Brandon Lee Moon v. County of El Paso, Texas, et al.

Whether absolute immunity shields a prosecutor’s unconstitutional handling of post-conviction DNA testing under Imbler v. Pachtman, 424 U.S. 409 (1976), where the prosecutor’s personal involvement with legal proceedings has ended, there is no ongoing judicial proceeding in which the prosecutor could function as an advocate, and all existing direct and collateral post-conviction appeals have been exhausted. As to this question, there is a circuit split between the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit in Yarris v. County of Delaware, 465 F.3d 129 (3d Cir. 2006), and the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit here, and the Fifth Circuit’s holding also conflicts in principle with decisions of the First, Second, Fourth, Sixth, Seventh, Eighth, and Ninth Circuits.