Ryan v. State
Ryan v. State
Opinion of the Court
OPINION OF THE COURT
Memorandum.
The order of the Appellate Division should be affirmed, with costs.
According to claimant’s theory of liability as stated in his verified bill of particulars, the acts of prosecutorial misconduct complained of were undertaken by the various employees of the State for the purpose of advancing their own personal interests. That being so, the doctrine of prosecutorial immunity and the legal principle that vicarious liability cannot be imposed upon the State as employer under the doctrine of respondeat superior in such circumstances preclude recovery against the State. (Imbler v Pachtman, 424 US 409; Sauter v New York Tribune, 305 NY 442, 444-445; accord Restatement, Agency 2d, § 235; see, also, Cornell v State of New York, 46 NY2d 1032; Johnson v Daily News, 34 NY2d 33; see, generally, Prosser, Law of Torts [4th ed], § 70, pp 464-466; 2 Harper and James, Law of Torts, § 26.9, pp 1391-1392.) Therefore, claimant’s action properly was dismissed.
Concurring Opinion
(concurring). Aside from the pleaded acts of prosecutorial misconduct to which the majority confines itself, claimant’s allegations of aggrievement, not without support in the record, may also be said to spell out a charge that the accusations which were made against him not only were baseless but hardly free from political motivation. But, assuming these conflicted with the Code of Professional Responsibility (DR7-103; EC7-14; see, also, EC7-13) or could be thought to justify action to vindicate the victim’s reputation (cf. United States v Modica, 663 F2d
Judges Jasen, Gabrielli, Jones and Wachtler concur; Judge Fuchsberg concurs in a separate memorandum; Chief Judge Cooke and Judge Meyer taking no part. Order affirmed, with costs, in a memorandum.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Charles W. Ryan, Jr., Appellant, v. State of New York, Respondent
- Cited By
- 6 cases
- Status
- Published