U.S. v. Male Juvenile

• Decision Date: 07 February 2002
• Docket Number: No. 00-30411.,00-30411.
• Citation: 280 F.3d 1008
• Parties: UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. MALE JUVENILE (Pierre Y.), Defendant-Appellant.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Ninth Circuit

Page 1008

280 F.3d 1008

UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. MALE JUVENILE (Pierre Y.), Defendant-Appellant.

No. 00-30411.

United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit.

Argued and Submitted June 12, 2001.

Filed February 7, 2002.

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Michael Donahoe, Assistant Federal Public Defender, Helena, MT, for the appellant.

Klaus P. Richter, Assistant United States Attorney, Billings, MT, for the appellee.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Montana; Jack D. Shanstrom, District Judge, Presiding. D.C. No. CR-00-00038-JDS.

Before B. FLETCHER, BRUNETTI, and FISHER, Circuit Judges.

OPINION

BRUNETTI, Circuit Judge.

This appeal raises difficult and complex questions relating to federal jurisdiction over Native American juveniles. Once again, we must revisit the interplay of two statutes granting federal jurisdiction: those governing criminal jurisdiction over Native Americans and those governing federal juvenile delinquency. Both grants of jurisdiction, on their own, have provoked concern about the reach of the federal government and the rights of those brought into court via these statutes. Together, the concern is even greater.

Pierre Y. ("Pierre") is a Native American juvenile who was adjudged a juvenile delinquent in federal court for two burglaries committed on the Fort Peck Indian Reservation, after previously being tried and punished in tribal court for one of the two offenses. Pierre raises numerous challenges to his federal prosecution: he contends that federal jurisdiction does not exist over these offenses; that the proceedings violated his rights to due process and equal protection of the laws; that his confession should have been suppressed; and that his right to a jury trial was violated.

FACTS

On March 5, 2000, Pierre was taken into custody by Fort Peck Tribal Police as a suspect in the burglary of Kae Spottedbull's house, after Spottedbull reported to the police that she saw Pierre running away from the residence shortly before she discovered a VCR, a Super Nintendo, and some video games missing from her residence. Pierre's mother was called to the police station, and she gave her permission for the police to question him. The tribal police advised Pierre of his Miranda rights, and he signed an advice-of-rights form. After indicating that he understood his rights and was willing to speak with the officers, Pierre admitted breaking into Spottedbull's house. He was released from custody after the interview.

Shortly thereafter, an unrelated investigation by tribal police linked Pierre to the theft of compact discs from the apartment of Derek Bridges. On March 7, 2000, after obtaining Pierre's mother's permission, tribal police contacted Pierre at Poplar Middle School to question him about the missing CDs. Police told him that he was not under arrest, but nonetheless advised him of his Miranda rights and obtained his signature on an advice-of-rights form. Pierre then admitted to the break-in of Bridges' apartment.

On March 13, 2000, a petition was brought against Pierre in Fort Peck tribal youth court for juvenile delinquency based on the first break-in. After a hearing, Pierre was sentenced to 90 days for theft and 90 days for burglary, to be served consecutively.

Two months later, on May 15, 2000, the United States charged Pierre with two counts of juvenile delinquency, relating to both incidents. The jurisdictional certification statement required by 18 U.S.C. § 5032 (the Juvenile Delinquency Act) to establish federal jurisdiction stated that: (1) the state of Montana did not have jurisdiction over the offenses and (2) the offenses involved a crime of violence and there was a substantial federal interest in the offenses to warrant federal jurisdiction.

Pierre filed a pretrial motion, asserting lack of federal jurisdiction, requesting suppression of his confessions and other tribal court records, and demanding a jury trial. The motion was denied without a hearing. After a bench trial, Pierre was adjudged a juvenile delinquent for both offenses and sentenced to 24 months in custody. He timely appeals.

JURISDICTIONAL OVERVIEW

The exercise of federal jurisdiction over tribal youth results from the interplay between the General Crimes Act (18 U.S.C. § 1152, also known as the Indian Country Crimes Act), the Major Crimes Act (18 U.S.C. § 1153) and the Federal Juvenile Delinquency Act (18 U.S.C. §§ 5031 et seq.). An overview of how these statutes work together will be helpful in addressing each of Pierre's claims.

Native American tribes generally have exclusive jurisdiction over crimes committed by Indians against Indians in Indian country. However, two federal statutes provide for federal jurisdiction over such crimes. The first statute, 18 U.S.C. § 1152, known as the General Crimes Act, mandates that the "general laws" of the United States, which are applicable in federal enclaves such as military bases, apply in Indian country. However, there are two important limitations on the scope of the Act: it does not extend to offenses committed by an Indian against another Indian or to any Indian who has been punished for that act by the local law of the tribe.¹ The second statute, 18 U.S.C. § 1153, known as the Major Crimes Act ("MCA"), partially abrogated the General Crimes Act by creating federal jurisdiction over fourteen enumerated crimes committed by Indians against Indians or any other person in Indian country, including arson, murder, assault with intent to kill, and burglary.² The MCA was enacted in response to "congressional displeasure over the Supreme Court's decision in Ex parte Crow Dog, holding that neither the federal nor territorial courts had jurisdiction to try an Indian for murder of another Indian on a reservation." Felix S. Cohen, Handbook of Federal Indian Law 300-01 (1982). Therefore, the enactment of the MCA "reflected a view that tribal remedies were either nonexistent or incompatible with principles that Congress thought should be controlling." Keeble v. United States, 412 U.S. 205, 210, 93 S.Ct. 1993, 36 L.Ed.2d 844 (1973). Significantly, the MCA does not contain an exception for Indians who have already been punished by the tribe.

Jurisdiction over juvenile defendants in the federal system is governed by the Federal Juvenile Delinquency Act ("FJDA"), 18 U.S.C. § 5031 et seq. Although the FJDA creates federal jurisdiction over alleged acts of juvenile delinquency, the alleged crime must be a "violation of a law of the United States" to trigger that jurisdiction. Id. § 5032. Also, as a jurisdictional requirement, the Act requires certification by the Attorney General that (1) the juvenile court or other appropriate court of a State does not have, or refuses to assume, jurisdiction over the acts of a juvenile; (2) the State does not have available programs and services adequate for the needs of a juvenile; or (3) the offense charged is a crime of violence that is a felony or one of several enumerated crimes and there is a substantial Federal interest in the offense. Id. Because certification requirements are disjunctive, a single basis for certification establishes jurisdiction. United States v Juvenile Male, 864 F.2d 641, 646 (9th Cir. 1988). The certification requirements resulted from Congress' desire to keep juveniles out of the federal court system and instead "channel juveniles into state and local treatment programs." Id. at 644.

ANALYSIS

Against this backdrop, we now turn to Pierre's claims.

I. CERTIFICATION

Proper certification is a jurisdictional requirement. United States v. Doe, 170 F.3d 1162, 1165 (9th Cir.1999). Certification under any one of the three provisions of section 5032 is sufficient to commit a juvenile to the federal court system. Juvenile Male, 864 F.2d at 646. Whether the government complied with 18 U.S.C. § 5032 is a matter of statutory interpretation which this court reviews de novo. United States v. Juvenile Male (Kenneth C.), 241 F.3d 684, 686 (9th Cir.2001) (citing United States v. Doe, 98 F.3d 459, 460 (9th Cir.1996)).

The certification filed in this case asserts two bases for jurisdiction: (1) the state of Montana (in which the Fort Peck Indian Tribe is located) does not have jurisdiction over the offense and (2) the offense involved a "crime of violence that is a felony" and a substantial federal interest exists in the case to warrant federal jurisdiction. Pierre challenges both grounds.

Pierre first argues that the certification is insufficient because the Attorney General failed to certify that the Fort Peck Tribe did not have, or would not assume, jurisdiction to adjudicate Pierre as a juvenile delinquent. Pierre contends that section 5032 requires such tribal certification.

We expressly considered and rejected a similar argument in Juvenile Male, 864 F.2d at 644-45. Observing that section 5032 and its legislative history were completely silent as to tribes, we found "no basis for assuming that Congress intended Indian juveniles otherwise subject to federal jurisdiction ... to be subject to tribal jurisdiction." Id. We further observed that Congress certainly had within its power the ability to include tribes within the certification process, but did not. Id. at 645. Our decision expressly relied on the Eighth Circuit's analysis in United States v. Allen, 574 F.2d 435, 438-39 (8th Cir. 1978), which concluded that the plain meaning of the word "State" in section 5032 does not include Indian tribes and thus consultation with the tribes is not required under § 5032(1). Pierre recognizes our prior holding, but argues that a 1990 amendment to § 5032 gives us reason to rethink it.

In 1990, Congress added a provision to section 5032 defining "State," for the purposes of the section, to include "a State of the United States, the District of Columbia, and any commonwealth, territory, or possession of the United States." Crime Control Act of 1990...