United States v. John G. Reynard

473 F.3d 1008, 2007 U.S. App. LEXIS 665, 2007 WL 79545
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
DecidedJanuary 12, 2007
Docket02-50476
StatusPublished
Cited by34 cases

This text of 473 F.3d 1008 (United States v. John G. Reynard) 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
United States v. John G. Reynard, 473 F.3d 1008, 2007 U.S. App. LEXIS 665, 2007 WL 79545 (9th Cir. 2007).

Opinions

PREGERSON, J.,

delivered the opinion of the Court as to Parts I through 11(D), in which TASHIMA and CLIFTON, JJ., joined. CLIFTON, J., delivered the opinion of the Court as to Part 11(E), in which TASHIMA, J., joined.

PREGERSON, J., filed a dissenting opinion as to Part 11(E) and dissents from the judgment.

PREGERSON, Circuit Judge, with whom TASHIMA and CLIFTON, Circuit Judges, join.

Appellant John G. Reynard seeks review of the district court’s decision to revoke his supervised release. The district court revoked Reynard’s supervised release because he refused to proffer a blood sample, as required by the DNA Analysis Backlog Elimination Act of 2000 (“DNA Act”), Pub.L. No. 106-546, 114 Stat. 2726 (2000), (codified at 42 U.S.C. § 14135a (2000)). Failure to provide a blood sample constituted a violation of the terms of his supervised release. Reynard appeals, contend[1011]*1011ing that the DNA Act (1) violates the Fourth Amendment, (2) is impermissibly retroactive, (3) violates the Ex Post Facto Clause, (4) violates the Commerce Clause, and (5) violates the Fifth Amendment. For the reasons stated below, we affirm the district court’s revocation of Reynard’s supervised release.

I. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

A. Factual Background

1. The Underlying Crime

On July 23, 1998, Reynard entered a San Diego Bank of America branch and handed the teller a note demanding that she empty the cash drawer and warning her that he possessed a gun. The teller gave Reynard $2,325. Reynard took the money and fled but turned himself in to a Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”) office a few days later. He admitted to having committed the robbery. Reynard explained that he was a habitual drug user and that his habit motivated the crime.

On August 5,1998, a grand jury indicted Reynard for one count of bank robbery, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2113(a). Reynard pleaded guilty on October 5, 1998. On December 21, 1998, he was sentenced to thirty months in custody, followed by three years of supervised release. The court ordered Reynard to comply with several conditions of supervised release, including that he (1) “[sjubmit to a search of person, property, residence, abode or vehicle at a reasonable time and in a reasonable manner by the Probation Officer,” and (2) refrain from “eommit[ting] another federal, state, or local crime.” Reynard’s supervised release commenced in November 2000.

2. History and Passage of the DNA Act

In 1994, Congress passed the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act, authorizing the FBI to establish a national index of DNA samples from convicted federal offenders. See Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994, Pub.L. No. 103-322, 108 Stat. 1796 (Sept. 13, 1994). The FBI exercised this authority by creating the Combined DNA Index System (“CODIS”), a national DNA index.1 In addition, all fifty state legislatures enacted statutes requiring convicted offenders to provide DNA samples for entry into the CODIS system. See H.R.Rep. No. 106-900(1), at 8 (Sept. 26, 2000).

Between 1994 and 1996, however, the FBI lacked the authority to include DNA data from federal offenders in the CODIS databank. See id. In 1996, Congress, as part of the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 (“AEDPA”), expressly provided the FBI with authority to include in CODIS all DNA samples taken from federal offenders. See AED-PA § 811(a)(2), Pub.L. No. 104-132, 110 Stat. 1214 (April 24, 1996) (providing that the Director of the FBI “may expand the combined [CODIS] to include Federal crimes and crimes committed in the District of Columbia”). At least one member of Congress believed that the 1996 legislation authorized the FBI to begin collecting DNA samples from federal offenders immediately.2

[1012]*1012At some point after the passage of AEDPA, the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) reached the conclusion that the 1996 legislation did not vest it with sufficient authority to collect DNA samples from federal offenders. See H.R.Rep. No. 106-900(1), at 9. In December 1998, the FBI requested that Congress enact more explicit statutory authority to allow the FBI to take DNA samples from federal offenders for inclusion in CODIS. See id. On December 19, 2000, Congress passed the DNA Act. The DNA Act requires the United States Probation Office (“Probation Office”) to collect a DNA sample from any probationer, parolee, or supervised releas-ee “who is, or has been, convicted of a qualifying offense.” 42 U.S.C. § 14135a(a)(2). Bank robbery is a qualifying offense. See id. § 14135a(d)(l)(E). The DNA Act requires cooperation in the collection of DNA as “a condition of ... probation, parole, or supervised release.” Id. § 14135a(a)(5). The DNA Act punishes with a misdemeanor anyone “who fails to cooperate in the collection of’ a DNA sample. Id. Once the sample is taken, the Probation Office gives it to the FBI for analysis and entry into CODIS. See 42 U.S.C. § 14135a(b).

3. Proceedings in District Court

On May 31, 2002, the Probation Office notified Reynard’s counsel by letter that the DNA Act required Reynard to give a blood sample. The letter stated that a probation officer would soon contact Reynard to arrange for the taking of a blood sample. The letter further noted that failure to cooperate in the collection of the blood sample: (1) would be a Class A misdemeanor; and (2) would constitute a violation of Reynard’s mandatory conditions of supervision. Reynard met with Probation Officer David Dilbeck on June 4, 2002. At the meeting, Reynard received a one-page “DNA Collection Letter of Instruction,” which again informed Reynard that compliance with the DNA Act was mandatory and that his failure to comply would constitute a Class A misdemeanor and a violation of a mandatory condition of his supervised release. Reynard signed the letter, indicating that he “understood] the requirements and agree[d] to abide by them.” On the same day, Reynard received notice that he should arrive for a blood draw at a Probation Office on June 10, 2002.

On June 10, 2002, Reynard appeared for his appointment. However, after a discussion with his attorney, Reynard refused to have his blood drawn. On June 13, 2002, Probation Officer Dilbeck petitioned for an Order to Show Cause (“OSC”) why Reynard’s supervised release should not be revoked. Specifically, Officer Dilbeck alleged that Reynard violated a mandatory condition of supervision when he “declined to cooperate in the collection of his blood in order to obtain a DNA sample, in violation of 42 U.S.C. § 14135a.” On July 11, 2002, Reynard filed a motion to dismiss Probation Officer Dilbeck’s OSC petition. Reynard’s motion raised eight issues:

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Bluebook (online)
473 F.3d 1008, 2007 U.S. App. LEXIS 665, 2007 WL 79545, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-john-g-reynard-ca9-2007.