U.S. v. Juvenile, 05-30410.

• Decision Date: 22 June 2006
• Docket Number: No. 05-30410.,05-30410.
• Citation: 451 F.3d 571
• Parties: UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. JUVENILE, Defendant-Appellant.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Ninth Circuit

451 F.3d 571

UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. JUVENILE, Defendant-Appellant.

No. 05-30410.

United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit.

Argued and Submitted May 4, 2006.

Filed June 22, 2006.

Palmer A. Hoovestal, Helena, MT, for the appellant.

Lori Harper Suek, Office of the U.S. Attorney, Billings, MT, for the appellee.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Montana; Sam E. Haddon, District Judge, Presiding. D.C. No. CR-05-00001-2-SEH.

Before: TASHIMA and W. FLETCHER, Circuit Judges, and POLLAK,^* District Judge.

POLLAK, District Judge:

This case requires us to decide whether, when deciding a motion to transfer a juvenile to adult status pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 5032 for criminal prosecution, a district court must assume the juvenile defendant committed the crime with which he is charged. For the reasons that follow, we hold that the district court may indulge such an assumption but is not required to do so. If the district court chooses to assume guilt, it must confine the assumption to the elements of the offense charged.

I. Factual and Procedural History

The juvenile appellant in this case, to whom we will refer as T.J.S., was charged, along with a co-defendant, with first degree murder by Information. The charge against T.J.S. arises from events occurring on June 18, 2004 on the Rocky Boy's Indian Reservation near Box Elder, Montana. The details of that day's events are, of course, in dispute.

The government's account is as follows. T.J.S., who was 15 years old at the time, was drinking alcohol with three of his friends on the evening of June 18, 2004 when one member of the group suggested they go pick up Alton Alexander so he could buy beer for the group. T.J.S. rejected that idea, expressing some disdain for Alexander as a "rat" because Alexander had recently foiled an attempt by T.J.S. and others to steal a car. Later in the evening, T.J.S. obtained a length of pipe and suggested beating up Alexander. T.J.S. and the other boys were also carrying knives. The group went to Alexander's house and invited him to go drinking with them, which he agreed to do. The four boys drove Alexander to a nearby dump site. While they were in the car, T.J.S. accused Alexander of being a rat, and Alexander exited the car and attempted to flee. T.J.S. and the other boys chased him down, beat him with a pipe, cut and stabbed him with knives, and ran over him with their car as they left the scene. Alexander was found dead at the dump site less than an hour after he was seen getting into the car with T.J.S. and his friends. The cause of Alexander's death was determined to be blunt force injuries to the head and stab wounds to the head and trunk.

T.J.S. does not deny most of the government's account of events leading up to the confrontation with Alexander at the dump site. However, he claims that he did not plan the attack on Alexander. In fact, he claims that, after picking up the pipe and putting it in the car, he blacked out and did not wake up until after the boys had picked up Alexander and were on their way to the dump site. He claims that he did not even know Alexander. He also claims that his role in the attack was limited to punching Alexander with his fists. The government moved to transfer T.J.S.'s case for prosecution as an adult pursuant to the discretionary transfer provision of 18 U.S.C. § 5032.¹ The district court later ordered a psychological examination of T.J.S. T.J.S. also retained his own expert, who filed a report with the district court. The district court held an evidentiary hearing on the motion to transfer. The court indicated that it had received and would consider the psychological evaluations mentioned above, and testimony was heard from the FBI investigator in charge of the case and some of T.J.S.'s relatives, including his mother, brothers, grandmother, and step-grandfather.

Some days after the hearing, the district court issued its Findings of Fact, Conclusions of Law, and an Order granting the government's motion to transfer. The district court addressed each of six factors which Congress, in 18 U.S.C. § 5032, has directed district courts to consider in "assessing whether a transfer would be in the interest of justice: the age and social background of the juvenile; the nature of the alleged offense; the extent and nature of the juvenile's prior delinquency record; the juvenile's present intellectual development and psychological maturity; the nature of past treatment efforts and the juvenile's response to such efforts; [and] the availability of programs designed to treat the juvenile's behavioral problems."

In considering T.J.S.'s "social background," the district court found, inter alia, that T.J.S. may have been abused by his father as a child, and that his social group and activities reflected a desire to appear "tough." As to "the nature of the offense," the district court found, inter alia, that T.J.S. initiated the attack on Alexander, that T.J.S. brought the pipe that was used in the attack, that T.J.S. was carrying a knife when the group went to get Alexander, that the group of boys beat Alexander with a pipe and stabbed him with knives, and that T.J.S.'s description of the attack was detached and that he attempted to minimize his involvement. The district court found that T.J.S. had a "prior delinquency record" consisting of a number of incidents of malicious mischief, disorderly conduct, and attempted car theft. With respect to T.J.S.'s "intellectual development and psychological maturity," the district court found that T.J.S. performed well in school when he applied himself, that he had some weak reality perception, and that he presented an above-average risk of violent criminal activity. The district court found that T.J.S. had not been the object of any "past treatment efforts." Finally, the district court found that substantial treatment programs were available, both for juveniles and adults, in the Bureau of Prison's local facilities, but that T.J.S. had expressed no serious interest in any therapeutic programs.

The district court also entered conclusions of law, among which were determinations that the crime charged was a crime of violence and that "[t]he Court must assume, for purposes of a transfer determination, that the juvenile committed the offense charged in the Information" (emphasis added) (citing United States v. Nelson, 68 F.3d 583, 589 (2d Cir.1995)).

Based on its findings of fact and law, the district court concluded that prosecution of T.J.S. as an adult was warranted. The district court emphasized the vicious nature of the offense and expressed its belief that T.J.S. had planned the attack in retaliation for Alexander's role in foiling T.J.S.'s attempt to steal a car. T.J.S.'s actions suggested a "significant level of mental development and capacity" and substantial "skills at manipulation which enabled him to lead and persuade others to participate in the crime." The district court recognized that T.J.S. had a difficult childhood and that he had not received prior treatment, but the court stated that "the stark reality remains that T.J.S.'s planning of and participation in a deliberate murder, brutally and callously carried out, make inevitable the conclusion that he is a violent and dangerous person who expresses little or no recognition of or acceptance of responsibility for his actions and from whom society must be protected." The district court found little promise of rehabilitation and concluded on the record as a whole that transfer to adult status was appropriate.

T.J.S. filed a timely notice of appeal.

II. Jurisdiction and Standard of Review

The district court had jurisdiction over this matter pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 3231. We exercise jurisdiction over this interlocutory appeal in accordance with United States v. Gerald N., 900 F.2d 189, 190-91 (9th Cir.1990).

The decision to transfer a juvenile to adult status is within the sound discretion of the district court and will not be disturbed absent an abuse of discretion. United States v. Doe, 94 F.3d 532, 536 (9th Cir.1996). The district court abuses its discretion when it fails to make the required findings or when the findings it does make are clearly erroneous.² Id. It also abuses its discretion when it bases its ruling on an erroneous view of the law. See Koon v. United States, 518 U.S. 81, 100, 116 S.Ct. 2035, 135 L.Ed.2d 392 (1996) ("A district court by definition abuses its discretion when it makes an error of law.").

Questions of statutory and constitutional interpretation are reviewed de novo. See United States v. Juvenile, 228 F.3d 987, 989 (9th Cir.2000).

III. Discussion

A. Legal Standards for Transfer

The Federal Juvenile Delinquency Act (FJDA), 18 U.S.C. §§ 5031 et seq., permits the criminal prosecution of a juvenile if: 1) it is alleged that the juvenile committed the offense after his fifteenth birthday; 2) the offense would be a felony crime of violence if committed by an adult; and 3) it is in the interest of justice to prosecute the juvenile as an adult. 18 U.S.C. § 5032; see also United States v. Brandon P., 387 F.3d 969, 976 (9th Cir. 2004). "The statute clearly intends a presumption of juvenile treatment, and the government bears the burden of establishing that transfer is warranted." United States v. A.R., 38 F.3d 699, 706 (3d Cir. 1994). In considering whether transfer is in the interest of justice, the district court, as noted above, is required to make findings with respect to the six factors enumerated in § 5032. The weight to be given each factor is a matter within the discretion of the district court, and the court is not required to specify whether it regards each factor as weighing for or against transfer. Brandon P., 387 F.3d at 977. Transfer is proper when the risk of harm posed by affording the defendant more lenient treatment within the juvenile justice system outweighs the defendant's chance for...