Mrs. Susie Lite Morrison v. City of Baton Rouge

This case presents the question whether a state prosecutor may be liable for damages under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 for maliciously presenting evidence to a grand jury in a manner calculated to clear a suspect of wrongdoing. We conclude that in such circumstances a prosecutor is absolutely immune from liability for damages.

I

On March 11, 1978, a resident of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, reported to the police department that his home had been burglarized. When officers arrived at the residence to investigate, they discovered Clarence Morrison, Jr., the fourteen-year-old son of the plaintiffs, hiding in a…