U.S. v. Walters
| Decision Date | 20 February 2004 |
| Docket Number | No. 03-4090.,No. 03-4015.,No. 02-4926.,02-4926.,03-4015.,03-4090. |
| Citation | 359 F.3d 340 |
| Parties | UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Christopher WALTERS, Defendant-Appellee. United States of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Deon Montieal Crudup, Defendant-Appellant. United States of America, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. DeAndre Avion Davis, Defendant-Appellee. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Fourth Circuit |
Michael James Elston, Assistant United States Attorney, Alexandria, Virginia, for Appellant United States.
Paul Geoffrey Gill, Assistant Federal Public Defender, Richmond, Virginia, for Appellees Walters and Davis.
Paul J. McNulty, United States Attorney, Alexandria, Virginia, for Appellant United States.
Frank W. Dunham, Jr., Federal Public Defender, Richmond, Virginia, for Appellees Walters and Davis; Jennifer T. Stanton, Jennifer T. Stanton, P.C., Norfolk, Virginia, for Appellant Crudup.
Before NIEMEYER, WILLIAMS, and DUNCAN, Circuit Judges.
Affirmed in part; vacated and remanded in part by published opinion. Judge Duncan wrote the opinion, in which Judge Niemeyer and Judge Williams joined.
Each of the three defendants in these consolidated appeals, Christopher Walters, DeAndre Avion Davis and Deon Montieal Crudup, was charged with possession of a firearm after having been convicted of a crime punishable by more than one year of imprisonment in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1) (2000). In each instance, the predicate conviction was a juvenile adjudication in Virginia state court. Based on this fact, the indictments of Walters and Davis were dismissed by the respective district courts. The district court denied Crudup's motion to dismiss, however, and he was subsequently convicted of three counts of possession of a firearm in violation of § 922(g)(1). Because we find that a juvenile adjudication is not a conviction under Virginia law, such an adjudication cannot serve as the underlying conviction for purposes of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1). Accordingly, we affirm the dismissals of the indictments of Walters and Davis, reverse the denial of Crudup's motion to dismiss, vacate Crudup's conviction, and dismiss as moot Crudup's other assignments of error.
Federal firearms law prohibits the possession of a firearm in or affecting interstate commerce by anyone "who has been convicted in any court of ... a crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year." 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1). Walters, Davis and Crudup were indicted under this provision. In each instance, the defendant committed the predicate offense when he was a minor, and was adjudicated delinquent in a Virginia Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court.1
With respect to each underlying offense, the defendant was neither prosecuted as an adult nor sentenced in state circuit court. Each defendant moved to dismiss his indictment on the ground that an adjudication of juvenile delinquency did not qualify under § 922(g)(1) as a conviction of a crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year.
The district court granted Walter's motion to dismiss the indictment following an analysis of both federal and state law. The court noted that under the Federal Juvenile Delinquency Act ("FJDA"), prosecution of a minor results in an adjudication of status rather than a criminal conviction. The court further rejected the argument that Virginia law treats juvenile adjudications as convictions, pointing out that the statutory language on which the government relied distinguishes a person convicted of a felony from one found guilty as a juvenile. United States v. Walters, 225 F.Supp.2d 684 (E.D.Va.2002).
The district court granted Davis' motion to dismiss, but focused entirely on state law. United States v. Davis, 234 F.Supp.2d 601, 603 & n. 2, 604-06 (E.D.Va. 2002). Although the court acknowledged that a particular amendment to Virginia's juvenile code made the Government's position more persuasive than it would have been under the prior provision, the court nevertheless found that various provisions of Virginia law, including the Virginia analog to § 922(g), Va.Code Ann. § 18.2-308.2(A) (Michie 2003), continued the distinction between delinquency adjudications and criminal convictions. Davis, 234 F.Supp.2d at 604-06. As a result, the court found Davis' juvenile adjudication did not qualify as a predicate conviction under § 922(g)(1).
In addressing Crudup's motion to dismiss, however, the district court reached the opposite conclusion. The court found that a juvenile adjudication is a conviction for purposes of § 922(g)(1) because such an adjudication could be an underlying offense for Virginia's "felon in possession of a firearm" statute. See Va.Code Ann. § 18.2-308.2(A)(ii). The court also determined that the offense of simple possession of cocaine, which formed the basis of Crudup's adjudication, is one that would have carried a sentence of up to ten years had Crudup been tried as an adult. United States v. Crudup, 225 F.Supp.2d 688 (E.D.Va.2002).
The United States filed timely notices of appeal from the district courts' decisions in Walters and Davis. Crudup filed a timely notice of appeal of the criminal judgment entered against him.
This appeal presents an issue of statutory construction which, as a pure question of law, we review de novo. See Holland v. Pardee Coal Co., 269 F.3d 424, 430 (4th Cir.2001).
Before deciding whether juvenile adjudications serve as predicate convictions for purposes of § 922(g)(1), we must first determine whether federal or state law controls our analysis.
Defendants Walters, Davis and Crudup argue that we should look to the federal criminal code for guidance in determining whether a conviction encompasses a juvenile adjudication. The defendants contend that there is a long-recognized distinction between a finding of "juvenile delinquency" and a "conviction" of a crime. Based on the principle that "Congress acts with knowledge of existing law, and that absent a clear manifestation of contrary intent, a newly-enacted or revised statute is presumed to be harmonious with existing law and its judicial construction," United States v. Langley, 62 F.3d 602, 605 (4th Cir.1995) (internal quotations omitted)(quoting Estate of Wood v. C.I.R., 909 F.2d 1155, 1160 (8th Cir.1990)), the defendants contend that we should presume that the provisions of the federal firearms law continue these well-established distinctions.
Federal law defines "juvenile delinquency" as a violation of law by a minor that "would have been a crime if committed by an adult." 18 U.S.C. § 5031 (2003). A juvenile is not "convicted" under federal law; a court adjudicates whether he or she is a juvenile delinquent. If so, the juvenile is subject to a disposition hearing at which the options are restitution, probation or commitment to official detention for a limited period of time. See 18 U.S.C. § 5037 (2003). The Walters court concluded that the "FJDA demonstrated Congress's perspective that juvenile delinquency adjudications are distinct from criminal convictions." 225 F.Supp.2d at 685-86.
The court further found the definition of "violent felony" in § 924(e)(2)(B), which parallels the language of § 922(g)(1), to be particularly compelling. Section 924(e)(2)(B) defines the term "violent felony" to include
any crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year, or any act of juvenile delinquency involving the use or carrying of a firearm, knife, or destructive device that would be punishable by imprisonment for such term if committed by an adult ....
Section 924(e)(2)(C) goes on to provide that "the term `conviction' includes a finding that a person has committed an act of juvenile delinquency involving a violent felony." As the Walters court pointed out, § 924(e)(2) clarifies that the term "conviction" will include an adjudication of juvenile delinquency only if that act of juvenile delinquency involved a "violent felony." If the term "conviction" were interpreted to always include adjudications of juvenile delinquency, § 924(e)(2)(C) would not be necessary.
The Government argues in response that a specific provision of the federal statute requires a determination of the status of a Virginia juvenile adjudication under Virginia law, and we agree. In 1986, § 921 was amended to provide that "[w]hat constitutes a conviction of [a crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year] shall be determined in accordance with the law of the jurisdiction in which the proceedings were held." Firearms Owners' Production Act, Pub.L. No. 99-308, § 101, 100 Stat. 449, (1986) ().
We had occasion to interpret § 921(a)(20) in the context of determining whether the prosecution and conviction of a juvenile as an adult constituted a crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year under the Armed Career Criminal Act, 18 U.S.C. § 924(e)(1). See United States v. Lender, 985 F.2d 151 (4th Cir.1993). We found then, as we do now, that the language of § 921(a)(20) is clear in its indication of Congress's intent to incorporate state law. By stating that what constitutes a conviction is to be determined by the laws of the jurisdiction in which the proceeding was held, "Congress has eschewed a uniform definition in favor of letting states decide" what constitutes a crime punishable by imprisonment for more than one year. Id. at 156.
We turn, therefore, to a determination of whether a juvenile adjudication is a conviction under Virginia law.
The clearest general statement of Virginia law on whether an adjudication of juvenile delinquency qualifies as a "conviction" for purposes of § 922(g)(1) is Va.Code Ann. § 16.1-308 (Michie 2003). Under that provision,
Except as otherwise provided by law for a juvenile found guilty of a felony in circuit court whose case is disposed of in the same manner as an adult criminal case, ...
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