Daniel Zavala v. Richard Ives

785 F.3d 367, 2015 U.S. App. LEXIS 8104, 2015 WL 2343637
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
DecidedMay 18, 2015
Docket13-56615
StatusPublished
Cited by45 cases

This text of 785 F.3d 367 (Daniel Zavala v. Richard Ives) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Daniel Zavala v. Richard Ives, 785 F.3d 367, 2015 U.S. App. LEXIS 8104, 2015 WL 2343637 (9th Cir. 2015).

Opinions

Opinion by Judge REINHARDT; Partial Concurrence and Partial Dissent by Judge CALLAHAN.

OPINION

REINHARDT, Circuit Judge:

Daniel Zavala seeks credit toward his criminal sentence under 18 U.S.C. § 3585(b), the sentencing credit statute, for two periods of time during which he [369]*369was detained by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Service (ICE) prior to the commencement of his criminal sentence for illegal reentry under 8 U.S.C. § 1326. We hold that where ICE. detains an alien pending potential criminal prosecution, that detention constitutes “official detention” within the meaning of § 3585(b) and the alien is accordingly entitled to credit toward his criminal' sentence.

I.

On September 20, 2010, Zavala was transferred from state custody, where he had finished serving a state criminal sentence, into the custody of ICE. That same day, an ICE officer gave him a Form I-871, U.S. Department of Homeland Security Notice of Intent/Decision to Reinstate Prior Order, which Zavala signed.1 The I-871 Form provided that ICE had determined that Zavala was subject to a prior order of removal entered on May 2, 2006, that he had previously been removed on May 3, 2006 pursuant to an order of removal, and that he illegally reentered the United States on or about July 14, 2009. Zavala signed the “Acknowledgment and Response” section of the 1-871 Form stating “I do not wish to make a statement contesting this determination.”2 The ICE officer accordingly reinstated the prior order of removal by signing the “Decision, Order, and Officer’s Certification” section of Form 1-871, which stated that “[hjaving reviewed all available evidence, the administrative file and any statements made or submitted in rebuttal, I have determined that the above-named alien is subject to removal through reinstatement of the pri- or order, in accordance with section 241(a)(5) of the [Immigration and Nationality] Act.” Although reinstatement of the prior order allowed ICE to remove Zavala from the country at any time from September 20, 2010 onward, ICE nonetheless continued to detain Zavala until October 6, 2010 — sixteen days later.

On October 6, 2010, a grand jury in the District of Nevada returned an indictment charging Zavala with illegal reentry under § 1326. ICE then transferred Zavala into the custody of the United States Marshals Service (USMS), and Zavala was in USMS custody as of October 7, 2010. Sixty-two days later, on December 7, 2010, the United States District Court for the District of Nevada granted the Government leave to dismiss the unlawful reentry charge due to improper venue.

On December 10, 2010, following dismissal of the indictment for improper venue, Zavala was transferred from USMS custody back into ICE custody. Twelve days later, on December 22, 2010, a criminal action for illegal reentry under § 1326 was again brought against Zavala, this time in the Central District of California, the proper venue, and he was again transferred into USMS custody from ICE custody.

Pursuant to a plea agreement, Zavala was sentenced on March 28, 2011 to 46-months’ imprisonment and 3-years’ supervised release for illegal reentry under § 1326(a). In calculating Zavala’s entitlement to sentencing credit under § 3585(b) [370]*370for time he spent in detention prior to the commencement of his criminal sentence, the Bureau of Prisons (BOP) granted Zavala credit for the two periods of time during which USMS detained him — October 6, 2010 through December 10, 2010, and December 22, 2010 through March 27, 2011.3

BOP denied Zavala sentencing credit, however, for the two periods of time during which ICE detained him prior to the commencement of his criminal sentence: (1) September 20, 2010 through October 5, 2010, when ICE detained him after reinstatement of the removal order but before an indictment was returned, hereinafter referred to as the “pre-indictment period”; and (2) December 11, 2010 through December 21, 2010, when ICE detained him between the dismissal of the first indictment for improper venue and the re-initiation of the criminal proceeding in the proper venue, hereinafter referred to as the “post-indictment period.”

On May 20, 2013, Zavala filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2241, claiming improper denial of sentencing credit because he had “been in official custody of the federal government since September 20, 2010.” A magistrate denied sentencing credit for both periods of detention by ICE, and the district court adopted in full the magistrate’s report and recommendation. Zavala appealed.

II.

Zavala contends that the district court erred in concluding that detention by immigration authorities never constitutes “official detention” within the meaning of § 3585(b), the statute governing the calculation of a term of imprisonment. We review the district court’s denial of a habeas petition de novo, while we review any underlying factual findings for clear error. Reynolds v. Thomas, 603 F.3d 1144, 1148 (9th Cir.2010), abrogated on other grounds by Setser v. United States, — U.S.-, 132 S.Ct. 1463, 182 L.Ed.2d 455 (2012). We review questions of statutory interpretation de novo. United States v. Thompson, 728 F.3d 1011, 1015 (9th Cir.2013); Phoenix Mem’l Hosp. v. Sebelius, 622 F.3d 1219,1224 (9th Cir.2010).

A.

Title 18 U.S.C. § 3585 governs'the calculation of the length of a federal criminal sentence. Under the statute, a term of imprisonment begins “on the date the defendant is received in custody awaiting transportation to, or arrives voluntarily to commence service of sentence at, the official detention facility at which the sentence is to be served.” § 3585(a). The statute then provides that the defendant is entitled to sentencing credit for time spent in “official detention” prior to the commencement of the term of imprisonment:

Credit for prior custody. — A defendant shall be given credit toward the service of a term of imprisonment for any time he has spent in official detention prior to the date the sentence commences—
(1) as a result of the offense for which the sentence was imposed; or
(2) as a result of any other charge for which the defendant was arrested after the commission of the offense for which the sentence was imposed;
[371]*371that has not been credited against another sentence.

§ 3585(b). The statute does not define “official detention.”

When interpreting a statute, “[w]e start, as always, with the language of the statute.” Williams v. Taylor, 529 U.S. 420, 431, 120 S.Ct. 1479, 146 L.Ed.2d 435 (2000).

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Bluebook (online)
785 F.3d 367, 2015 U.S. App. LEXIS 8104, 2015 WL 2343637, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/daniel-zavala-v-richard-ives-ca9-2015.