United States v. Juvenile (Rra-A)

229 F.3d 737, 2000 Cal. Daily Op. Serv. 8148, 2000 Daily Journal DAR 10831, 2000 U.S. App. LEXIS 24745, 2000 WL 1459371
Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit·Decided October 3, 2000·No. 98-50368·Published·Cited by 49 cases

Opinions

Opinion by Judge D.W. NELSON; Dissent by Judge TROTT.

D.W. NELSON, Circuit Judge:

Juvenile RRA-A appeals her conviction for juvenile delinquency, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 5032, and for conspiring to knowingly and intentionally import and attempt to import marijuana, in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 952, 960, 963. She contends that the district court made three errors: (1) failing to suppress the fruits of a war-rantless arrest not based on probable cause; (2) finding no prejudicial violations of 18 U.S.C. § 5033’s notification requirements; and (3) failing to find that the government violated the timely arraignment provision of 18 U.S.C. § 5033. We hold that RRA-A was prejudiced by violations of 18 U.S.C. § 5033’s notification requirements and reverse the conviction.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

On March 18, 1999, at approximately 9 a.m., RRA-A, a 16-year old, was the front seat passenger in a vehicle crossing from Mexico into the United States. Other than briefly showing the inspector her border crossing card, RRA-A read a newspaper at the primary inspection booth. Immediately after the inspector asked the rear passenger to move over, however, RRA-A put down her newspaper and invited the inspector to the party that the three vehicle occupants were throwing. As the rear passenger moved over, the inspector noticed that the seat under him had no indentations. The inspector moved the vehicle to secondary inspection, where the vehicle occupants were brought into an office and frisked. RRA-A testified that she felt free to go at that time.

While the vehicle occupants were being frisked, the inspector discovered 80.10 pounds of marijuana in the vehicle. RRA-A was subsequently handcuffed to a bench in a locked security office, where she remained for the next four hours. When Agent Jacobo arrived at approximately 12:00 p.m., he found out that RRA-A did not have a home telephone number. The agent then contacted Assistant United States Attorney Annie Gutierrez and told her that he had a minor in custody whose parents could not be reached because they did not have a telephone. He also told Gutierrez that the minor did not wish for her parents to be notified. Gutierrez told Agent Jacobo that she would notify the Mexican consulate to see if it could assist in locating RRA-A’s parents.

At approximately 1:30 p.m., Agent Jaco-bo, speaking in Spanish, told RRA-A that she was under arrest and gave her a form listing her Miranda rights in Spanish. Agent Jacobo asked RRA-A if she understood her rights, including the one regarding the right to a lawyer, and had her initial each paragraph of the form. The agent also inquired as to whether she had any questions about the rights but testified that he did not recall RRA-A having any. Agent Jacobo then proceeded to question her for thirty to forty minutes. RRA-A testified that the agent, during the interrogation, spoke in a loud voice, repeatedly admonished her to tell the truth when she denied involvement, and warned her that she could go to jail for a long time. Agent Jacobo testified that he did not physically threaten her, raise his voice, point weapons at her, or make promises to her; he also noted that RRA-A appeared alert and responsive. After multiple denials, RRA-A cried and confessed to involvement in the crime. At the end of the interview, Agent Jacobo asked RRA-A if she wished to use a telephone.

Meanwhile, at some unspecified time that day between 12:00 p.m. and 2:45 p.m., [742] Gutierrez tried to reach the consulate but was unsuccessful. Because Gutierrez had a meeting, she then asked a legal secretary to “contact the Consulate and inform them of the minor’s detention, the charges, the place where she would be taken, the arraignment, and the fact that [the U.S. attorney’s office] could not contact the parents as they did not have a telephone.” At 2:45 p.m., over an hour after interrogation commenced, Gutierrez’ secretary reached the Mexican consulate. She advised them of RRA-A’s arrest, location, and available parental information; the district court found no evidence that the consulate was informed of RRA-A’s rights. The Consul requested to speak with RRA-A.

Early the next morning, on March 19, 1998, Consul Salinas called Gutierrez and told her that he had visited RRA-A the night before and convinced her to give him a neighbor’s telephone number. Through the neighbor, Salinas had reached RRA-A’s parents. Salinas called Gutierrez again later that morning and informed her that the parents lacked border crossing documents; Gutierrez assisted the parents in obtaining them.

Two days after her arrest, on March 20, 1998, RRA-A was arraigned. On April 3, 1998, RRA-A filed motions to suppress statements, compel discovery, and preserve evidence. On April 10, 1998, the United States responded and filed a reciprocal discovery motion. RRA-A filed a supplemental motion to dismiss based on improper certification pursuant to the Juvenile Delinquency Act. The district court held a motions hearing and bench trial on April 17, 1998. The judge found the pending discovery motions moot and denied RRA-A’s motions to suppress and dismiss. The judge then convicted her of juvenile delinquency, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 5032 (Supp. IV 1998), and of conspiring to knowingly and intentionally import and attempt to import marijuana, in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 952, 960 & 963 (Supp. IV 1998). RRA-A timely appeals.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

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United States v. Juvenile (Rra-A), 229 F.3d 737, 2000 Cal. Daily Op. Serv. 8148, 2000 Daily Journal DAR 10831, 2000 U.S. App. LEXIS 24745, 2000 WL 1459371 (9th Cir. 2000).

229 F.3d 737 (United States v. Juvenile (Rra-A)) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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