U.S. v. Rivera-Guerrero, 04-50115.

• Citation: 377 F.3d 1064
• Decision Date: 20 July 2004
• Docket Number: No. 04-50115.,04-50115.
• Parties: UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Abisai RIVERA-GUERRERO, Defendant-Appellant.
• Court: United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (9th Circuit)

377 F.3d 1064

UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Abisai RIVERA-GUERRERO, Defendant-Appellant.

No. 04-50115.

United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit.

Argued and Submitted June 7, 2004.

Filed July 20, 2004.

Angela Marie Krueger (argued), Federal Defenders of San Diego, Inc., San Diego, CA, for the defendant-appellant.

Carol C. Lam, United States Attorney, Garrett M. Heenan (argued), Assistant U.S. Attorney, United States Attorney's Office, San Diego, CA, for the plaintiff-appellee.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of California; Napoleon A. Jones, District Judge, Presiding. D.C. No. CR-03-02294-NAJ/POR.

Before: DOROTHY W. NELSON, JOHN R. GIBSON,^* and SUSAN P. GRABER, Circuit Judges.

OPINION

D.W. NELSON, Senior Circuit Judge.

On February 19, 2004, a magistrate judge entered an order authorizing the involuntary administration of medication to Abisai Rivera-Guerrero (hereafter "Rivera"), for the purpose of making Rivera competent to stand trial. On March 10, 2004, the district court denied Rivera's motion to reconsider the magistrate judge's decision. Rivera appeals the district court's decision, arguing that the magistrate judge lacked authority to issue the final order and that, on the merits, the order violated his constitutional rights. We do not reach the merits because we hold that the magistrate judge did lack authority to issue the final order. Accordingly we vacate the district court's order and remand for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.

I. Factual and Procedural History

Rivera was arrested on September 14, 2003, for illegal reentry after deportation, in violation of 8 U.S.C. § 1326(a). After Rivera failed to appear before the magistrate judge for his preliminary hearing, the magistrate judge granted his counsel's request for a psychological evaluation pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 4241(b). On October 30, 2003, the magistrate judge held a competency hearing, at which she reviewed the psychological evaluation and determined that Rivera was not competent to stand trial. Accordingly, she ordered him committed to the custody of the Attorney General pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 4241(d). Rivera was sent to a federal treatment facility in Springfield, Missouri, and has been held there since November 25, 2003.

On February 6, 2004, the magistrate judge held a status hearing in which she heard testimony from Rivera's treating psychiatrist, Dr. Robert Sarrazin, M.D., and his treating psychologist, Dr. David Mrad, Ph.D. The doctors notified the magistrate judge that Rivera was refusing his medication. They reported several instances of hostility and disorganized thinking during Rivera's time in custody. Dr. Mrad reported that Rivera was not considered sufficiently dangerous to warrant immediate emergency medication, because he was being held in a locked ward in a locked room. However, the doctor testified that in his opinion, Rivera needed forced medication in order to make him competent for trial and in order to have him around the other inmates.

In response to this testimony, the magistrate judge scheduled a hearing for February 19, 2004, in order to determine whether to issue an order for involuntary medication. At the hearing, the magistrate judge questioned the doctors at length about each of the factors delineated by the Supreme Court in Sell v. United States, 539 U.S. 166, 123 S.Ct. 2174, 156 L.Ed.2d 197 (2003). Both the prosecution and the defense had the opportunity to question the doctors and present argument. At the hearing, Rivera's counsel also requested a continuance in order to allow time for consultation with a medical expert. The magistrate judge denied the request. At the close of the hearing, the magistrate judge issued an order authorizing the involuntary administration of medication to Rivera and an extension of his stay in the federal facility for an additional four months in order to make him competent to stand trial.

Rivera appealed the magistrate judge's order to the district court. In his appeal, he argued that the magistrate judge lacked both constitutional and statutory authority to issue an order for involuntary medication, an argument he had not raised before the magistrate judge. He also contested the merits of the magistrate judge's decision.

In a written order filed on March 10, 2004, the district court ruled that the magistrate judge's authority to issue the order for involuntary medication did not raise constitutional problems, nor did it exceed the statutory bounds of the Federal Magistrates Act, 28 U.S.C. §§ 631-639 (2000) (hereafter "the Act"). The district court adopted the government's argument that the involuntary medication order was a "non-dispositive collateral matter," and therefore it could be delegated to the magistrate judge without violating Article III of the Constitution. In addition, the court reviewed the provisions of the Act, and found that the order fell within its bounds, as a pretrial matter that was not one of the eight dispositive motions excepted from the Act. The court found the appropriateness of this delegation confirmed by Local Criminal Rule 57.4.c.9, which authorizes the magistrate judge to "[h]ear motions and enter orders for examinations to determine mental competency under 18 U.S.C. § 4241."

The district court then reviewed the magistrate judge's determination for clear error. It held that the magistrate judge's finding that the government had provided clear and convincing evidence in support of each of the four Sell factors was not contrary to the law. It also held that Rivera's due process rights were not violated by the magistrate judge's denial of the request for continuance. Accordingly, the district court denied the motion to reconsider the magistrate judge's order.

Rivera timely appealed.

II. Discussion

We review the delegation of authority to a magistrate judge de novo. United States v. Gomez-Lepe, 207 F.3d 623, 627 (9th Cir.2000).

A. Statutory Analysis

Section 636 of the Federal Magistrates Act delineates the jurisdiction and powers of magistrate judges. 28 U.S.C. § 636. Section 636(b)(1)(A) permits the district court to designate any pretrial matter to the determination of the magistrate judge, with the exception of eight types of motions.¹ Section 636(b)(1)(B) allows the magistrate judge to conduct hearings and submit proposed findings of fact and recommendations to the district court on the excepted motions listed in § 636(b)(1)(A).² Finally, § 636(b)(3) permits a district court judge to assign the magistrate judge any additional duties not inconsistent with the Constitution and the laws of the United States.

The district court concluded that, because § 636(b)(1)(A) does not expressly preclude magistrate judges from issuing orders for involuntary medication, such orders are pretrial matters that can be delegated to magistrate judges under the Act. Although supported by a literal reading of the text of the statute, this reasoning runs counter to our precedent interpreting the Act. With regard to § 636(b)(1)(A), we have indicated that the eight exceptions are not an exhaustive list of all the pretrial matters that are excepted from the magistrate judge's authority. In Maisonville v. F2 America, Inc., 902 F.2d 746 (9th Cir.1990), we analyzed the Act in order to determine whether a magistrate judge has authority to order Rule 11 sanctions. We concluded that the magistrate judge's authority depended on whether the sanctions are characterized as dispositive or non-dispositive of a claim or defense of a party. Id. at 747. Looking to the text of the Act, we noted:

[S]ection 636(b)(1)(A) lists those motions which may not be determined by a magistrate. Accordingly, any motion not listed, nor analogous to a motion listed in this category, falls within the non-dispositive group of matters which a magistrate may determine.

Id. at 747-48 (emphasis added).

Thus, in contrast to the district court's conclusion, Maisonville suggests that the list of excepted pretrial matters can be expanded to include other, analogous motions as well. Two other circuits have explicitly adopted this interpretation of § 636(b)(1)(A). See Massey v. City of Ferndale, 7 F.3d 506, 508 (6th Cir.1993) ("Courts have construed this list of exceptions, which involve dispositive matters, to be nonexhaustive.") (alteration and internal quotation marks omitted); Ocelot Oil Corp. v. Sparrow Indus., 847 F.2d 1458, 1462 (10th Cir.1988) ("[M]otions not designated on their face as one of those excepted in subsection (A) are nevertheless to be treated as such a motion when they have an identical effect.").

The Supreme Court has also indicated that the listed exceptions from § 636(b)(1)(A) are not exclusive. In Gomez v. United States, 490 U.S. 858, 109 S.Ct. 2237, 104 L.Ed.2d 923 (1989), the Court considered whether the Act authorized magistrate judges to conduct jury selection. The Court reasoned:

[Congress] did not identify the selection of a jury as either a "dispositive" matter covered by § 636(b)(1)(B) or a "nondispositive" pretrial matter governed by § 636(b)(1)(A). To the limited extent that it fits into either category, we believe jury selection is more akin to those precisely defined, "dispositive" matters for which subparagraph (B) meticulously sets forth a de novo review procedure.

Id. at 873-74, 109 S.Ct. 2237. Thus, even though the statute does not list jury selection as one of the exceptions from subparagraph (A), the Court rejected the possibility that Congress intended it to be considered one of the pretrial matters that can be delegated to the final authority of a magistrate judge.

The foregoing discussion demonstrates that there is significant precedent to support the conclusion that we do not simply look to the list of excepted pretrial matters in order to determine the magistrate judge's authority. Instead, we must look to the effect of the motion, in order to determine...