but it serves as “a useful filtering mechanism, barring actions
that have not already demonstrated some likelihood of success.” Id. at 654. Because
almost all courts of appeal have adopted the standard, and our adoption would not
only synchronize the circuit courts, but also strike the best balance between filtering
out meritless claims and permitting claims that demonstrate some likelihood of
success, the Court should adopt the indication of innocence.
V. THE TORT OF MALICIOUS PROSECUTION AND THE FOURTH
AMENDMENT
The majority argues that the favorable termination requirement functions as a
mere “rule of accrual, not as a criterion for determining whether a constitutional
violation occurred.” Op. at 27. It is not lost on me that the Fourth Amendment is
primarily concerned with searches and seizures, not prosecutions. The unlikely
interplay between the elements of malicious prosecution and Fourth Amendment
considerations has, academically speaking, complicated the administration of the
tort under § 1983. For example, then-Circuit Judge Neil Gorsuch concurred in the
judgment in Cordova but expressed doubts about whether malicious prosecution
should remain a recognized tort under § 1983. He opined that because the Fourth
Amendment “focused on restraining police action before the invocation of judicial
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processes,” while the tort of malicious prosecution implicated “the misuse of judicial
proceedings, . . . it’s just pretty hard to see how you might squeeze anything that
looks quite like the common law tort of malicious prosecution into the Fourth
Amendment.” Id. at 662–63 (Gorsuch, J., concurring). He noted that there was
significant diversity between opinions that had embraced the issue, but that the
Supreme Court had recently agreed to revisit the question—it had just granted cert
in Manuel v. City of Joliet, 590 F. App’x 641 (7th Cir. 2015), cert. granted, 136 S.
Ct. 890, 193 L. Ed. 2d 783 (2016). However, the Supreme Court declined to take
up that mantel. See Manuel, 137 S. Ct. at 923 (Alito, J., dissenting) (opining that the
majority ignored “the question that we agreed to decide, i.e., whether a claim of
malicious prosecution may be brought under the Fourth Amendment”). The
Supreme Court has not since given any indication that malicious prosecution cannot
exist as a tort under the fourth amendment, and our own precedent reinforces its
continued existence as such. See Williams, 965 F.3d at 1157 (requiring that a § 1983
malicious prosecution claimant satisfy “the elements of the common law tort of
malicious prosecution”).
The majority attempts to massage the favorable termination requirement in a
way that will square the tort of malicious prosecution with the Fourth Amendment,
thus tying a tidy bow on the debate. However, this Court is not tasked with
answering this bigger question, left unanswered by the Supreme Court. Instead, we
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are asked merely to apply the tort of malicious prosecution under § 1983—a tort
which exists, despite some persuasive arguments in favor of its elimination—to a set
of facts that might be new to this Court but are far from groundbreaking. If malicious
prosecution is a tort that is so incongruous with the Fourth Amendment that it can
no longer be cognizable under § 1983, then a court will be asked to prohibit such
claims. No one has asked the Court to do so today. Therefore, rather than trying to
force § 1983 malicious prosecution to be something completely other than what it
is—a tort that concerns the abuse of legal processes—we should apply the law as it
lays before us.
VI. THE MAJORITY’S APPROACH SPRINGBOARDS EVERY CLAIM
TO SUMMARY JUDGMENT
The majority does not adequately consider the practical effect of adopting its
proposed rule. Even if such a shift will not result in an influx of malicious
prosecution cases filed on federal dockets, district courts will face greater difficulty
in efficiently disposing with unsupported claims.
The utility of the rule as laid out by our sister circuits and applied in Uboh is
that it permits courts to dismiss faulty claims prior to discovery. For a malicious
prosecution claim to survive a motion to dismiss, a plaintiff in any other circuit must
affirmatively aver that the way the prosecution was terminated indicates his or her
innocence in some way. Under the majority’s rule, a prospective plaintiff need only
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plead two negatives: (1) that there was no probable cause; and (2) that the
termination of the prosecution was not inconsistent with his innocence.
This distinction is not semantic. Pleading a want of probable cause is easy.
Even in cases where there is ample probable cause for the initiation of legal process,
a complaint that reads “Plaintiff was not doing what the arresting officer said
Plaintiff was doing” will not be dismissed as a matter of law. Indeed, the district
courts within this circuit are routinely forced to deny motions to dismiss on probable
cause grounds, even where no evidence would support the plaintiff’s allegation. See,
e.g., Blackshear v. Cty of Miami Beach, 799 F. Supp. 2d 1338, 1347 (S.D. Fla. 2011)
(“[W]here the legitimacy of relevant evidence is disputed . . . the question of whether
there is an absence of probable cause is inappropriate at [the motion to dismiss] stage
in the litigation.”); Ruch v. McKenzie, No. 1:15-cr-03296, 2019 WL 1407012, at *11
(N.D. Ga. Mar. 28, 2019) (noting that while the court previously denied a motion to
dismiss on probable cause grounds—after accepting the claim that there was no
probable cause for the plaintiff’s arrest as true—the “undisputed evidence available
at summary judgment shows [the] [d]efendant had probable cause or at least
arguable probable cause to arrest—a fundamentally different factual predicate than
existed at the motion to dismiss stage”); Stefani v. Cty of Grovetown, No. 1:15-cv-
164, 2016 WL 4611575, at *5 (S.D. Ga. Sept. 2, 2016) (determining that “the
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motion-to-dismiss stage is not the appropriate time” to resolve whether the
defendants had arguable probable cause for the purposes of qualified-immunity).
The favorable termination element provides an additional opportunity for
courts to stop false claims short. To reduce this element to any termination that is
not inconsistent with the plaintiff’s innocence on at least one charge, district courts
will invariably be bound to deny motions to dismiss on facts that have no chance of
surviving summary judgment. Although the Majority Opinion does not explain what
a sufficient claim for a favorable termination would look like under its rule, it
appears that there is no need for a plaintiff to plead anything more than “the charges
against me were dismissed.”
The indication of innocence standard does not per se disallow a plaintiff like
Laskar from making a malicious prosecution claim under § 1983. Rather, it merely
requires a plaintiff like Laskar to point to something that would indicate that his
dismissal by way of the expiration of the statute of limitations affirmatively indicates
his innocence in some way. This is not an onerous task—all that is required is the
pleading of some contextual facts. Take, for example, a prosecutor that acted with
malice in pursuing a prosecution not founded on probable cause, but then allowed
the action to lay dormant until it became time-barred to foreclose a malicious
prosecution claim. Such a plaintiff could plead exactly that and, depending on the
specificity and sufficiency of his allegations, still pass the indication of innocence
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test. See Cordova, 816 F.3d at 654. District courts could dispose of claims where a
plaintiff cannot, in good faith, make such averments before discovery commences.
And, those plaintiffs that do have meritorious claims could plead the contextual facts
necessary to allege that their terminations were favorable. Not only would
government and judicial resources be spared, but plaintiffs that have suffered a
genuine malicious prosecution would have no trouble having their cases heard. The
indication of innocence standard is efficient and just.
VII. CONCLUSION
Accordingly, because the indication of innocence standard (1) has already
been applied by this Court, (2) is heralded as the standard in almost every other
circuit, (3) permits the dismissal of spurious claims at the motion to dismiss stage,
and (4) is not contrary to any well-settled common-law principle at the time of
§ 1983’s passage, I respectfully dissent.
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