Full opinion text
CLAY, J., delivered the opinion of the court, in which MOORE, J., joined. KETHLEDGE, J. (pp. 401-07), delivered a separate opinion concurring in the judgment in part and dissenting in part. SECOND AMENDED OPINION CLAY, Circuit Judge. In this action, Plaintiff Jeffrey Moldowan (“Moldowan”) asserts a number of claims under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 alleging violations of his rights under the Fourth, Fifth, Sixth and Fourteenth Amendments, as well as claims under Michigan state law. Moldowan’s claims arise out of his arrest, criminal prosecution, conviction, and retrial for the 1990 abduction and brutal sexual assault of Maureen Fournier (“Fournier”). After new evidence came to light and a key prosecution witness recanted her testimony, the Michigan Supreme Court reversed Moldowan’s conviction in 2002. People v. Moldowan, 466 Mich. 862, 643 N.W.2d 570 (2002). On retrial, in February 2003, Moldowan was acquitted of all charges and released, having served nearly twelve years in prison. After his release, Moldowan filed the instant civil action asserting various claims against the City of Warren, the Warren Police Department, Macomb County, the Macomb County Prosecutor in his official capacity, Dr. Alan Warnick, Warren Police Detective Donald Ingles, Warren Police Officer Mark Christian, and Fournier. Moldowan subsequently amended his complaint to assert claims against Warren Police Officer Michael Schultz. Broadly speaking, Moldowan alleges that the Defendants — both acting separately and conspiring together — violated his civil rights by fabricating evidence against him, failing to disclose exculpatory evidence, and pursuing his prosecution and retrial without probable cause. After discovery, the Defendants moved for summary judgment on all thirty-six counts asserted in Moldowan’s Third Amended Complaint raising various immunity defenses. After dismissing certain counts against Detective Ingles, the City of Warren, and the Warren Police Department, and dismissing all counts against Officer Christian, the district court denied Defendants’ motions for summary judgment in all other respects. These three interlocutory appeals followed. For the reasons set forth herein, we AFFIRM IN PART and REVERSE IN PART the judgment of the district court. I. Moldowan’s Third Amended Complaint asserts thirty-six claims against nine county, municipal, and individual defendants. All claims arise out of Moldowan’s arrest, criminal prosecution, conviction, and retrial for the abduction and assault of Maureen Fournier. A. Factual Background On the morning of August 9, 1990, Emergency Medical Service (“EMS”) found Fournier badly injured and lying in the street in the City of Detroit. EMS transported Fournier to St. John’s Hospital. The medical forms completed on her admission to the hospital, as well as subsequent medical reports and testimony from her doctors, bear witness to the extreme brutality of the crime. The police determined that Fournier had been abducted from the City of Warren, brutally assaulted and raped, and left on a street in Detroit. Because Fournier had been abducted from Warren, the matter was turned over to the Warren Police Department (“Department”), and the case was assigned to Detective Ingles. Given the extent of Fournier’s injuries, officers had to wait two days before they could interview her regarding the attack. Even then, the extent of Fournier’s injuries forced Detective Ingles to write questions on a board, and Fournier responded in kind. During the interview, Fournier reported that she had been abducted from Warren on the night of August 8,1990 by four Caucasian males, all of whom she knew. Fournier stated that, while she was walking down the street, she was approached by Moldowan, who was her ex-boyfriend, thrown into a white or light-colored van, and brutally beaten and raped by three of the four assailants. Fournier identified her attackers as Michael Cristini, Jim Cristini, Tracy Tapp (“Tapp”), and Moldowan. Fournier’s sister, Colleen Corcoran (“Corcoran”), confirmed Fournier’s claims that Moldowan previously had assaulted and threatened Fournier. After completing their investigation, the police arrested and charged all four individuals. The police subsequently dropped the charges against Tapp based on his alibi that he had been in Texas for several days prior to the assault, had not returned to the Michigan until the evening of August 8, and spent the rest of the night with his girlfriend. Tapp’s girlfriend confirmed his alibi. On September 17-18, 1990, the Macomb County Circuit Court held a preliminary examination to determine whether sufficient evidence existed to proceed to trial. During that hearing, Fournier testified that, prior to the assault, she had dated and lived with Moldowan for more than a year before their relationship ended when he was arrested for assaulting her. Fournier and her sister both testified that, pri- or to the attack, Moldowan had been abusive toward Fournier and threatened her. In describing the assault, Fournier testified that she had been walking on 11 Mile Road in Warren when a van pulled alongside her. Fournier testified that Moldowan got out of the van, grabbed her, and dragged her into the van, where she was beaten and raped. As a result of the assault, Fournier suffered significant injuries that required extensive abdominal surgery. Corcoran also testified at the hearing, stating that she received a call from an unidentified male on August 9, 1990, the day Fournier was found in Detroit, inquiring as to Fournier’s whereabouts. Corcoran claims that she immediately recognized the caller as Moldowan. Corcoran testified that, although she knew that her sister was in the hospital, she lied and told Moldowan that her sister was at home with her, and that Moldowan then exclaimed: “No, she’s not.... She’s at the morgue.” (J.A. 839.) Corcoran also testified that Moldowan had called her home the previous day looking for Fournier, and that Moldowan had stated that “he was going to get her.” (J.A. 841-42.) At the conclusion of the examination, the court dismissed Jim Cristini as a defendant, but bound over Moldowan and Michael Cristini on all counts. A jury trial was held from April 30 to May 10, 1991, during which Fournier and Corcoran offered substantially the same testimony they provided during the preliminary examination. Fournier also testified that she had never been in the Detroit neighborhood where EMS found her, and that she had never frequented a crack house in the area. In addition, Dr. Alan Warnick, D.D.S., a forensic odontologist and consultant for the Wayne County Medical Examiner’s Office and a consultant to Macomb County, Monroe County, and the Michigan State Police, offered expert testimony that bite marks on Fournier’s neck were consistent with dental impressions taken from Moldowan, and that bite marks on Fournier’s right arm and right side were consistent with Michael Cristini’s dentition. In describing his conclusions, Dr. Warnick testified that the “chances are ... 2.1 billion to 1 that another individual can make those same marks.” (J.A. 2544.) In presenting their defense, Cristini and Moldowan offered alibi witnesses who testified that the defendants were not together on the evening in question. The defense also introduced pizza delivery tickets which documented the location of the pizza deliveries Cristini had made the night of August 8, 1990, seeking to show that Cristini could not have been part of the kidnaping. The defense also presented testimony from a witness who claimed that she observed several males in the street where Fournier was found, and that the males were both Caucasian and African-American. The defense also offered expert testimony from its own forensic odontologists countering Dr. Warnick’s testimony concerning the bite-mark evidence. On rebuttal, the prosecution called Dr. Pamela Hammel, D.D.S., a colleague of Dr. Warnick, who offered testimony corroborating and supporting Dr. Warnick’s conclusions. On May 10, 1991, the jury convicted Moldowan and Cristini of kidnaping, assault with intent to commit murder, and two counts of criminal sexual conduct in the first degree. After sentencing, the court entered an order requiring that “[a]ll evidence in the custody of the Warren Police Department, the Macomb County Prosecutor’s Office and the Macomb County Circuit Court[,] whether admitted into evidence or not ... [,] be preserved from this date forward until further order of the Circuit Court, Michigan Court of Appeals, or Michigan Supreme Court.” (J.A. 2613.) After trial, a private investigator hired by Moldowan’s family located a witness, Jerry Burroughs, who reported that, on the morning of August 9, 1990, he saw four African-American males standing around a naked white female who was lying in the street, and that he saw the four men leave in a light-colored van. Burroughs further recounted that, approximately one week after the assault, he overheard two of those same men talking about the incident and bragging that they had participated in the assault. Burroughs also indicated that he had seen Fournier in that neighborhood several times that summer frequenting a crack house in the area. In addition to this new evidence, Dr. Hammel, after being approached several years later by Moldowan’s appellate counsel, also recanted her testimony. Dr. Hammel explained that she initially had trouble matching the defendants’ dentitions to the bite marks on Fournier’s body, but that Dr. Warnick had reassured her that Dr. Norman Sperber, a highly respected forensic odontologist, had reviewed the evidence and confirmed Dr. Warnick’s conclusions. After subsequently determining that Dr. Sperber had never reviewed any evidence in the case, Dr. Hammel surmised that Dr. Warnick “had been deceptive in order to mislead [her] into testifying in support of his conclusions.” (J.A. 2568.) In a sworn affidavit, Dr. Hammel stated that, had she known that Dr. Warnick’s representation that Dr. Sperber had reviewed the evidence was untrue, she “would never have agreed to testify as a rebuttal witness in support of Dr. Warnick’s conclusions.” (J.A. 2568.) On the basis of this new evidence and discredited testimony, Moldowan again sought review of his conviction. The Michigan Supreme Court eventually reversed Moldowan’s conviction, and remanded the matter for a new trial. In particular, the Michigan Supreme Court found that “the prosecutor’s two expert witnesses with respect to ‘bite-mark’ evidence have either recanted testimony which concluded that bite marks on the victim were made by the defendant or presented opinion evidence which has now been discredited.” Moldowan, 643 N.W.2d at 570. The court also noted that the prosecutor conceded that “it simply is not fair to say that the defendant or defendant’s counsel should have known about the problems with the bite-mark evidence prior to trial. The same can also be said with regard to the later-discovered alibi witnesses.... Without the bite-mark evidence and with the additional alibi witnesses, the result of the trial could have been different.” Id. at 571. On retrial, in February 2003, Moldowan was acquitted of all charges and released. All told, Moldowan spent nearly twelve years in prison. B. Procedural History of the Instant Action On January 28, 2005, Moldowan brought this civil action asserting numerous claims under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and Michigan state law. Moldowan ultimately filed three amended complaints. In resolving an earlier motion regarding discovery, the district court offered the following summary of the claims asserted by Moldowan in his Third Amended Complaint, the operative pleading at this juncture: Plaintiffs current complaint (Third Amended Complaint filed February 9, 2006) alleges a total of 36 counts against several groups of defendants: City of Warren; Police Department of City of Warren (WPD); County of Macomb and its Prosecutor in his official capacity; and sued in their individual and official capacities: Alan Warnick [forensic consultant], Donald Ingles [WPD detective], Mark Christian [WPD detective], Michael Schultz [WPD sergeant in charge of the evidence room], and “other Present and Former Members of the Warren Police Department and office of the Ma-comb County Prosecutor as yet unidentified,” and sued individually: Maureen Fournier [the crime victim]. The case currently exceeds 200 docket entries with numerous ... discovery disputes and appeals. Extensive discovery has been conducted — lengthy depositions taken and numerous interrogatories and requests to produce exchanged. The complaint alleges federal violations of plaintiffs civil and constitutional rights during his criminal prosecution, as well as state claims including intentional infliction of emotional distress against Ms. Fournier for her conduct in the second prosecution. Relevant to the instant motion are plaintiffs claims against the City of Warren and the Warren Police Department. With respect to these defendants, plaintiff alleges a conspiracy between Warnick and members of the Warren Police (Counts V, VI, VII, VIII), and conspiracy between Ms. Fournier and members of the Warren Police Department (Counts XVI, XVII, XVIII, XIX). Plaintiff also contends that there is liability on the part of the City of Warren and Warren Police Department for inadequate training and/or supervising of police officers regarding the constitutional rights of citizens (Count XXIV), and for the actions of defendant Ingles as the final policymaker in conducting the investigation (Count XXV). Additionally, plaintiff claims liability against the City of Warren and the Warren Police Department for the destruction of evidence in violation of a court order. He also claims that the Warren Police Department and the City of Warren are liable, along with Macomb County and its prosecutor, for the continued seizure and prosecution of plaintiff without probable cause in the second trial in violation of his constitutional rights under the Fourth Amendment (Count XXVII), and his rights to substantive due process under the Fourteenth Amendment (Count XXVIII), and his rights to procedural due process under the Fourteenth Amendment (Count XXIX). He also has a state claim for false imprisonment in connection with the second prosecution (Count XXXV). Moldowan v. City of Warren, 2006 WL 3106090, at *2-3 (E.D.Mich.2006) (alterations in original). After extensive discovery, Defendants filed motions for summary judgment, asserting various qualified and absolute immunity defenses. Moldowan opposed those motions and cross-moved for partial summary judgment. Based on concessions made by Moldowan in his response to Defendants’ motions, the district court dismissed Counts XXV, XXVII, XXVIII, and XXIX as to the City of Warren and the Warren Police Department, dismissed all claims against Officer Christian, and dismissed Count XXXII against Detective Ingles. After receiving briefing from all parties and hearing argument on the matter, the district court denied Defendants’ motions as to all remaining claims. The district court denied the County’s motion on the grounds that “[t]he filing is appropriate against the County as a matter of law and certainly there are many questions of material fact for a jury to determine.” (J.A. 3041.) As to the Warren Defendants’ motion, the district court concluded that “[tjhere are far too many questions of fact here.” (J.A. 3020.) As to Dr. Warnick’s motion, the court concluded that the motion “has to be denied” because “[tjhere are too many facts at issue here even as to qualified immunity to grant summary judgment.” (J.A. 3065.) As to Fournier’s motion, the court concluded that “[tjhere are innumerable issues of fact here, particularly as to simply whether Fournier lied or not. And the Court will instruct ... that this was an intentional infliction or the jury is to decide whether there was an intentional infliction of emotional distress. I do find that the elements have been met.” (J.A. 3090-91.) The court also denied Moldowan’s motion for partial summary judgment. The district court subsequently entered three written orders stating merely that Defendants’ motions for summary judgment were “denied for the reasons stated on the record.” (J.A. 323, 326, 328.) The district court’s written order as to the Warren Defendants’ motion also dismissed “all claims against the City of Warren Police Department ... for the reason that the City of Warren Police Department is not a legal entity capable of being sued.” (J.A. 326.) These three interlocutory appeals followed. II. Before turning to the merits of Defendants’ appeals, we first must determine whether and to what extent we have jurisdiction to consider on interlocutory appeal the issues raised by the parties. On December 3, 2007, Moldowan moved this Court to dismiss each of the three interloeutory appeals, arguing that the trial court’s orders do not constitute final orders appealable under 28 U.S.C. § 1291 and are not appealable under the collateral order doctrine. By order dated March 27, 2008, a prior panel of this Court referred Moldowan’s motions to this panel for resolution. Upon consideration, we hereby deny Moldowan’s motions. A. Jurisdiction under the Collateral Order Doctrine Although 28 U.S.C. § 1291 vests this Court with jurisdiction over appeals only from “final decisions” of the district courts, “a decision ‘final’ within the meaning of § 1291 does not necessarily mean the last order possible to be made in a case.” Gillespie v. United States Steel Corp., 379 U.S. 148, 152, 85 S.Ct. 308, 13 L.Ed.2d 199 (1964). A decision also is appealable if it falls within “that small class [of orders] which finally determine claims of right separable from, and collateral to, rights asserted in the action, .too important to be denied review and too independent of the cause itself to require that appellate consideration be deferred until the whole case is adjudicated.” Cohen v. Beneficial Indus. Loan Corp., 337 U.S. 541, 546, 69 S.Ct. 1221, 93 L.Ed. 1528 (1949). That “small class” of decisions is limited to orders granting or denying a claim that “cannot be effectively vindicated after the trial has occurred.” Mitchell v. Forsyth, 472 U.S. 511, 525, 105 S.Ct. 2806, 86 L.Ed.2d 411 (1985). The requirements for bringing an appeal under Cohen's collateral order doctrine “have been distilled down to three conditions: that an order ‘[1] conclusively determine the disputed question, [2] resolve an important issue completely separate from the merits of the action, and [3] be effectively unreviewable on appeal from a final judgment.’ ” Will v. Hallock, 546 U.S. 345, 349, 126 S.Ct. 952, 163 L.Ed.2d 836 (2006) (quoting Puerto Rico Aqueduct and Sewer Auth. v. Metcalf & Eddy, Inc., 506 U.S. 139, 144, 113 S.Ct. 684, 121 L.Ed.2d 605 (1993)). In Johnson v. Jones, 515 U.S. 304, 115 S.Ct. 2151, 132 L.Ed.2d 238 (1995), the Supreme Court clarified these elements as follows: The requirement that the issue underlying the order be “effectively unreviewable” later on, for example, means that failure to review immediately may well cause significant harm. The requirement that the district court’s order “conclusively determine” the question means that appellate review is likely needed to avoid that harm. The requirement that the matter be separate from the merits o'f the action itself means that review now is less likely to force the appellate court to consider approximately the same (or a very similar) matter more than once, and also seems less likely to delay trial court proceedings (for, if the matter is truly collateral, those proceedings might continue while the appeal is pending). Id. at 311, 115 S.Ct. 2151 (citations omitted) (emphasis in original). The Court also has noted that “some particular value of a high order” must be “marshaled in support of the interest in avoiding trial.” Will, 546 U.S. at 352, 126 S.Ct. 952. Thus, to take advantage of the collateral order doctrine, a party pursuing an interlocutory appeal must satisfy these three basic elements, as well as demonstrate that the challenged order “ ‘imperil[s] a substantial public interest.’ ” Kelly v. Great Seneca Fin. Corp., 447 F.3d 944, 948 (6th Cir.2006) (quoting Will, 546 U.S. at 353, 126 S.Ct. 952). B. Jurisdiction in the Context of Immunity Claims Whether we have jurisdiction to consider an issue on interlocutory appeal thus requires us to consider the three basic elements as well as whether the denial of summary judgment implicates “substantial public interests.” In this case, that requires us to consider the interests implicated by the district court’s denial of Defendants’ qualified and absolute immunity claims in the context in which those defenses have been asserted. 1. Defendants’ Qualified Immunity Claims Generally speaking, the rationale underlying the qualified immunity doctrine is that, “where an official’s duties legitimately require action in which clearly established rights are not implicated, the public interest may be better served by action taken ‘with independence and without fear of consequences.’ ” Harlow v. Fitzgerald, 457 U.S. 800, 819, 102 S.Ct. 2727, 73 L.Ed.2d 396 (1982) (quoting Pierson v. Ray, 386 U.S. 547, 554, 87 S.Ct. 1213, 18 L.Ed.2d 288 (1967)). “Unless the plaintiffs allegations state a claim of violation of clearly established law, a defendant pleading qualified immunity is entitled to dismissal before the commencement of discovery.” Mitchell, 472 U.S. at 526, 105 S.Ct. 2806. Like absolute immunity, the qualified immunity privilege entitles a party to “immunity from suit rather than a mere defense to liability,” and thus “is effectively lost if a case is erroneously permitted to go to trial.” Id. (emphasis in original). In light of these interests, the Supreme Court has concluded that the denial of a defendant’s assertion of qualified immunity “easily meets” the Cohen requirements: Such a decision is “conclusive” in either of two respects. In some cases, it may represent the trial court’s conclusion that even if the facts are as asserted by the defendant, the defendant’s actions violated clearly established law and are therefore not within the scope of the qualified immunity. In such a case, there -will be nothing in the subsequent course of the proceedings in the district court that can alter the court’s conclusion that the defendant is not immune. Alternatively, the trial judge may rule only that if the facts are as asserted by the plaintiff, the defendant is not immune. At trial, the plaintiff may not succeed in proving his version of the facts, and the defendant may thus escape liability. Even so, the court’s denial of summary judgment finally and conclusively determines the defendant’s claim of right not to stand trial on the plaintiffs allegations, and because “[there] are simply no further steps that can be taken in the District Court to avoid the trial the defendant maintains is barred,” it is apparent that “Cohen’s, threshold requirement of a fully consummated decision is satisfied” in such a case. Abney v. United States, 431 U.S. 651, 659, 97 S.Ct. 2034, 52 L.Ed.2d 651 (1977). Mitchell, 472 U.S. at 527, 105 S.Ct. 2806. Thus, pursuant to Mitchell, “federal appellate courts have jurisdiction to hear interlocutory appeals considering ‘the legal question of qualified immunity, i.e., whether a given set of facts violates clearly established law.’ ” Farm Labor Org. Comm. v. Ohio State Highway Patrol, 308 F.3d 523, 531 (6th Cir.2002) (quoting Mattox v. City of Forest Park, 183 F.3d 515, 519 (6th Cir.1999)); Dickerson v. McClellan, 101 F.3d 1151, 1157 (6th Cir.1996). In considering the denial of a defendant’s claim of qualified immunity, however, our jurisdiction is limited to resolving pure questions of law. See Mitchell, 472 U.S. at 530, 105 S.Ct. 2806 (addressing denial of a claim of qualified immunity, but only “to the extent that it turns on an issue of law”). We lack jurisdiction to consider “a district court’s summary judgment order insofar as that order determines whether or not the pretrial record sets forth a ‘genuine’ issue of fact for trial.” Johnson, 515 U.S. at 313, 115 S.Ct. 2151; Berryman v. Rieger, 150 F.3d 561, 563 (6th Cir.1998) (“A defendant who is denied qualified immunity may file an interlocutory appeal with this Court only if that appeal involves the abstract or pure legal issue of whether the facts alleged by the plaintiff constitute a violation of clearly established law.”). In light of this jurisdictional limitation, “a district court’s determination that there exists a triable issue of fact cannot be appealed on an interlocutory basis, even when the finding arises in the context of an assertion of qualified immunity.” Gregory v. City of Louisville, 444 F.3d 725, 742 (6th Cir.2006). To permit an appeal in such circumstances “would interject appellate review into a district court’s determination that the evidence is sufficient for trial, a nonfinal adjudication for purposes of 28 U.S.C. § 1291.” Id. at 743. “Under Johnson, therefore, a determination that a given set of facts violates clearly established law is reviewable, while a determination that an issue of fact is ‘genuine’ is unreviewable.” See v. City of Elyria, 502 F.3d 484, 490 (6th Cir.2007). This jurisdictional limitation requires that, if “the defendant disputes the plaintiff’s version of the story, the defendant must nonetheless be willing to concede the most favorable view of the facts to the plaintiff for purposes of the appeal.” Berryman, 150 F.3d at 563; Meals v. City of Memphis, 493 F.3d 720, 726-27 (6th Cir.2007) (“[A] defendant is required to limit her argument to questions of law premised on facts taken in the light most favorable to the plaintiff.”); Sheets v. Mullins, 287 F.3d 581, 585 (6th Cir.2002) (“In this circuit, it is well established that, for appellate jurisdiction to lie over an interlocutory appeal, a defendant seeking qualified immunity must be willing to concede to the facts as alleged by the plaintiff and discuss only the legal issues raised by the case.”). “Once a defendant’s argument drifts from the purely legal into the factual realm and begins contesting what really happened, our jurisdiction ends and the case should proceed to trial.” Berryman, 150 F.3d at 564 (finding lack of jurisdiction to consider defendants’ appeal to the extent that defendants “attempt[ed] to persuade us to believe their version of the facts”); Harrison v. Ash, 539 F.3d 510, 517 (6th Cir.2008) (“Thus, to the extent that the denial of qualified immunity is based on a factual dispute, such a denial falls outside of the narrow jurisdiction of this Court.”). In Scott v. Harris, 550 U.S. 372, 127 S.Ct. 1769, 167 L.Ed.2d 686 (2007), however, the Supreme Court recognized an apparent exception to this jurisdictional limitation when it considered and rejected a district court’s denial of summary judgment even though the district court had found genuine issues existed as to material facts. In reaching that conclusion, and without addressing the issue of jurisdiction, the Court found that a video of the incident rendered the plaintiffs version of the facts “so utterly discredited by the record that no reasonable jury could have believed him.” Id. at 380, 127 S.Ct. 1769. In trying to reconcile Scott with the Supreme Court’s edict in Johnson, this Court has concluded that “ ‘where the trial court’s determination that a fact is subject to reasonable dispute is blatantly and demonstrably false, a court of appeals may say so, even on interlocutory appeal.’ ” Wysong v. Heath, 260 Fed.Appx. 848, 853 (6th Cir.2008) (quoting Blaylock v. City of Philadelphia, 504 F.3d 405, 414 (3rd Cir.2007)). It also is important to note that a district court’s stated basis for denying an immunity claim “does not necessarily foreclose this Court’s jurisdiction over [a party’s] appeal.” City of Elyria, 502 F.3d at 490; see also Christophel v. Kukulinsky, 61 F.3d 479, 485 (6th Cir.1995) (“A defendant’s right to appeal the denial of qualified immunity does not turn on the phrasing of the district court’s order.”). Rather, “ ‘regardless of the district court’s reasons for denying qualified immunity, we may exercise jurisdiction over the ... appeal to the extent it raises questions of law.” Williams v. Mehra, 186 F.3d 685, 689-90 (6th Cir.1999) (quoting Dickerson, 101 F.3d at 1157) (emphasis in Williams). After reviewing Defendants’ various qualified immunity claims, we conclude that, while these appeals predominantly raise questions of law that are capable of appellate review at this juncture, they also present some issues of fact that Johnson dictates are beyond the scope of our jurisdiction. Where the parties ask us to resolve factual disputes, we set those issues aside for resolution by the trial court. See Gregory, 444 F.3d at 742-43 (“To the extent that an appellant on interlocutory appeal argues issues of fact and law on appeal, this Court will only entertain pure issues of law.”). 2. Defendants’ Absolute Immunity Claims Detective Ingles, Dr. Warnick, and Fournier also challenge the district court’s denial of their claims of absolute testimonial or witness immunity, which they assert in response to those claims arising out of (or based in part on) their testimony at trial. Unlike qualified immunity, the denial of a defense of absolute witness immunity generally is not immediately appealable because the “lack of interlocutory appeal from denials of witness immunity does not ‘imperil [a] substantial public interest.’ ” Kelly, 447 F.3d at 949. Despite acknowledging that testimonial immunity “strengthens the substantial public interest of having witnesses come forward and testify truthfully,” we nevertheless concluded in Kelly that the denial of such claims does not imperil that overarching interest because “private individuals ... will appear as witnesses, at most, only a few times in their lives.” Id. On that basis, we reasoned that permitting a suit to proceed against “private individuals” does not implicate the same interests as an appeal from the denial of public official immunity, where the relevant interest is more significant given that “the official, by spending more time than necessary to defend himself or herself in an action, would spend less time on the tasks for which he or she was hired and cost the public additional money in defending a suit that should have been dismissed.” Id. Unlike the defendants before us in Kelly, however, the defendants asserting testimonial immunity in this case are a police officer, a forensic consultant, and the victim of a brutal crime. Moreover, each asserts immunity based on testimony delivered in the course of a criminal prosecution. In light of these factors, we conclude that the balance of interests at issue in this case differs dramatically from the interests implicated by the denial of immunity in Kelly. Because Kelly does not dispose of the question presented here, we must determine whether the denial of an absolute witness immunity claim asserted under these particular circumstances imperils a substantial public interest. We conclude that it does. As to Detective Ingles and Dr. Warnick, the interests implicated by the district court’s denial of their testimonial immunity claims are sufficiently akin to those implicated by the denial of public official immunity to support interlocutory review. As the Court noted in Kelly. Official immunity seeks to protect the ability of an official to exercise discretion in accomplishing public tasks and to prevent the official from spending time in court defending actions that are reasonably thought to be legal. Without interlocutory appeal from district court denials of immunity, the official, by spending more time than necessary to defend himself or herself in an action, would spend less time on the tasks for which he or she was hired and cost the public additional money in defending a suit that should have been dismissed. The lack of speedy resolution of the claim also threatens the official’s decisiveness in taking action while the action is proceeding to trial. 447 F.3d at 949 (citation omitted). Those same interests are at stake where, as here, a district court denies the absolute immunity claim of a police officer or forensic investigator who testifies on behalf of the state as part of a criminal prosecution. See Vakilian v. Shaw, 335 F.3d 509, 515-16 (6th Cir.2003) (considering interlocutory appeal from the denial of immunity asserted by a government investigator). Exposing police officers and forensic investigators to suit based on testimony they deliver as part of their official duties and on behalf of the state undoubtedly implicates their ability to exercise their discretion and potentially inhibits them from performing their duties. Unlike the parties before us in Kelly, “[s]ection 1983 lawsuits against police officer witnesses, like lawsuits against prosecutors, ‘could be expected with some frequency.’ Police officers testify in scores of cases every year, and defendants often will transform resentment at being convicted into allegations of perjury by the State’s official witnesses.” Briscoe v. LaHue, 460 U.S. 325, 343, 103 S.Ct. 1108, 75 L.Ed.2d 96 (1983) (quoting Imbler v. Pachtman, 424 U.S. 409, 425, 96 S.Ct. 984, 47 L.Ed.2d 128 (1976)). Furthermore, because Detective Ingles and Dr. Warnick represented the State of Michigan in the underlying criminal proceedings against Moldowan, their exposure to suit also “would cause a continuing injury to the State’s dignitary interests every additional day that [its officials] must remain in federal court.” Kelly, 447 F.3d at 949. As to Fournier, we also conclude that the denial of her assertion of absolute immunity warrants immediate review as it would imperil substantial public interests. Although Fournier undoubtedly is a “private individual” and not a public official, the balance of interests implicated here differs significantly from those at issue in Kelly because the claims against her arose out of testimony she delivered as a victim witness in the course of a criminal trial. Extending interlocutory review to the denial of a testimonial immunity claim in this context serves several important public interests. Most obviously, immunity from suit prevents witness intimidation and self-censorship. Declining interlocutory review under these circumstances would expose victims of crimes who testify in criminal proceedings to suit — including the discovery, depositions, hearings, trials, and other proceedings that attend civil actions — and thus would create a substantial disincentive for victims to come forward to identify them attackers. That concern, in turn, implicates the effective administration of the criminal justice system, which is undoubtedly a weighty public interest. See Briscoe, 460 U.S. at 343, 103 S.Ct. 1108 (recognizing absolute testimonial immunity for police officers because their testimony, among other things, provides a significant “contribution to the judicial process”). This concern is all the more significant in this particular context because Fournier was the victim of a brutal sexual assault, and thus the threat of being dragged through the rigors of a civil suit based on her identification of, and testimony against, her alleged attacker would create a tremendous emotional hardship on her. Declining to consider Fournier’s appeal ultimately would create a significant disincentive for other victims of rape and sexual assault to come forward and testify against their attackers. Victims of crimes, especially the types of crimes that occurred here, must feel secure that cooperating with the police will not expose them to lengthy and invasive civil proceedings. The denial of immunity imperils that interest because subjecting victim witnesses to the proceedings attendant to civil litigation potentially re-exposes them to significant emotional trauma. As Fournier’s brief to this Court succinctly frames the issue: “If a woman who has been sodomized, beaten and left permanently disabled can be sued and subjected to an endless retread of the brutalization against her through deposition and discovery, the entire criminal justice system is put at risk.” Fournier Br. at 22. We agree. Moreover, as the Supreme Court has noted, it is “the right and privilege” of individuals “to aid in the execution of the laws of his country by giving information to the proper authorities of violations of those laws,” and that right “may properly be said to be secured by the Constitution and laws of the United States.” Motes v. United States, 178 U.S. 458, 462-63, 20 S.Ct. 993, 44 L.Ed. 1150 (1900). For these reasons, we hereby DENY Moldowan’s motions to dismiss. The collateral order doctrine is satisfied here because Defendants’ absolute and qualified immunity claims not only would be irretrievably lost if this case were to proceed to trial, but also because subjecting these particular Defendants to civil proceedings implicates substantial public interests. Again, however, we may consider Defendants’ appeals only to the extent that they raise pure questions of law. See Johnson, 515 U.S. at 313-18, 115 S.Ct. 2151. III. We review the district court’s denial of summary judgment de novo, using the same Rule 56(c) standard as the district court. See White v. Baxter Healthcare Corp., 533 F.3d 381, 389 (6th Cir.2008); Williams, 186 F.3d at 689. Summary judgment is proper “if the pleadings, the discovery and disclosure materials on file, and any affidavits show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the movant is entitied to judgment as a matter of law.” Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c). A genuine issue of material fact exists when there are “disputes over facts that might affect the outcome of the suit under the governing law.” Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 248, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986). However, “[w]here the record taken as a whole could not lead a rational trier of fact to find for the non-moving party, there is no ‘genuine issue for trial.’ ” Matsushita Elec. Indus. Co. v. Zenith Radio Corp., 475 U.S. 574, 587, 106 S.Ct. 1348, 89 L.Ed.2d 538 (1986) (quoting First Nat’l Bank of Arizona v. Cities Serv. Co., 391 U.S. 253, 289, 88 S.Ct. 1575, 20 L.Ed.2d 569 (1968)). At the summary judgment stage, the moving party bears the initial burden of identifying those parts of the record that demonstrate the absence of any genuine issue of material fact. Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 323, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986). If the moving party seeks summary judgment on an issue for which it does not bear the burden of proof at trial, however, the moving party may meet its burden by showing “that there is an absence of evidence to support the nonmoving party’s case.” Id. at 325, 106 S.Ct. 2548. When the moving party has carried this burden, “its opponent must do more than simply show that there is some metaphysical doubt as to the material facts.” Matsushita, 475 U.S. at 586, 106 S.Ct. 1348. The non-moving party also may not rest upon its mere allegations or denials of the adverse party’s pleadings, but rather must set forth specific facts showing that there is a genuine issue for trial. Id.; Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(e)(2). After the parties have presented their evidence, “the judge’s function is not himself to weigh the evidence and determine the truth of the matter, but to determine whether there is a genuine issue for trial.” Anderson, 477 U.S. at 249, 106 S.Ct. 2505. In evaluating the evidence, the court must draw all inferences in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party. Matsushita, 475 U.S. at 587, 106 S.Ct. 1348. “The mere existence of a scintilla of evidence in support of the [non-moving party’s] position will be insufficient [to defeat a motion for summary judgment]; there must be evidence on which the jury could reasonably find for the [non-moving party].” Anderson, 477 U.S. at 252, 106 S.Ct. 2505. That Defendants’ motions for summary judgment were based on claims of absolute and qualified immunity does not affect the standard of review that applies. See Gregory, 444 F.3d at 737. Whether a defendant is entitled to absolute or qualified immunity from liability under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 is a legal question that this Court reviews de novo. Id. at 737, 742. IY. Having determined that we have jurisdiction to consider Defendants’ interlocutory appeals and settled the standard of review that applies, we now turn to the merits of Defendants’ claims. First, we consider the qualified and absolute immunity claims raised in Case No. 07-2115, the appeal of the City of Warren, Detective Ingles, and Officer Schultz. A. Qualified Immunity “Government officials performing discretionary functions generally are shielded from liability for civil damages insofar as their conduct does not violate clearly established statutory or constitutional rights of which a reasonable person would have known.” Harlow, 457 U.S. at 818, 102 S.Ct. 2727. “The central purpose of affording public officials qualified immunity from suit is to protect them ‘from undue interference with their duties and from potentially disabling threats of liability.’ ” Elder v. Holloway, 510 U.S. 510, 514, 114 S.Ct. 1019, 127 L.Ed.2d 344 (1994) (quoting Harlow, 457 U.S. at 806, 102 S.Ct. 2727). In Williams v. Mehra, supra, this Court articulated a “tripartite” procedure for evaluating claims of qualified immunity: First, we determine whether a constitutional violation occurred; second, we determine whether the right that was violated was a clearly established right of which a reasonable person would have known; finally, we determine whether the plaintiff has alleged sufficient facts, and supported the allegations by sufficient evidence, to indicate that what the official allegedly did was objectively unreasonable in light of the clearly established constitutional rights. 186 F.3d at 691 (citing Dickerson, 101 F.3d at 1157-58). The first step in our inquiry, then, is to consider the “threshold question” whether, “[t]aken in the light most favorable to the party asserting the injury, do the facts alleged show the officer’s conduct violated a constitutional right?” Saucier v. Katz, 533 U.S. 194, 201, 121 S.Ct. 2151, 150 L.Ed.2d 272 (2001). “If no constitutional right would have been violated were the allegations established, there is no necessity for further inquiries concerning qualified immunity.” Id. If a violation could be made out on a favorable view of the parties’ submissions, however, we must then consider whether the right was “clearly established.” “This inquiry, it is vital to note, must be undertaken in light of the specific context of the case, not as a broad general proposition.” Id. “The relevant, dispositive inquiry in determining whether a right is clearly established is whether it would be clear to a reasonable officer that his conduct was unlawful in the situation he confronted.” Id. Finally, and only if these first two elements are satisfied, this Court “occasionally” has gone on to determine “ ‘whether the plaintiff offered sufficient evidence to indicate that what the official allegedly did was objectively unreasonable in light of the clearly established constitutional rights.’ ” Drogosch v. Metcalf, 557 F.3d 372, 378 (6th Cir.2009) (quoting Estate of Carter v. City of Detroit, 408 F.3d 305, 311 n. 2 (6th Cir.2005)). In Pearson v. Callahan, — U.S. -, 129 S.Ct. 808, 172 L.Ed.2d 565 (2009), the Supreme Court recently reconsidered the mandatory nature of the inquiry set forth in Saucier, concluding that, “while the sequence set forth there is often appropriate, it should no longer be regarded as mandatory.” Id. at 818. Acknowledging several drawbacks to the sequence required under Saucier, the Court reasoned that “[t]he judges of the district courts and the courts of appeals should be permitted to exercise their sound discretion in deciding which of the two prongs of the qualified immunity analysis should be addressed first in light of the circumstances in the particular case at hand.” Id. Although rejecting the mandatory nature of the Saucier framework, the Court nevertheless recognized that applying that framework “is often beneficial.” Id. In light of Pearson, then, we still are required to address the same questions in conducting our qualified immunity analysis, but now we are free to consider those questions in whatever order is appropriate in light of the issues before us. “Once the qualified immunity defense is raised, the burden is on the plaintiff to demonstrate that the officials are not entitled to qualified immunity.” Silberstein v. City of Dayton, 440 F.3d 306, 311 (6th Cir.2006) (citing Barrett v. Steubenville City Schools, 388 F.3d 967, 970 (6th Cir.2004)). B. Absolute Immunity “More limited in application, but certainly broader in protection, is absolute immunity, which the Supreme Court has held applies to the performance of certain functions when those functions are integral to the functioning of our adversarial judicial system.” Gregory, 444 F.3d at 738 (citing Briscoe, 460 U.S. at 345, 103 S.Ct. 1108). In defining the scope of the absolute immunity doctrine, the Supreme Court has employed a functional test: “Those functions more ‘intimately associated with the judicial phase of the criminal process’ are more likely to merit careful consideration for absolute immunity. In contrast, those functions more ‘investigative’ in nature— searching for ‘clues and corroboration’— are more removed from the judicial process and merit only qualified immunity.” Id. (quoting Buckley v. Fitzsimmons, 509 U.S. 259, 269, 113 S.Ct. 2606, 125 L.Ed.2d 209 (1993)). Unlike qualified immunity, “[t]he official seeking absolute immunity bears the burden of showing that such immunity is justified for the function in question.” Buckley, 509 U.S. at 269, 113 S.Ct. 2606. C. Analysis In his complaint, Moldowan seeks recovery under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 for various alleged violations of his constitutional rights. Section 1983, however, “ ‘is not itself a source of substantive rights,’ but merely provides ‘a method for vindicating federal rights elsewhere conferred.’ ” Graham v. Connor, 490 U.S. 386, 393-94, 109 S.Ct. 1865, 104 L.Ed.2d 443 (1989) (quoting Baker v. McCollan, 443 U.S. 137, 144 n. 3, 99 S.Ct. 2689, 61 L.Ed.2d 433 (1979)). Consequently, to determine whether Moldowan asserts a violation of a clearly established constitutional right, it is necessary to examine the substantive rights underlying each of Moldowan’s remaining requests for relief. See Baker, 443 U.S. at 140, 99 S.Ct. 2689 (“The first inquiry in any § 1983 suit” is “to isolate the precise constitutional violation with which [the defendant] is charged.”). That Moldowan asserts claims under various constitutional provisions does not control our inquiry. Rather, the critical question is whether the “legal norms” underlying those claims implicate clearly established constitutional rights. See Mitchell, 472 U.S. at 528, 105 S.Ct. 2806. For that reason, we group and address Moldowan’s claims according to the conduct at issue or the legal norms that underlie his various claims. 1. Counts IX, X, XI, XII— Brady Claims (Ingles) Moldowan asserts a number of claims against Detective Ingles under the Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, and Fourteenth Amendments based on Ingles’ alleged failure to disclose exculpatory evidence. In particular, Moldowan contends that Ingles was required to disclose exculpatory statements from Burroughs, including that Burroughs recalled seeing four African-American males standing around Fournier on the morning that she was discovered in Detroit and that Burroughs later overheard two of those men discussing their involvement in the assault. Moldowan’s allegations, although asserted under various constitutional provisions, present claims under Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83, 83 S.Ct. 1194, 10 L.Ed.2d 215 (1963). In Brady, the Court held that “the suppression by the prosecution of evidence favorable to an accused ... violates due process where the evidence is material either to guilt or to punishment, irrespective of the good faith or bad faith of the prosecution.” Id. at 87, 83 S.Ct. 1194. The question we confront here is whether Detective Ingles’ alleged suppression of Burroughs’ statements violated the same “legal norm” underlying the due process violation recognized in Brady. We hold that it does. Detective Ingles argues that Moldowan cannot demonstrate that the Due Process Clause imposes on the police a clearly established obligation to disclose exculpatory information. Superficially, that argument has some appeal. To the extent that Brady imposes an obligation on the state to disclose exculpatory evidence to the defense, courts consistently have determined that this duty falls squarely on the prosecutor, not the police. See Giglio v. United States, 405 U.S. 150, 154, 92 S.Ct. 763, 31 L.Ed.2d 104 (1972) (“[W]hether the nondisclosure was a result of negligence or design, it is the responsibility of the prosecutor.”); Lindsay v. Bogle, 92 Fed.Appx. 165, 170 (6th Cir.2004) (stating that “the Brady obligation applies only to prosecutors”). In Kyles v. Whitley, 514 U.S. 419, 115 S.Ct. 1555, 131 L.Ed.2d 490 (1995), for instance, the Supreme Court explained that “the individual prosecutor,” who “alone can know what is undisclosed, must be assigned the consequent responsibility to gauge the likely net effect of all such evidence and make disclosure when the point of ‘reasonable probability’ is reached.” Id. at 437, 115 S.Ct. 1555; see also Stickler v. Greene, 527 U.S. 263, 281, 119 S.Ct. 1936, 144 L.Ed.2d 286 (1999) (recognizing “the special role played by the American prosecutor in the search for truth in criminal trials”). In fact, the Supreme Court has placed the responsibility to manage the state’s disclosure obligations solely on the prosecutor despite acknowledging that “no one doubts that police investigators sometimes fail to inform a prosecutor of all they know.” Kyles, 514 U.S. at 438, 115 S.Ct. 1555. This well-established rule, however, does not resolve whether the police have a concomitant or derivative duty under the constitution to turn potentially exculpatory material over to the prosecutor. In fact, Moldowan acknowledges that the duty to “disclose” exculpatory materials to defense counsel rests on the prosecutor alone, but nevertheless maintains that the police have an analogous, but just as constitutionally-significant, obligation to turn such materials over to the prosecutor’s office. Underlying Moldowan’s argument is the valid concern that, if the police have no constitutional obligation in this regard, then the state could sidestep its constitutionally-mandated disclosure obligations by maintaining an unstated, but nevertheless pervasive, wall of separation between the prosecutor’s office and the police with regard to the existence of potentially exculpatory evidence. Ignoring the burdens that the Constitution places on the police in this context also creates a very serious risk that police officers who conceal or withhold evidence that falls within Brady’s ambit will never be held accountable for the independent “deprivation of any rights, privileges, or immunities secured by the Constitution,” 42 U.S.C. § 1983, that their conduct causes. As the concurrence correctly notes, however, the Supreme Court already has addressed the first of these concerns, at least to a certain extent, by imposing on the prosecutor “a duty to learn of any favorable evidence known to the others acting on the government’s behalf in the case, including the police.” Kyles, 514 U.S. at 437, 115 S.Ct. 1555. In other words, even though the state’s obligation under Brady is managed by the prosecutor’s office, that obligation “applies to relevant evidence in the hands of the police, whether the prosecutors knew about it or not, whether they suppressed it intentionally or not, and whether the accused asked for it or not.” Harris v. Lafler, 553 F.3d 1028, 1033 (6th Cir.2009) (citations omitted); Strickler, 527 U.S. at 280-81, 119 S.Ct. 1936 (Brady “encompasses evidence ‘known only to police investigators and not to the prosecutor’ ” (quoting Kyles, 514 U.S. at 438, 115 S.Ct. 1555)). Contrary to Detective Ingles’ suggestion, however, this does not imply that the police have no role to play in ensuring that the state complies with its obligations under Brady, or that the police cannot commit a constitutional violation analogous to the deprivation recognized in Brady. See Banks v. Dretke, 540 U.S. 668, 675-76, 124 S.Ct. 1256, 157 L.Ed.2d 1166 (2004) (“When police or prosecutors conceal significant exculpatory or impeaching material in the State’s possession, it is ordinarily incumbent on the State to set the record straight.” (emphasis added)). On the contrary, although the prosecutor is the state’s “official representative ... in the prosecution of the case,” we have recognized that the police “also play[ ] an active role in the prosecution.” Hilliard v. Williams, 516 F.2d 1344, 1350 (6th Cir.1975), vacated in part, 424 U.S. 961, 96 S.Ct. 1453, 47 L.Ed.2d 729, aff'd on remand, 540 F.2d 220 (6th Cir.1976); see also Walker v. Lockhart, 763 F.2d 942, 958 (8th Cir.1985) (“Police are treated as an arm of the prosecution for Brady purposes.”). Because the prosecutor’s office generally lacks its own investigative machinery, prosecutors often are entirely dependent on the police to turn over the fruits of their investigation. As a result of this interdependence, the police play a different, but no less significant role in the state’s “search for truth in criminal trials.” Strickler, 527 U.S. at 281, 119 S.Ct. 1936. Because prosecutors rely so heavily on the police and other law enforcement authorities, the obligations imposed under Brady would be largely ineffective if those other members of the prosecution team had no responsibility to inform the prosecutor about evidence that undermined the state’s preferred theory of the crime. As a practical matter then, Brady’s ultimate concern for ensuring that criminal defendants receive a “fundamentally fair” trial, see United States v. Bagley, 473 U.S. 667, 675, 105 S.Ct. 3375, 87 L.Ed.2d 481 (1985) (explaining that the “purpose” of the Brady rule is “to ensure that a miscarriage of justice does not occur”), demands that “Brady’s protections also extend to actions of other law enforcement officers such as investigating officers,” White v. McKinley, 519 F.3d 806, 814 (8th Cir.2008). Although this Court has not yet directly addressed the issue, a number of our decisions support this conclusion. See, e.g., Gregory, 444 F.3d at 743-45 (dismissing appeal from denial of qualified immunity in the context of Brady claims against police officers and forensic medical examiners); Spurlock v. Satterfield, 167 F.3d 995, 1005-06 (6th Cir.1999) (relying on Brady to conclude that plaintiff had raised claims against a police officer that implicated clearly established constitutional rights); cf. Sutkiewicz v. Monroe County Sheriff, 110 F.3d 352, 361 (6th Cir.1997) (finding sheriffs department’s failure to turn patently exculpatory information over to the prosecutor resulted in “substantial injustice” which warranted a new trial). In addition to this practical justification, it is evident that the constitutional principles recognized in Brady apply just as equally to similar conduct on the part of police, and thus support our recognizing that the police can commit a constitutional deprivation analogous to that recognized in Brady by withholding or suppressing exculpatory material. “Under the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, criminal prosecutions must comport with prevailing notions of fundamental fairness.” California v. Trombetta, 467 U.S. 479, 485, 104 S.Ct. 2528, 81 L.Ed.2d 413 (1984); Lisenba v. California, 314 U.S. 219, 236, 62 S.Ct. 280, 86 L.Ed. 166 (1941) (“The aim of the requirement of due process is not to exclude presumptively false evidence, but to prevent fundamental unfairness in the use of evidence, whether true or false.”). The “overriding concern” in defining the contours of the state’s disclosure obligations under the Due Process Clause, therefore, must be “the justice of the finding of guilt.” United States v. Agurs, 427 U.S. 97, 112, 96 S.Ct. 2392, 49 L.Ed.2d 342 (1976). As far as the Constitution is concerned, a criminal defendant is equally deprived of his or her due process rights when the police rather than the prosecutor suppresses exculpatory evidence because, in either case, the impact on the fundamental fairness of the defendant’s trial is the same. Although the prosecutor undoubtedly plays a “special role” in “the search for truth in criminal trials,” Strickler, 527 U.S. at 281, 119 S.Ct. 1936, the police also play a unique and significant role in that process, and thus also are bound by the government’s constitutional obligation to “ensure that a miscarriage of justice does not occur,” Bagley, 473 U.S. at 675, 105 S.Ct. 3375. As the Fourth Circuit explained persuasively in Barbee v. Warden, Maryland Penitentiary, 331 F.2d 842 (4th Cir.1964): The police are also part of the prosecution, and the taint on the trial is no less if they, rather than the State’s Attorney, were guilty of the nondisclosure ... The duty to disclose is that of the state, which ordinarily acts through the prosecuting attorney; but if he too is the victim of police suppression of the material information, the state’s failure is not on that account excused. Id. at 846. In other words, because the police are just as much an arm of the state as the prosecutor, the police inflict the same constitutional injury when they hide, conceal, destroy, withhold, or even fail to disclose material exculpatory information. While the concurrence is correct that the Supreme Court has held that, technically speaking, the government’s “disclosure ” obligations fall to and must be managed by the prosecutor, Kyles, 514 U.S. at 437, 115 S.Ct. 1555 (emphasis added), that argument overlooks that the Court’s decisions also make clear that the constitutional concerns underlying Brady reach more broadly to preclude other governmental “authorities” from making a “calculated effort to circumvent the disclosure requirements established by Brady [ ] and its progeny,” Trombetta, 467 U.S. at 488, 104 S.Ct. 2528. As Judge Murnaghan succinctly explained in his dissent in Jean v. Collins, 221 F.3d 656 (4th Cir.2000) (en banc): Of course, the manner in which prosecutors and police officers comply with Brady is different, reflecting their different functions in the criminal justice system. Police officers do not disclose evidence to criminal defendants directly. Instead, the police accumulate evidence and then ministerially deliver it to the prosecutor. The prosecutor then makes a discretionary legal judgment about whether the evidence is material and exculpatory, such that Brady compels its disclosure to the defendant. Id. at 664. Although the police and prosecutor play different roles in this process, “[t]his functional differentiation ... should not obscure the fact that Brady creates a singular constitutional duty, which prosecutors and police officers are capable of breaching in factually different ways.” Id. In addition to these practical justifications and constitutional considerations, the police’s obligation to turn over material and exculpatory evidence also follows inexorably from the Supreme Court’s recognition that the police have a constitutional duty to preserve such evidence. In Trombetta> the Supreme Court observed that “[wjhatever duty the Constitution imposes on the States to preserve evidence, that duty must be limited to evidence that might be expected to play a significant role in the suspect’s defense.” 467 U.S. at 488,