Unpublished Disposition, 930 F.2d 920 (9th Cir. 1991)

MEMORANDUM^* 

Appellant Timothy Keller brought suit against the United States alleging false arrest and various injuries arising from such false arrest. There is no dispute that, despite the fact that he was the Timothy Keller against whom the indictment was returned and for whom the arrest warrant was issued, he was not the Timothy Keller who was involved in the drug trafficking for which he was arrested. He claims that federal agents and those acting on their behalf were negligent in investigating the situation before prosecuting him. The district court dismissed Keller's claims, finding that the actions of which he complained fell under the discretionary function exception to the federal government's waiver of sovereign immunity under the Federal Tort Claims Act. See 28 U.S.C. § 2680(a).

Such dismissal was appropriate. Any injury to Keller arose directly from the government's decision to seek an indictment against him, and any negligence on the part of government agents occurred in conjunction with the making of this decision, not its implementation. Under section 2680(a), no cause of action lies against the federal government for the acts of its employees where some element of judgment is involved and that judgment is related to considerations of public policy. Berkovitz v. United States, 486 U.S. 531, 536-37 (1988). This court has held that the decision to prosecute an individual is inherently discretionary and is therefore covered by section 2680(a). Wright v. United States, 719 F.2d 1032, 1035 (9th Cir. 1983).

AFFIRMED.