Judge throws out malicious prosecution claim

On December 3, 2008, Lowis & Gellen won the early dismissal of a case filed against a local county prosecutor. The plaintiff had asserted a malicious prosecution claim against the prosecutor, alleging that the prosecutor acted maliciously and beyond his authority in filing trespass charges and in investigating the background of those charges. In throwing out the lawsuit, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois made two rulings. First, the court held that under Illinois law, the prosecutor had absolute immunity from any claim concerning the initiation or prosecution of criminal charges. Second, the court ruled that Illinois law gave the prosecutor sovereign immunity from any claim concerning the pre-charges investigation of the alleged trespass because the prosecutor’s investigatory acts were neither malicious nor beyond the scope of his duties. The published opinion can be found at 2008 WL 5101613 (N.D.Ill Dec. 3, 2008).