U.S. v. Vargas-Amaya

• Decision Date: 22 November 2004
• Docket Number: No. 03-50577.,03-50577.
• Citation: 389 F.3d 901
• Parties: UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Dante VARGAS-AMAYA, Defendant-Appellant.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Ninth Circuit

389 F.3d 901

UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Dante VARGAS-AMAYA, Defendant-Appellant.

No. 03-50577.

United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit.

Argued and Submitted June 8, 2004.

Filed November 22, 2004.

Angela M. Krueger, Federal Defenders of San Diego, Inc., San Diego, CA, for the defendant-appellant.

Renee M. Bunker, Assistant United States Attorney, San Diego, CA, for the plaintiff-appellee.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of California; Jeffrey T. Miller, District Judge, Presiding. D.C. No. CR 00-1471 JTM.

Before: T.G. NELSON, TASHIMA, and FISHER, Circuit Judges.

TASHIMA, Circuit Judge.

Dante Vargas-Amaya ("Vargas") appeals the district court's revocation of his term of supervised release and imposition of an additional sentence. He contends that the court lacked jurisdiction under 18 U.S.C. § 3583(i) to revoke his supervised release. We have jurisdiction over Vargas' appeal pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291 and 18 U.S.C. § 3742(a). We hold that the district court lacked jurisdiction to consider the alleged violations of supervised release because the warrant issued during the term of Vargas' supervised release was not based on facts supported by oath or affirmation, as required by the Fourth Amendment.

BACKGROUND

After pleading guilty to one count of importing marijuana in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 952, 960, Vargas was sentenced to 18 months' custody and two years' supervised release. Vargas served his custody term and his supervised release was scheduled to expire on August 2, 2003.

On June 12, 2003, Vargas' probation officer petitioned the district court for a no-bail bench warrant and an order to show cause why supervised release should not be revoked. The factual allegations in the Petition for Warrant or Summons for Offender Under Supervision were not sworn to under oath. Nevertheless, based upon the unsworn allegations, the district court issued a no-bail bench warrant on June 18, 2003.

On October 3, 2003, two months after the expiration of his term of supervised release, Vargas was arrested by the San Diego Police Department. When he was brought before the court to be heard on the petition, he moved to dismiss the order to show cause, arguing that the district court lacked jurisdiction to revoke his term of supervised release because a valid warrant was not issued within the supervision period as required by 18 U.S.C. § 3583(i). The district court denied the motion, holding that § 3583(i) permits the issuance of a warrant based upon unsworn allegations.

Vargas then admitted two of the allegations in the petition, and the district court found him to be in violation of his supervised release. The district court revoked his supervised release and imposed a sentence of eight months custody, to be followed by one year of supervised release.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

"Jurisdiction is a question of law subject to de novo review." United States v. Neville, 985 F.2d 992, 994(9th Cir.1993). Whether 18 U.S.C. § 3583(i) authorizes the issuance of a warrant which is not based on facts supported by oath or affirmation is also a question of law reviewed de novo. See United States v. Tinoso, 327 F.3d 864, 865 (9th Cir.2003) (stating district court's interpretation of § 3583(d) "is a question of law subject to de novo review").

DISCUSSION

The Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994, Pub.L. 103-322, amended the statutory provision governing supervised release. The Act provides, in pertinent part, that when a term of supervised release has expired the district court only retains jurisdiction to revoke supervised release if a valid "warrant or summons" was issued within the supervision period:

The power of the court to revoke a term of supervised release for violation of a condition of supervised release, and to order the defendant to serve a term of imprisonment and, subject to the limitations in subsection (h), a further term of supervised release, extends beyond the expiration of the term of supervised release for any period reasonably necessary for the adjudication of matters arising before its expiration if, before its expiration, a warrant or summons has been issued on the basis of an allegation of such a violation.

18 U.S.C. § 3583(i) (emphasis added); see United States v. Hondras, 296 F.3d 601, 602 (7th Cir.2002) (stating that valid warrant or summons required for the district court to retain jurisdiction); United States v. Morales-Alejo, 193 F.3d 1102, 1104 (9th Cir.1999) (stating that prior to the expiration of supervised release, a warrant or summons must be issued for the district court to retain jurisdiction); United States v. Hazel, 106 F.Supp.2d 14, 14-15 (D.D.C.2000) (holding that court lacked jurisdiction because no warrant or summons was issued during term of supervision).

The emphasized portion of § 3583(i) quoted above requires that: (1) a warrant or summons, (2) issue before the expiration of a term of supervised release, (3) on the basis of an allegation of a violation of supervised release. The last two requirements were indisputably met in this case. At issue, therefore, is whether the warrant, which was based on unsworn facts, was a "warrant" within the meaning of that term in § 3583(i).¹

Although we have interpreted other parts of § 3583(i), no case of which we are aware has addressed whether the "warrant" provided for in § 3583(i) must be supported by sworn facts. See, e.g., United States v. Garrett, 253 F.3d 443 (9th Cir.2001) (interpreting whether a delay was "reasonably necessary"); Hondras, 296 F.3d at 602 (stating that there is no dispute that the violation warrant complied with the Warrant Clause). "In construing a statute as a matter of first impression, we first must look to the statutory language:' The starting point in interpreting a statute is its language, for if the intent of Congress is clear, that is the end of the matter.'" Morales-Alejo, 193 F.3d at 1105(quoting Good Samaritan Hosp. v. Shalala, 508 U.S. 402, 409, 113 S.Ct. 2151, 124 L.Ed.2d 368 (1993)).

Vargas contends that the plain meaning of the term "warrant" means a document that is based upon probable cause and supported by sworn facts. See United States v. Mohrbacher, 182 F.3d 1041, 1048 (9th Cir.1999) (holding that in the absence of a statutory definition, a term should be accorded its ordinary meaning). We agree.

It is a well-established canon of statutory construction that when Congress uses a term of art, such as "warrant," unless Congress affirmatively indicates otherwise, we presume Congress intended to incorporate the common definition of that term:

[W]here Congress borrows terms of art in which are accumulated the legal tradition and meaning of centuries of practice, it presumably knows and adopts the cluster of ideas that were attached to each borrowed word in the body of learning from which it was taken and the meaning its use will convey to the judicial mind unless otherwise instructed. In such case, absence of contrary direction may be taken as satisfaction with widely accepted definitions, not as a departure from them.

Carter v. United States, 530 U.S. 255, 264, 120 S.Ct. 2159, 147 L.Ed.2d 203 (2000) (quoting Morissette v. United States, 342 U.S. 246, 263, 72 S.Ct. 240, 96 L.Ed. 288 (1952)).

The Warrant Clause of the Fourth Amendment unambiguously provides that "no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized." U.S. Const. amend. IV (emphasis added); see also United States v. Pickard, 207 F.2d 472, 475(9th Cir.1953) (noting that the Warrant Clause secures an individual's right "to be protected against the issuance of a warrant for his arrest, except `upon probable cause supported by oath or affirmation'") (citation omitted); see also Ex Parte Burford, 7 U.S. (3 Cranch) 448, 453, 2 L.Ed. 495 (1806) ("warrant of commitment was illegal, for want of stating some good cause certain, supported by oath").

In Groh v. Ramirez, 540 U.S. 551, 124 S.Ct. 1284, 157 L.Ed.2d 1068 (2004), the Supreme Court recently affirmed that every warrant must meet the requirements of the Warrant Clause, and be based upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation. Id. at 1289-90; see also Albrecht v. United States, 273 U.S. 1, 4-6, 47 S.Ct. 250, 71 L.Ed. 505 (1927) (holding an arrest warrant invalid because it was issued based upon affidavits which had been sworn to before an official "not authorized to administer oaths in federal criminal proceedings"). Thus, where a warrant is issued unsupported by oath or affirmation, it is invalid under the Fourth Amendment. See United States v. Rabe, 848 F.2d 994, 997 (9th Cir.1988) (explaining that Warrant Clause "requires the government to establish by sworn evidence presented to a magistrate that probable cause exists to believe that an offense has been committed").

The government does not cite to any other statute where Congress expressly dispensed with the probable cause or oath requirements with regard to the issuance of warrants. The contrary seems to be true — where Congress has used the word "warrant," it has incorporated the Fourth Amendment's prohibition against the issuance of warrants based on something less than probable cause supported by sworn facts. See, e.g., 18 U.S.C. § 3606(stating that, if probable cause of a violation of the terms of release exists, a supervised releasee can be arrested with or without a warrant).²

For example, the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure discuss two situations where arrest warrants may issue. See Fed.R.Crim.P. 4, 9.³ Rule 4(a) provides that an arrest warrant may issue only "[i]f the complaint or one or more affidavits filed with the complaint establish probable cause to believe that an offense has been committed and that the defendant committed it." Fed. R. Crim P. 4(a). Because both affidavits and complaints are...