United States v. J.C.D. ( 2017 )

United States Court of Appeals
For the First Circuit
No. 15-2520
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Appellee,
v.
J.C.D.,
Defendant, Appellant.
APPEAL FROM THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF PUERTO RICO
[Hon. Pedro A. Delgado-Hernández, U.S. District Judge]
Before
Torruella, Lipez, and Barron,
Circuit Judges.
Víctor J. González-Bothwell, Assistant Federal Public
Defender, with whom Eric A. Vos, Federal Public Defender, Vivianne
M. Marrero-Torres, Assistant Federal Public Defender, Supervisor,
Appeals Section, and Patricia A. Garrity, Research and Writing
Specialist, were on brief, for appellant.
Thomas F. Klumper, Assistant United States Attorney, Senior
Appellate Counsel, with whom Rosa Emilia Rodríguez-Vélez, United
States Attorney, and Mariana E. Bauzá-Almonte, Assistant United
States Attorney, Chief, Appellate Division, were on brief, for
appellee.
May 31, 2017
BARRON, Circuit Judge. Juveniles may be tried
criminally as adults in federal court if the government moves for
the juvenile defendant to be tried as an adult and a federal
district court finds that, given the requirements set out in 18
U.S.C. § 5032, it would be appropriate to do so. This case arises
from an armed carjacking allegedly committed by J.C.D. in November
2014, when he was seventeen years old. The issue that we must
decide concerns whether the District Court erred in granting the
government's motion for J.C.D. to be tried as an adult for that
armed carjacking. We affirm.
I.
On November 10, 2014, J.C.D. was charged in the United
States District Court for the District of Puerto Rico with one
count of carjacking, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 2119 and 2.
Under 18 U.S.C. § 5032, juvenile defendants may be transferred to
adult status -- and thus may be tried as adults -- only if the
Attorney General certifies that one of three expressly enumerated
conditions are met and if a district court also finds, after a
hearing, that the transfer would serve the "interest of justice."
Under the statute, in determining whether a transfer is in the
interest of justice, the District Court must consider "[e]vidence
of the following factors" and make "findings with regard to each
factor . . . in the record":
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[1] [T]he age and social background of the
juvenile; [2] the nature of the alleged
offense; [3] the extent and nature of the
juvenile's prior delinquency record; [4] the
juvenile's present intellectual development
and psychological maturity; [5] the nature of
past treatment efforts and the juvenile's
response to such efforts; [6] the availability
of programs designed to treat the juvenile's
behavioral problems.
Id.Here, the government filed a transfer motion, pursuant
to § 5032, after J.C.D.'s arraignment and a subsequent detention
hearing. The Attorney General concluded that one of the three
statutory conditions had been met -- ruling that the offense
charged involved a "crime of violence" under § 5032. J.C.D.
requested that the court deny the transfer motion, in light of the
six statutory factors. The District Court then referred the matter
to a Magistrate Judge. Soon thereafter, both parties filed more
thorough memoranda in the proceedings before the Magistrate Judge.
After several continuances and a four-day hearing, the
Magistrate Judge issued a detailed report and recommendation
recommending that the District Court deny the government's motion
to transfer. The Magistrate Judge concluded that the transfer
would not be in the interest of justice.
In reaching that conclusion, the Magistrate Judge
described the facts of the offense as follows:
At 1:00 a.m., the soon-to-be victim left a
Walgreens in Carolina and walked to his car.
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Two males and a female in a Toyota SUV --
J.C.D. allegedly among them -- laid in wait,
and once the victim was at his vehicle, the
SUV blocked his path. The two males got out
of the SUV brandishing weapons and forced the
victim into his own vehicle's passenger's
seat. According to the United States, J.C.D.,
armed and masked, got into the driver's seat,
and the other male sat in the rear. J.C.D.
drove the vehicle away and, pressing his
weapon to the victim's side, forced the victim
to turn over his wallet. The victim had little
cash on him, so he was driven to an ATM and
made to withdraw. J.C.D. threatened the
victim, asking if he smelled death. Finally,
the victim was ordered out of the vehicle and,
as he ran away, he heard what he believed to
be two gunshots.
The Magistrate Judge then considered each of the six statutory
factors in deciding whether a transfer would be "in the interest
of justice" and provided detailed factfinding and analysis with
respect to each factor.
The Magistrate Judge recognized that one factor -- "the
nature of the alleged offense" -- significantly favored transfer.
The Magistrate Judge noted the seriousness of the alleged offense,
recounting J.C.D.'s underlying conduct and concluding that "the
evidence does suggest that J.C.D. was the primary aggressor: he
carried a gun, he drove, he robbed, and, perhaps worst of all, he
threatened."
The Magistrate Judge noted that a second factor, "the
age and social background of the juvenile," did not point clearly
in either direction. In particular, the Magistrate Judge found
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that J.C.D.'s advanced age (seventeen when he allegedly committed
the carjacking) favored transfer, while J.C.D.'s social
background, and particularly the abuse he suffered as a child,
disfavored transfer.
However, the Magistrate Judge found that the remaining
four factors pointed in favor of J.C.D.'s view that the transfer
was not appropriate.
First, the Magistrate Judge considered that J.C.D. had
no "prior delinquency record," a fact that favored, at least
somewhat, trying J.C.D. in juvenile proceedings. However, the
Magistrate Judge also concluded, in light of J.C.D.'s involvement
with drugs, that "while I give J.C.D. credit for his clean record,
I cannot read into that fact all that J.C.D. asks."
Second, with respect to J.C.D.'s "present intellectual
development and psychological maturity," the Magistrate Judge
concluded that psychological maturity entails a sense of right and
wrong and "logic mediated by judgment." J.C.D., the Magistrate
Judge found, lacked those traits. Thus, this factor, too, the
Magistrate Judge held, favored J.C.D.'s position that transfer was
not in the interest of justice.
Third, the Magistrate Judge considered "past treatment
efforts and the juvenile's response to such efforts," and credited
an expert view that future treatment would be helpful to J.C.D.
"While J.C.D.'s past record of treatment is spotty," the Magistrate
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Judge concluded, "he nonetheless appears to be in a position to
benefit from more closely supervised treatment going forward."
Finally, the Magistrate Judge turned to "the
availability of programs designed to treat the juvenile's
behavioral problems." The Magistrate Judge noted J.C.D.'s limited
formal education and the fact that "many of J.C.D.'s problems stem
from immaturity, impulsiveness, and lack of judgment." The
Magistrate Judge thus held that this factor indicated that a
juvenile facility was more appropriate than an adult one, as a
juvenile facility's programs would be more fitting for a person
with J.C.D's background.
Having considered the six statutory factors, the
Magistrate Judge then proceeded to balance them, as the law
requires. The Magistrate Judge acknowledged that the alleged crime
was a "serious and inherently dangerous one." The Magistrate Judge
also noted, however, that there was no evidence that J.C.D. was a
leader in the carjacking, even if he was an aggressor. And the
Magistrate Judge cited a case in which a district court denied the
government's motion to transfer when a seventeen-year-old
committed an armed robbery, United States v. A.C.P., 379 F. Supp.
2d 225, 232 (D.P.R. 2005), thus showing that the seriousness of
the offense need not override all the other factors.
Although J.C.D. was close to eighteen at the time of the
offense, the Magistrate Judge noted that all defendants under that
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age still benefit from the presumption that they will be tried as
juveniles. The Magistrate Judge explained that, although perhaps
this presumption is somewhat weaker for a seventeen-year-old
defendant, as here, it still applies.
As for J.C.D.'s history of treatment, the Magistrate
Judge found that it did not weigh in favor of transfer. In reaching
this conclusion, the Magistrate Judge emphasized the testimony
that J.C.D. now has a heightened understanding of the need to
improve, and the evidence that he was abused in earlier treatment
programs.
The Magistrate Judge closed by finding that "only the
nature of the offense weighs strongly in favor of transfer," while
"[t]he remaining statutory factors weigh against it or are
neutral." Recognizing that one might "reasonably focus on the
crime committed and make a recommendation in favor of transfer,"
the Magistrate Judge instead concluded that "[m]ercy inclines me
the other way" given the Magistrate Judge's "hope that treatment
will be successful." The Magistrate Judge thus recommended that
the transfer motion be denied.
The government timely filed a detailed objection to the
report and recommendation. J.C.D. filed none. In November 2015,
the District Court granted the government's motion to transfer,
contrary to the recommendation of the Magistrate Judge. The
District Court's brief opinion reasoned as follows.
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First, the District Court stated that it "carefully
reviewed the Magistrate Judge's findings" and that the Magistrate
Judge's factual findings were "well-supported." However, the
District Court reached a different ultimate conclusion regarding
transfer because the District Court determined that the six
factors, when balanced, "warrant transfer of J.C.D. to adult status
in the interest of justice."
After setting forth this conclusion, the District Court
recited the facts of the case. Given that J.C.D. allegedly
committed "a serious, violent, and senseless offense," the
District Court reasoned that "the seriousness of the offense
significantly weighs in favor of transfer." The District Court
also noted that the Magistrate Judge had found that the record
could support granting the motion to transfer, if one were to focus
on the nature of the crime committed. As a result of this analysis,
the District Court granted the government's motion to transfer.
J.C.D. now appeals from that ruling.
II.
J.C.D. first argues that, although the District Court
made factual findings regarding one of the statutory factors --
the seriousness of the offense -- "[t]he district court, contrary
to the statutory mandate, did not make any other factual findings
sufficient to satisfy the requirements of § 5032." As J.C.D. is
not challenging the factual findings set forth in the Magistrate
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Judge's report and recommendation, but is instead contending that
the District Court violated the statute by failing to make any
factual findings at all as to five of the six statutory factors,
our review is de novo. See United States v. Romulus, 949 F.2d
713, 715 (4th Cir. 1991) (remanding when "the district court did
not make findings with regard to two of the [statutory] factors").
The District Court did not expressly set forth its own
factual findings. But our review of the record reveals to us that
the District Court impliedly adopted the factual findings in the
Magistrate Judge's report and recommendation. Consider in this
regard that the Magistrate Judge made factual findings as to all
of the statutory factors, with J.C.D. not objecting as to the
Magistrate Judge's findings on any of those factors. Consider,
too, that the District Court expressly concluded that the findings
made by the Magistrate Judge were "well supported," and that the
District Court did so after stating that it had "carefully
reviewed" those findings. Consider, further, that the District
Court also stated that the Magistrate Judge had conducted a
"thorough analysis of both facts and the § 5032 factors," and that
the District Court found that the severity of the offense
"significantly weighs in favor of transfer."
Thus, we conclude that the District Court did not fail
to perform its statutory duty under 18 U.S.C. § 5032, because the
District Court adopted (albeit implicitly) the well-considered
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factual findings made by the Magistrate Judge. See United States
v. Male Juvenile E.L.C., 396 F.3d 458, 460 n.1 (1st Cir. 2005)
(affirming a district court's order transferring a juvenile to
adult status when it "adopted the recommendation of the Magistrate
Judge without comment"). As a result, the cases cited by J.C.D.
regarding district courts' obligation to make factual findings
under § 5032 -- Male Juvenile E.L.C., 396 F.3d 458; United States
v. Nelson, 68 F.3d 583 (2d Cir. 1995); and United States v.
Juvenile Male #1, 47 F.3d 68 (2d Cir. 1995) -- do not provide a
basis for finding a violation of that provision here. Accordingly,
J.C.D.'s first challenge fails.
J.C.D. also contends that the District Court erred by
not performing the de novo review of the Magistrate Judge's
findings that he contends is required by 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1).1
It appears that J.C.D. is claiming a violation of a statutory
1 Section 636(b)(1)(B) empowers district courts to "designate
a magistrate judge to conduct hearings, including evidentiary
hearings, and to submit to a judge of the court proposed findings
of fact and recommendations for the disposition, by a judge of the
court" of most kinds of motions, including, as relevant here,
motions to transfer a juvenile to adult proceedings. Within
fourteen days of a magistrate judge's report and recommendation,
"any party may serve and file written objections to such proposed
findings and recommendations as provided by rules of court" and
the district court then "shall make a de novo determination of
those portions of the report or specified proposed findings or
recommendations to which objection is made." 28 U.S.C. §
636(b)(1).
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obligation, and thus, for present purposes, we assume that our
review is de novo.
J.C.D. argues that the District Court could not have
performed the statutorily required de novo review of the report
and recommendation because the District Court did not have access
to the testimony of the witnesses who testified at the transfer
hearing, given that "the transcript [of the transfer hearing before
the Magistrate Judge] was not requested until after the district
court had issued its Memorandum and Order." The government does
not appear to contest this point.2 But, even assuming that J.C.D.
is right on this point, his argument still fails.
The District Court is only obliged to perform de novo
review of disputed portions of the report and recommendation. See
28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1); Gioiosa v. United States, 684 F.2d 176, 179
(1st Cir. 1982) (finding that the required "de novo determination
refers only to matters involving disputed facts"). The only
2 We do note, though, that there is reason to doubt the force
of J.C.D.'s contention in this regard, given that it appears that,
in the District of Puerto Rico, "[w]ith limited exceptions and
contrary to the U.S. District Judges, Magistrate Judges do not
have a Court Reporter present during the numerous proceedings held
before them. Therefore, unless a transcript is requested following
the applicable rules and regulations, no transcript is prepared or
available for those proceedings. The content of the hearing,
however, is always recorded using a Digital Court Recording 'DCR'
program. District Judges have immediate access to DCR audio files,
and may listen to the audio files when reviewing a determination
made by a Magistrate Judge." United States v. Rentas-Rivera, No.
17-158, slip op. at 2 n.1 (D.P.R. April 18, 2017).
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contested portion of the report and recommendation in this case
concerns a portion to which the government -- not J.C.D. --
objected. In that objection, the government provided additional
detail concerning J.C.D.'s conduct during the carjacking;
contended that the report and recommendation failed to make clear
that J.C.D. was a leader of the criminal activity, as compared to
his alleged co-carjackers; and argued that the report and
recommendation failed to fully recount the events that took place
in the aftermath of the carjacking that evidenced the significant
role that J.C.D. played in carrying out the offense.
We do not see, however, how the District Court's failure
to undertake a de novo review of that disputed portion of the
report and recommendation -- assuming such a failure -- prejudiced
J.C.D. The District Court's account of the carjacking, including
J.C.D.'s relative role in the commission of the crime, directly
tracked the Magistrate Judge's findings on that issue. The
District Court's account of the carjacking and J.C.D.'s role in it
was thus more favorable to J.C.D. than was the account set forth
in the government's objection to the report and recommendation.
In addition, the District Court did not discuss the aftermath of
the carjacking at all, thus ensuring that the District Court did
not rely on the account set forth in the government's objection.
Nor does J.C.D. identify how a review of the portions of the report
and recommendation that the government challenged -- but that
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J.C.D. did not -- would have led to findings that would have been
more favorable to J.C.D. than the report and recommendation, which
J.C.D. did not challenge, already was. As a result, J.C.D. has
not identified any error -- even if we assume one occurred -- that
would warrant overturning the District Court's ruling. See Manbeck
v. Town of Lewisboro, 333 F. App'x 599, 602 (2d Cir. 2009) (finding
erroneous failure to conduct de novo review under section 636(b)(1)
to be "harmless because there was no material factual dispute such
that the difference in the standard of review would affect the
outcome"); United States v. Clark, 754 F.3d 401, 410 (7th Cir.
2014) (finding, in a different context, that "[h]armless error
analysis seems particularly appropriate here, where even if there
was a [legal] violation, [appellant] has not identified a single
reason why he was harmed by the supposed violation").
III.
For these reasons, the District Court's grant of the
government's motion to transfer is affirmed.
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