Cite as: 522 U. S. 118 (1997)
Opinion of the Court
These cases make it quite clear that petitioner's activities in connection with the preparation and filing of two of the three charging documents—the information and the motion for an arrest warrant—are protected by absolute immunity. Indeed, except for her act in personally attesting to the truth of the averments in the certification, it seems equally clear that the preparation and filing of the third document in the package was part of the advocate's function as well. The critical question, however, is whether she was acting as a complaining witness rather than a lawyer when she executed the certification "[u]nder penalty of perjury." We now turn to that question.
IV
The Fourth Amendment requires that arrest warrants be based "upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation"—a requirement that may be satisfied by an indictment returned by a grand jury, but not by the mere filing of criminal charges in an unsworn information signed by the prosecutor. Gerstein v. Pugh, 420 U. S. 103, 117 (1975); see also Coolidge v. New Hampshire, 403 U. S. 443 (1971). Accordingly, since most prosecutions in Washington are commenced by information, Washington law requires, in compliance with the constitutional command, that an arrest warrant be supported by either an affidavit "or sworn testimony establishing the grounds for issuing the warrant." 15 The "Certification for Determination of Probable Cause" executed by petitioner was designed to satisfy those requirements.
Although the law required that document to be sworn or certified under penalty of perjury, neither federal nor state law made it necessary for the prosecutor to make that certification. In doing so, petitioner performed an act that any
15 Washington Criminal Rule 2.2(a) (1995) provides: "A warrant of arrest must be supported by an affidavit, . . . or sworn testimony establishing the grounds for issuing the warrant. . . . The court must determine there is probable cause . . . before issuing the warrant. "
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