Stresemann v. Jesson

Respondent, the chief investigator for the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit (MFCU) of the Minnesota Attorney General’s Office, was investigating Affiliated Counseling Center, LLC (Affiliated) when she applied for and received a search warrant for Affiliated’s premises. The police executed the warrant and seized numerous documents from Affiliated’s office, including patient files. Thereafter, Appellant, the sole owner of Affiliated, sued Respondent, alleging that Respondent committed conversion and trespass to chattels by losing and/or destroying some of Affiliated’s patient files. Respondent moved to dismiss, asserting that she was entitled to prosecutorial immunity. The district court denied the motion. The court of appeals reversed, concluding that Respondent was entitled to prosecutorial immunity because her challenged conduct was taken pursuant to her statutory authority to investigate Medicaid fraud. The Supreme Court reversed, holding (1) prosecutorial immunity does not extend to an investigator when the investigator’s conduct is not intimately involved with the initiation and maintenance of criminal charges; and (2) therefore, the court of appeals erred when it concluded that Respondent was entitled to prosecutorial immunity. View "Stresemann v. Jesson" on Justia Law