The Sixth Circuit yesterday decided a wrongful conviction appeal yesterday affirming the grant of immunity to all but one defendant and denying the appeal of the lone defendant who was not granted immunity. The court relied on its earlier opinion McDonald v. Flake, 814 F.3d 804 to conclude that where a district judge makes findings of fact in a qualified immunity case those findings cannot be challenged on an interlocutory appeal. The decision in this case is particularly difficult since the defendant is dead and the allegation that kept his estate in the case is that he intentionally lied in testimony about the cause of a fire and in reporting on his analysis of the cause of the fire. The district court properly held the estate was entitled to absolute immunity for the testimony, so the issue left is whether the estate is entitled to qualified immunity based on the pre trial work. The defense pointed to a vast amount of information in the public record that supported a finding that the defendant may have been mistaken; i.e., over time the science regarding the cause of fires has developed and proved the theory used by the defendant wrong when he originally studied this case and that experts at the time may have relied on the same science as the defendant. Nevertheless, the court concluded that because the district court decided that the issue was one of fact and one resolved against the defendant by the court, it did not have jurisdiction to review the appeal on an interlocutory basis. The case is: Gavitt v Born, http://www.opn.ca6.uscourts.gov/opinions.pdf/16a0216p-06.pdf Charles W. Thompson, Jr. Executive Director and General Counsel International Municipal Lawyers Association, Inc. 7910 Woodmont Ave., Suite 1440 Bethesda, Maryland 20814 202-466-5424 x7110 Direct: 202-742-1016 Cell: 240-876-6790 Plan ahead: IMLA's Annual Conference September 28 - October 2, 2016 - San Diego IMLA's Section 1983 Litigation Defense and Annual Seminar April 20-24, 2017- Omni Shoreham, DC