United States v. E.T.H., JUV

833 F.3d 931, 2016 U.S. App. LEXIS 15166, 2016 WL 4394566
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
DecidedAugust 18, 2016
Docket15-1672
StatusPublished
Cited by29 cases

This text of 833 F.3d 931 (United States v. E.T.H., JUV) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. E.T.H., JUV, 833 F.3d 931, 2016 U.S. App. LEXIS 15166, 2016 WL 4394566 (8th Cir. 2016).

Opinion

SMITH, Circuit Judge.

E.T.H., who was originally adjudicated a juvenile delinquent for assaulting a federal officer, appeals from the district court’s imposition of a combination of official detention and juvenile delinquent supervision (“supervision”) following revocation of E.T.H.’s prior supervision term. E.T.H. argues that the total combined term of detention and supervision exceeds the maximum possible term under the Federal Juvenile Delinquency Act (FJDA), 18 U.S.C. § 5031 et seq. We reverse and remand with *933 instructions to enter a sentence not to exceed the statutory maximum set forth infra.

I. Background

In 2013, E.T.H. was adjudicated a juvenile delinquent for assaulting a federal officer, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 111. On September 17, 2013, the district court sentenced then-16-year-old E.T.H. to probation until his 19th birthday: November 21, 2015. The day after his initial sentencing, E.T.H. was placed at McCrossan Boys Ranch in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, but McCrossan Boys Ranch terminated E.T.H.’s participation in its program on May 15, 2014, due to his poor attitude and behavior. He was then transferred to the Juvenile Services Center in Rapid City, South Dakota, where he spent the next two months before returning to his father’s residence in Eagle Butte, South Dakota, on July 7, 2014.

Three days later, on July 10, 2014, E.T.H. was arrested for simple assault, resisting arrest, disorderly conduct, and public nuisance. On July 11, 2014, E.T.H.’s probation officer petitioned to revoke E.T.H.’s probation. On September 23, 2014, the district court sentenced E.T.H. to detention until his 18th birthday, followed by two years of supervision. As a result of this sentence, E.T.H. served 4 months and 11 days in detention. His supervision term was scheduled to expire on November 21, 2016.

On E.T.H.’s 18th birthday, he commenced supervision at Glory House in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. On December 12, 2014, E.T.H. produced a urine sample that tested positive for dextromethorphan. On December 19, 2014, the district court held a status hearing on E.T.H. and then returned him to Glory House.

On January 19, 2015, another of E.T.H.’s urine samples tested positive for synthetic cannabinoids. Later that day, E.T.H. removed his electronic ankle monitor, left Glory House without permission, and failed to return. The police located E.T.H. two days later, finding him highly intoxicated at the scene of a car accident. On January 21, 2015, E.T.H.’s probation officer petitioned to revoke E.T.H.’s supervision, alleging that E.T.H. violated the conditions of his supervision by (1) possessing and using a controlled substance, and (2) failing to reside and participate in the residential re-entry center. E.T.H. was arrested on January 26, 2015, and he remained in custody for the pendency of the revocation proceeding.

On February 5, 2015, E.T.H. admitted to the second allegation in the petition. Before the disposition hearing, the probation office prepared a supplemental predisposition investigation report (PIR). Paragraph 14 of the supplemental PIR provided that “[h]ad [E.T.H.] been convicted as an adult, the maximum of the guideline range he could have been sentenced to was 18 months.... On a prior revocation, [E.T.H.] served 4 months and 11 days; therefore, the maximum term of official detention is 13 months and 19 days.” The government moved for an upward departure and objected to this portion of the PIR at the disposition hearing. The government argued that Eighth Circuit precedent permits a district court to “upwardly depart, following revocation of juvenile probation, based on the juveniles’ continued ¡unlawful behavior while on supervision.” (Citing United States v. K.R.A., 337 F.3d 970 (8th Cir. 2003); United States v. A.J., 190 F.3d 873 (8th Cir. 1999).) At the disposition hearing, the government maintained that while “a statutory cap” existed, there was “no guideline cap.” According to the government, the Guidelines range that E.T.H. would have been subject to had he been convicted as an adult was not a “cap,” meaning that the district court could up *934 wardly depart just as it may do so for an adult.

The district court responded' by observing that the FJDA “is largely incomprehensible” and “needs to be rewritten” and that the rules concerning juvenile delinquent dispositions are “a bit on the mushy side.” The court commented that it is vested with “a great deal of discretion” in juvenile cases and that “the best interests of the juvenile is a factor for the Court to consider” in determining the appropriate disposition. The court found the government’s argument “an interesting point” but declined “to test the outer limits of its .authority to sentence this juvenile to prison.” The court characterized the question presented as “academic” and refused “to wade in and attempt to ... resolve that issue.”

Thereafter, the court heard argument from the parties on what the proper disposition should be and also engaged in a lengthy discussion with E.T.H. The court gave a thorough recitation of E.T.H.’s history and the case history before announcing its disposition. The court placed E.T.H. in the Reintegrating Youthful Offenders program in Galen, Montana, a place where E.T.H.’s “addiction issues might be addressed and where he can do more for himself than just sitting in a prison setting.” “[M]indful- of all of the factors in a juvenile delinquent case,” the court imposed a disposition of “time served, plus whatever time it takes for placement at the Reintegrating Youthful Offenders program in Galen, Montana, followed by juvenile delinquent supervision for a term of two years on the same terms and conditions, adding the term about the [Reintegrating Youthful Offenders] placement and residential reentry center placement.” The court acknowledged that the disposition was “a little bit on the indefinite side because ... it could take as long as 30 days for ... him to be actually placed” in the program. As a result, the court “ha[d] to fashion the sentence as time served, plus whatever time it takes for the U.S. Marshal to transport him to Galen, Montana, when they are ready for him there.”

E.T.H.’s counsel objected to the disposition, arguing that “the maximum amount that he can be subject to custody and ... further supervision is ... 13 months and 19 days, without a finding by the Court of a different number.” The court replied that it was “mak[ing] a finding that this juvenile’s rehabilitation needs are so vast that additional supervision of two years beyond the point where we are today is required.” The court entered a judgment ordering that E.T.H. “be detained for a total term of: Time served plus any additional time, up to 30 days, that it takes to make arrangements for him to be placed at Reintegrating Youthful Offender’s Program in Galen, MT and for the U.S.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
833 F.3d 931, 2016 U.S. App. LEXIS 15166, 2016 WL 4394566, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-eth-juv-ca8-2016.