U.S. v. Cepeda-Luna

• Decision Date: 30 March 1993
• Docket Number: No. 92-30057,D,CEPEDA-LUN,92-30057
• Citation: 989 F.2d 353
• Parties: UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Rubenefendant-Appellant.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Ninth Circuit

Page 353

989 F.2d 353

UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Ruben CEPEDA-LUNA, Defendant-Appellant.

No. 92-30057.

United States Court of Appeals Ninth Circuit.

Argued and Submitted Jan. 8, 1993.

Decided March 30, 1993.

Linda Friedman Ramirez, argued, Leslie Kay, on brief, Linda Friedman Ramirez, P.C., Portland, OR, for defendant-appellant.

Jonathan S. Haub, Asst. U.S. Atty., Portland, OR, for plaintiff-appellee.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Oregon.

Before: D.W. NELSON, TROTT and T.G. NELSON, Circuit Judges.

TROTT, Circuit Judge:

We are asked to decide in this case whether a civil arrest pursuant to deportation proceedings starts the clock under the Speedy Trial Act, 18 U.S.C. § 3161 et seq., for criminal charges which are later filed against the detainee. We hold that except in cases of collusion between Immigration and Naturalization officials and criminal authorities, where the civil detention is merely a ruse to avoid the requirements of the Speedy Trial Act, civil detention does not trigger the thirty-day clock under the Speedy Trial Act.

I BACKGROUND

Appellant Ruben Cepeda-Luna appeals his indictment and subsequent conviction for illegal reentry, in violation of 8 U.S.C. § 1326 (1988). Cepeda-Luna alleges the district court erred by not dismissing the indictment under the Speedy Trial Act, 18 U.S.C. § 3161(b), because more than thirty days elapsed between his civil deportation arrest on July 12, 1991, and his indictment for illegal reentry on October 18, 1991. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291 to review this final decision of the District Court.

Cepeda-Luna was arrested in Oregon on March 9, 1990, for drug offenses and was subsequently released from custody. He was arrested for drug distribution twice more on March 14 and April 10, 1990. While he was awaiting trial on these various charges, the Immigration and Naturalization Service ("INS") placed a "detainer" on him on April 26, 1990. He was convicted of the March 14 drug charges on June 11, 1990, and the April 10 charges on December 3, 1990. On December 20, 1990, INS issued an order to show cause why Cepeda-Luna should not be subject to civil deportation as an alien convicted of an aggravated felony and controlled substance offenses. See 8 U.S.C. §§ 1251(a)(2)(A)(iii), (B)(i). Although a deportation hearing was never conducted, the INS detainer remained in effect.

Cepeda-Luna was indicted on the March 9 drug charges in February, 1991 and convicted of that offense on July 10, 1991, receiving two years probation. At that time, Multnomah County notified INS of Cepeda-Luna's pending release and on July 12, 1991, INS Agent Peterson served Cepeda-Luna with an administrative arrest warrant pursuant to 8 U.S.C. § 1252 (1988). Cepeda-Luna continued to be incarcerated under this warrant, although INS instigated no further civil deportation proceedings.

INS Agent Ruben Vela became aware of Cepeda-Luna's status on September 18, 1991 and another deportation arrest warrant was served. At that time Vela began preparing Cepeda-Luna's case for criminal prosecution. Cepeda-Luna was indicted for illegal reentry on October 18, 1991, and was arraigned on October 22, 1991. Judge Malcolm Marsh of the District Court of Oregon found no violation of the Speedy Trial Act on November 25, 1991. United States v. Cepeda-Luna, 781 F.Supp. 684 (D.Or.1991). Cepeda-Luna pled guilty on December 4, 1991, and was subsequently sentenced to thirty months imprisonment.

II SPEEDY TRIAL ACT

We review factual findings concerning the Speedy Trial Act for clear error and questions of law regarding its interpretation de novo. United States v. Nash, 946 F.2d 679, 680 (9th Cir.1991).

The Speedy Trial Act requires federal authorities to indict and bring to trial incarcerated individuals within rigidly specified time periods. At issue in this case is the requirement that a detained individual be indicted within thirty days of his arrest:

Any information or indictment charging an individual with the commission of an offense shall be filed within thirty days from the date on which such individual was arrested or served with a summons in connection with such charges.

18 U.S.C. § 3161(b). If a violation occurs, the Act mandates dismissal:

If, in the case of any individual against whom a complaint is filed charging such individual with an offense, no indictment or information is filed within the time limit required by section 3161(b) as extended by section 3161(h) of this chapter, such charge against that individual contained in such complaint shall be dismissed or otherwise dropped.

18 U.S.C. § 3162(a)(1). Cepeda-Luna contends the Speedy Trial Act was violated because more than thirty days elapsed from his civil arrest by INS agents on July 12, 1991, in connection with possible deportation proceedings, and his indictment for illegal reentry on October 18, 1991.

The language of the Speedy Trial Act compels the conclusion that its provisions do not apply to civil detentions. The thirty-day requirement applies to an indictment issued in connection with the offense for which the defendant was arrested. 18 U.S.C. § 3161(b). "Offense" is further defined as "any Federal criminal offense." 18 U.S.C. § 3172(2) (1988) (emphasis added). ¹ The offense for which petitioner was initially arrested, however, was not a federal criminal offense. On July 12, 1991, Cepeda-Luna was detained by INS agents on civil deportation charges as authorized by 8 U.S.C. § 1252. This statute is a civil provision of the Immigration and Nationality Act, and deportation proceedings pursuant to those sections consistently have been classified as civil rather than criminal proceedings. Argiz v. United States Immigration, 704 F.2d 384, 387 (7th Cir.1983). In addition, the Act's mandatory dismissal section, 18 U.S.C. § 3162(a)(1), applies only to a criminal complaint. United States v. Candelaria, 704 F.2d 1129, 1131 (9th Cir.1983). No criminal complaint was filed against Cepeda-Luna when he was incarcerated by INS officials on July 12, 1991. In fact, a criminal complaint was not filed The fact that criminal authorities may have played some role in Cepeda-Luna's initial detention does not necessarily mandate the application of the Speedy Trial Act to civil detentions. This circuit has repeatedly declined to apply the Speedy Trial Act in situations where the defendant's detention is not pursuant to federal criminal charges, even though federal criminal authorities may be aware of and even involved with that detention. See, e.g., United States v. Orbino, 981 F.2d 1035, 1036-37 (9th Cir.1992) (fact that federal prosecutors "kept a sharp eye" on civil immigration proceedings does not trigger Speedy Trial clock); United States v. Redmond, 803 F.2d 438, 440 (9th Cir.1986) (Speedy Trial Act not implicated when defendant transported from state to federal custody in anticipation of federal charges but returned to state custody the same day), cert. denied, 481 U.S. 1032, 107 S.Ct. 1963, 95 L.Ed.2d 534 (1987); United States v. Manuel, 706 F.2d 908, 914-915 (9th Cir.1983) (four month delay between tribal arrest and federal indictment did not violate Speedy Trial Act); United States v. Johnson, 953 F.2d 1167, 1172 (9th Cir.) (although F.B.I. actively participated in criminal investigation, Speedy Trial Act commenced only upon federal indictment and not defendant's arrest and incarceration by state authorities), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 113 S.Ct. 226, 121 L.Ed.2d 163 (1992). ² Consistent with these cases, we hold that the Speedy Trial Act is not implicated when a defendant is detained on civil charges by the Immigration and Naturalization Service.

                in his case until October 18, 1991.   Because the initial detention was civil in nature and federal criminal charges were not filed at that time, we cannot apply the thirty-day indictment requirement of the Speedy Trial Act from the moment of Cepeda-Luna's arrest on civil deportation charges on July 12, 1991
                

In addition to the requirement that the detention be pursuant to a criminal arrest for the provisions of the Act to apply, the arrest must also have been "in connection with" the charges contained within the later indictment. Orbino, 981 F.2d at 1036. " 'The time limitation for indicting an accused does not begin to run if the accused is arrested for an unrelated offense.' " United States v. Reme, 738 F.2d 1156, 1162 (11th Cir.1984) (quoting United States v. Brooks, 670 F.2d 148, 151 (11th Cir.), cert. denied, 457 U.S. 1124, 102 S.Ct. 2943, 73 L.Ed.2d 1339 (1982)), cert. denied, 471 U.S. 1104, 105 S.Ct. 2334, 85 L.Ed.2d 850 (1985). Cepeda-Luna's initial detention on July 12 was wholly unrelated to the criminal charges contained in the October 18 indictment. The civil deportation was issued pursuant to 8 U.S.C. § 1251, which mandates deportation of aliens convicted of aggravated felonies and drug offenses. ³

                Cepeda-Luna had been convicted of several felony drug offenses.   In contrast, the indictment charged petitioner with illegal reentry, in violation of 8 U.S.C. § 1326, because he had reentered the United States after having been arrested and deported on October 22, 1986 and November 4, 1988.   Thus, the reasons for the civil arrest were independent of the later criminal charges filed for illegal reentry. 4
                

The mandatory dismissal provisions of the Speedy Trial Act, 18 U.S.C. § 3162(a)(1), also require a nexus between the arrest and subsequent criminal charges. We have stated that "[s]ection 3162(a)(1) must be read in connection with section 3162(b) to mean that a 30 day period commences to run as to any charge on which that arrest was based." United States v. Antonio, 705 F.2d 1483, 1485 (9th Cir.1983) (emphasis added). Because petitioner's initial arrest was not "in connection with" the later criminal indictment, the Speedy Trial clock did not start until the arrest on federal criminal charges occurred.

Although we...