Document ID: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-ca8-07-01789/USCOURTS-ca8-07-01789-0/pdf.json

Parties Involved:
Steven R. Little
Appellee
United States
Appellant

Document Text:

United States Court of Appeals

FOR THE EIGHTH CIRCUIT

_____________

No. 07-1789

_____________

United States of America, *

*

Appellant, * Appeal from the United States

* District Court for the

v. * Western District of Missouri.

*

Steven R. Little, * [PUBLISHED]

*

Appellee. *

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Submitted: April 17, 2007

 Filed: May 9, 2007 

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Before BYE, BEAM, and HANSEN, Circuit Judges.

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PER CURIAM.

The Government appeals the district court’s order permitting Steven R. Little

to remain free on bail and to self-surrender following his conviction and sentence to

60 months in prison for attempting to entice a minor to engage in unlawful sexual

activity in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2422(b). We granted the Government’s motion for

an expedited appeal, and after briefing from both sides, we reverse and remand.

The question presented is whether there are any 18 U.S.C. § 3145(c)

"exceptional circumstances" in the case which would permit Mr. Little to escape the

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otherwise mandatory requirement of 18 U.S.C. § 3143(a)(2) that he be immediately

confined following sentencing for the crime of violence he committed. The district

court found three circumstances it deemed to be "exceptional": (1) the conduct of law

enforcement officers in arresting Mr. Little following his indictment, rather than

permitting him to self-surrender as his attorney had informed the authorities he would

do. The circumstances of the arrest are described as "the FBI sent multiple agents to

Mr. Little’s house, evacuated a portion of the neighborhood, and entered the house

with guns drawn." Appellee’s Br. at 4; (2) the fact that Mr. Little cooperated in the

investigation, voluntarily gave incriminating statements, consented to the seizure of

his computer, and his full compliance with pretrial release conditions; and (3) his

timely appearance at all court proceedings.

None of the circumstances relied upon are "exceptional." We have said that

"exceptional" means "clearly out of the ordinary, uncommon, or rare." United States

v. Larue, 478 F.3d 924, 926 (8th Cir. 2007). It is not exceptional to expect every

defendant to timely appear in court and to obey the court’s order concerning pretrial

conditions of release. Nor is it clearly out of the ordinary, uncommon, or rare for

defendants to cooperate in the investigation of their criminal acts.

We also fail to see any connection between the circumstances of the appellee’s

arrest by the government and a determination of whether he should be free to selfsurrender following conviction and sentence. The facts of this case reveal that Mr.

Little had previously attempted to engage in sexually-related, on-line conversations

with two girls (ages 12 and 13) before his on-line encounter with the undercover FBI

agent posing as a 13-year-old in an internet chat room that led to his arrest when he

showed up at a Kansas City park for the prearranged tryst. The public deserves more

protection from convicted on-line sexual predators than the district court’s order

permitting the defendant to be unconfined for 60 days pending his self-surrender

provides. See United States v. Brown, 368 F.3d 992, 993 (8th Cir. 2004) (noting we

review de novo the ultimate legal question of whether detention is required). 

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Accordingly, the district court's order of March 13, 2007, permitting the

defendant, Mr. Little, to be released on bail and allowing him to self-surrender on May

14, 2007, to serve the 60-month sentence imposed on him for attempting to entice a

minor to engage in illegal sexual activity, a crime of violence, in violation of 18

U.S.C. § 2422(b), is vacated. The case is remanded to the district court for the

immediate issuance of a bench warrant for the appellee's arrest and confinement

pursuant to the judgment of conviction and sentence previously entered against him.

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Appellate Case: 07-1789 Page: 3 Date Filed: 05/09/2007 Entry ID: 3308026