United States v. Sealed Juvenile

• Decision Date: 16 March 2015
• Docket Number: No. 14–30357.,14–30357.
• Citation: 781 F.3d 747
• Parties: UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff–Appellee v. SEALED JUVENILE, Defendant–Appellant.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Fifth Circuit

781 F.3d 747

UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff–Appellee

v.SEALED JUVENILE, Defendant–Appellant.

No. 14–30357.

United States Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit.

March 16, 2015.

Camille Ann Domingue, Assistant U.S. Attorney, Daniel J. McCoy, U.S. Attorney's Office, Lafayette, LA, for Plaintiff–Appellee.

Cristie Gautreaux Gibbens, Assistant Federal Public Defender, Federal Public Defender's Office, Lafayette, LA, for Defendant–Appellant.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Western District of Louisiana.

Before BENAVIDES, SOUTHWICK, and COSTA, Circuit Judges.

Opinion

FORTUNATO P. BENAVIDES, Circuit Judge:

This appeal concerns a 15–year–old juvenile who has been sentenced to detention and a subsequent period of juvenile delinquent supervision in connection with a conviction for abusive sexual contact with a minor who had not attained the age of 12 years. In this appeal, we review several special conditions imposed for juvenile delinquent supervision, a matter of first impression.

I. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

The Juvenile is a 15–year–old male who suffers from Oppositional Defiant Disorder

and Bipolar Disorder, Type I, Mixed, with suicidal ideations and hallucinations. On November 3, 2013, while living on a military base with his family, the Juvenile had sexual contact with a four-year-old child. Because the offense occurred on a military base, he was charged in a sealed juvenile information with an act of juvenile delinquency by engaging or attempting to engage in a sexual act with a person who had not attained the age of 12 years, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 2241(c), 5032 (2012). He pleaded guilty pursuant to a plea agreement to the lesser included offense of abusive sexual contact with a minor who had not attained the age of 12 years, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2244(a)(5) (2012) and § 5032.

A probation officer issued a predispositional report that described the offense conduct. The Juvenile admitted that he lied on top of the victim, that both had their pants around their ankles, that he placed his mouth on the victim's vagina, that he planned to put his penis into her vagina but changed his mind just before his sister entered the room, and that his erect penis was above the victim's vagina while he was lying on top of her. The victim stated that the Juvenile had rubbed her with his hand in “the middle” and indicated toward her vaginal area. The victim's five-year-old brother, who was present during the offense, indicated that the Juvenile “bit and licked the victim on her butt.”

After describing behavioral problems that included physical outbursts of anger and getting into fights with others, the report said the following about other sexually inappropriate behavior besides the offense conduct:

In the last year, the juvenile's problems transformed from being anger oriented to being sexually oriented. His parents indicated that he became obsessed with sex, and looking up sexual material on the internet. They found notes to and from various girls at school in which the juvenile discusses having sexual intercourse with the girls. He also asked his sister to engage in sexual activity with him, and aggressively held her down.

The report used the 2013 Sentencing Guidelines and calculated the advisory guidelines range as if the Juvenile was an adult. The report recommended a base offense level of 30 under U.S.S.G. §§ 2A3.1, 2A3.4, because the offense involved a criminal sexual act. Four levels were added under U.S.S.G. § 2A3.1(b)(2) because the victim was under the age of 12 years. With a three-level reduction for acceptance of responsibility under U.S.S.G. § 3E1.1(a), the total offense level was 31. Because he had no prior criminal history, his criminal history score was I. With an offense level of 31 and a criminal history category of I, the advisory guidelines range was 108 to 135 months of imprisonment if the Defendant had been an adult. However, under 18 U.S.C. § 5037(c)(1) (2012) and the plea agreement, the maximum sentence that he could receive was detention until he reached 21 years of age and juvenile delinquent supervision until he reached 21 years of age. Defense counsel did not object to the report, but did file a dispositional memorandum concerning sentencing, which included as attachments, among other things, a copy of a report of a local mental health treatment facility explaining the Juvenile's history, diagnosis, and prognosis, and a letter from the Juvenile's parents.

The district court adjudicated the Juvenile as a juvenile delinquent and sentenced him to 18 months in the Garza County Juvenile Treatment Center in Post, Texas (where he is currently detained), and to a term of juvenile delinquent supervision “until his 21st birthday, in a non-secure facility such as AMIKids in Sandoval, New Mexico.”¹ In addition to the mandatory and standard conditions of supervision, the district court imposed numerous special conditions of supervision.² Specific conditions at issue in this appeal are ones restricting the Juvenile's contact with children, choice of occupation, ability to loiter near certain places, and use of computers and the Internet. The Juvenile timely appealed.

II. APPLICABLE LAW

This Court has recognized that district courts have broad discretion in imposing conditions of supervised release, subject to statutory requirements.³ Under 18 U.S.C. § 3563, a court may provide discretionary conditions “to the extent that such conditions are reasonably related to the factors set forth in section 3553(a)(1) and (a)(2) and to the extent that such conditions involve only such deprivations of liberty or property as are reasonably necessary for the purposes indicated in section 3553(a)(2).” 18 U.S.C. § 3563(b) (2012) (emphasis added). Under 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a)(1), a sentencing court is to consider “the nature and circumstances of the offense and the history and characteristics of the defendant.” 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a)(1) (2012). Under § 3553(a)(2), the court is to consider:

(2) the need for the sentence imposed—

(A) to reflect the seriousness of the offense, to promote respect for the law, and to provide just punishment for the offense;

(B) to afford adequate deterrence to criminal conduct;

(C) to protect the public from further crimes of the defendant; and

(D) to provide the defendant with needed educational or vocational training, medical care, or other correctional treatment in the most effective manner[.]

The district court may, under § 3563(c), “modify, reduce, or enlarge the conditions of a sentence of probation at any time prior to the expiration or termination of the term of probation.”

III. DISCUSSION

On appeal, the Juvenile makes three major arguments. First, he argues that the district court failed to give reasons at the sentencing hearing for its decision to impose the special conditions, and thus failed to explain how the conditions were reasonably related to the factors in § 3553(a). Second, regarding the work, loitering, and computer and Internet conditions, the Juvenile argues that the special conditions of supervised release are not reasonably related to the goals of sentencing. Third, as to all the special conditions at issue before us, the Juvenile argues that the conditions were greater deprivations of liberty or property than reasonably necessary for the purposes indicated in § 3553(a)(2). We first discuss whether the district court failed to adequately provide reasons for imposing the special conditions, and then the special conditions themselves.

A. District Court's Explanation for Imposing Special Conditions

For each of the special conditions, the Juvenile argues that the district court did not give any reasons for imposing the conditions at the sentencing hearing, and thus failed to explain how the conditions were reasonably related to the factors of § 3553(a). Because this issue was not specifically raised before the district court, we review for plain error. See United States v. Alvarado, 691 F.3d 592, 598 (5th Cir.2012). Plain-error review involves four steps:

First, there must be an error or defect—some sort of deviation from a legal rule—that has not been intentionally relinquished or abandoned, i.e., affirmatively waived, by the appellant. Second, the legal error must be clear or obvious, rather than subject to reasonable dispute. Third, the error must have affected the appellant's substantial rights, which in the ordinary case means he must demonstrate that it affected the outcome of the district court proceedings. Fourth and finally, if the above three prongs are satisfied, the court of appeals has the discretion to remedy the error—discretion which ought to be exercised only if the error seriously affects the fairness, integrity or public reputation of judicial proceedings.

Puckett v. United States, 556 U.S. 129, 135, 129 S.Ct. 1423, 173 L.Ed.2d 266 (2009) (internal quotation marks, brackets, and citations omitted).

The Juvenile has not been able to meet this high standard. Even though the district court did not provide reasons during the sentencing hearing, it did provide a statement of additional facts in the judgment to explain the imposition of these special conditions. In that statement, the district court gave the following reasons for the sentence imposed:

The juvenile defendant J.C.C. is adjudicated delinquent for a very serious sexual offense, in which he forced a sexual act upon a four year old child. Had his sister not walked into the room, he may have had sexual intercourse with the victim. He has acted out sexually towards his sister, and is aggressive towards his siblings. He continues to try to lure his sister into his room, when he knows that this is not acceptable. He also has a history of serious mental health issues, including but not limited to suicidal ideations and hallucinations.

In addition, the district court noted that the sentencing decision was based on the recommendation of the U.S. Probation Department of the District of New Mexico, which “has an...