United States v. Weddleton

143 F.R.D. 453, 1992 WL 193105
CourtDistrict Court, D. Massachusetts
DecidedAugust 11, 1992
DocketNo. 92-0869RC
StatusPublished

This text of 143 F.R.D. 453 (United States v. Weddleton) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Massachusetts primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. Weddleton, 143 F.R.D. 453, 1992 WL 193105 (D. Mass. 1992).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER RE: SETTING CONDITIONS OF RELEASE

COLLINGS, United States Magistrate Judge.

INTRODUCTION

Mark Weddleton was arrested in the District of Massachusetts on a warrant issued by the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida. The warrant was based on a Petition filed by the U.S. Probation Officer for the Southern District of Florida on March 4, 1992 alleging that the defendant violated the terms and conditions of his probation which had been imposed in that Court on September 30, 1991. Although jurisdiction over the probationer has not been transferred to Massachusetts, the defendant was being supervised by the Probation Office in Massachusetts and the acts which formed the basis of the allegation that defendant violated his probation occurred in Massachusetts.

The Government contends that on these facts, the undersigned has no discretion to set conditions of release for the defendant and must hold the defendant in custody under the applicable law and rules; counsel for the defendant contends otherwise. The issue requires a close analysis of the histo[454]*454ry and wording of the applicable statutes as well as the interplay between Rules 32.1 and 40(d) of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure.

STATUTES — PAST AND PRESENT

I first turn to the statutes, both past and present, which have governed the arrest of probation violators to determine whether any speak to the question of whether, after a probationer’s arrest, a judicial officer has the power to release the violator on bail or conditions after initial appearance pending further hearings on the violation. However, before commencing the analysis of the statutes, one further fact must be mentioned. According to the indictment which was filed in the Southern District of Florida upon which the defendant was convicted and sentenced to probation, the offenses of which the defendant was convicted occurred between December 11, 1990 and January 6,1991. This is important because the applicable statutes are different for persons convicted of offenses occurring before November 1, 1987 and offenses committed after that date. In the instant case, the defendant committed the offenses for which he was convicted after November 1, 1987.

Statutes Applicable To Convictions For Offenses Committed Before November 1, 1987

If the offenses for which the defendant was convicted had occurred before November 1, 1987, the procedures to be followed after his arrest in Massachusetts would have been governed by 18 U.S.C. § 3653, which provides, in pertinent part:

If the probationer shall be arrested in any district other than that in which he was last supervised, he shall be returned to the district in which the warrant was issued, unless jurisdiction over him has been transferred as above provided to the district in which he is found, and in that case he shall be detained pending further proceedings in that district.

June 25,1948, c. 645; 62 Stat. 842; May 24, 1949, c. 139, § 56, 63 Stat. 96.

A close reading of this statute reveals that if jurisdiction is not transferred to the district of arrest, the defendant “shall be returned to the district in which the warrant issued.” If jurisdiction is transferred to the district of arrest, the defendant “shall be detained pending further proceedings in that district.” It is clear that the last independent clause, i.e., “and in that case he shall be detained pending further proceedings in that district,” refers to the clause immediately preceding, i.e., “unless jurisdiction over him has been transferred as above provided to the district in which he is found.” Thus, the statute requires that a person be “returned” when probation supervision has been not been transferred and “detained” when the jurisdiction has been transferred. The meaning of the word “detained” seems clear enough. But does the word “returned” include detention, i.e., does the word “returned” mean “returned in custody?” It would seem odd to require detention when jurisdiction is transferred but allow conditions of release to be set when a defendant is to be returned to the district in which the warrant issued.

Title 18 U.S.C. § 3653 was originally enacted on June 25, 1948 as part of a comprehensive revision of the criminal code. When enacted, the last two sentences read as follows:

The warrant [for the probationer’s arrest] may be executed either by the probation officer or the United States marshal for either the district in which the probationer was placed upon probation or for any district in which he is found. If the probationer is arrested in a district other than that in which he was placed upon probation, the officer making the arrest may return him to the district in which the warrant was issued.

The wording of this statute would seem to imply that the probationer would be “returned” to the district in which the warrant was issued in the custody of the officer who made the arrest.

It so happens that on the same date as Congress passed the comprehensive revision of the criminal code, i.e., June 25,1948, [455]*455Congress also passed an amendment to § 3653 by amending the 1925 Act which had established a probation system in the United States Courts. This statute read, in pertinent part:

If the probationer shall be so arrested in a district other than that in which he is being supervised, he shall be returned to the district out of which such warrant shall have been issued, unless jurisdiction over him is transferred as above provided to the district in which he is found, and in that case he shall be detained pending further proceedings in that district.

H.R.Rep. No. 2766, 80th Cong., 2d Sess, (1948), reprinted in 1948 U.S.Code Congressional Service, p. 703-4.

In 1949, to reconcile two separate and overlapping amendments made on June 25, 1948 to the same statute, Congress again amended § 3653 so that it reads as it now does for offenses occurring before November 1, 1987. See § 3653, page 2, supra.

Thus, it can be seen that the provision regarding a probationer being “detained” first appeared in the amendments to the act providing for a probation system; the revision of the criminal code passed the same day provided that the officer making the arrest could “return” the probationer to the district from which the warrant issued. In reconciling the two, Congress, in essence, followed the amendment to the act providing for the establishment of a probation system whereby a defendant is “returned” if jurisdiction is not transferred and “detained” if jurisdiction is transferred.

The legislative history of the amendments to the probation act is brief and provides no clue as to what was meant by the use of the word “detained.” The primary thrust of the amendment was to allow for transfer of jurisdiction which did not exist prior to the enactment. Prior practice had permitted transfer of supervision, but if there was a violation, the probationer “... must be returned to the court which granted probation,” a “procedure sometimes involvpng] considerable time and expense.” S.Rep. No. 1544, 80th Cong., 2d Sess.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Morrissey v. Brewer
408 U.S. 471 (Supreme Court, 1972)
Gagnon v. Scarpelli
411 U.S. 778 (Supreme Court, 1973)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
143 F.R.D. 453, 1992 WL 193105, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-weddleton-mad-1992.