Source: https://case-law.vlex.com/vid/402-f-3d-175-597373206
Timestamp: 2019-04-23 09:00:54+00:00

Document:
Party Name: UNITED STATES of America v. Paul G. SCZUBELEK, Appellant.
Eleni Kousoulis (Argued), Office of Federal Public Defender, Wilmington, DE, for Appellant.
Adam G. Safwat (Argued), Office of United States Attorney, Wilmington, DE, for Appellee.
Before: SCIRICA, Chief Judge, ROTH and MCKEE Circuit Judges.
he now also asks that we dismiss his appeal as moot because the District Court no longer has jurisdiction over him to enforce its order.
We conclude first of all that this case is not moot. The District Court's jurisdiction extended beyond the expiration of Sczubelek's term of supervised release because, while Sczubelek was still serving his term of supervised release, the court issued a summons based on a violation of a condition of his release and the delay between the expiration of his term and the adjudication of the violation is "reasonably necessary." See 18 U.S.C. § 3583(i). Turning to the merits of his appeal, we conclude that under Fourth Amendment reasonableness standard for analyzing the constitutionality of government searches and seizures, the collection of DNA samples from individuals on supervised release is constitutional. The government's interest in building a DNA database for identification purposes, similar to its interest in maintaining fingerprint records, outweighs the minimal intrusion into a criminal offender's diminished expectation of privacy. We conclude finally that there is no violation of the separation of powers doctrine in the assignment to the U.S. Probation Office of the taking of the DNA samples.
On June 17, 1994, a jury convicted Paul Sczubelek of three counts of bank robbery under 18 U.S.C. § 2113(a) and one count of structuring cash transactions under 31 U.S.C. §§ 5322(a) and 5324(3). On September 16, 1994, the District Court sentenced Sczubelek to 87 months of imprisonment and three years of supervised release. The conditions of Sczubelek's term of supervised release did not expressly include submitting a DNA sample. Sczubelek was released from prison in August 2000 and placed on home confinement until he began serving his term of supervised release on October 6, 2000. Shortly thereafter, Congress enacted the DNA Act. The submission of a DNA sample then became a mandatory condition of supervised release. Approximately one year after Sczubelek commenced serving his term, a probation officer informed Sczubelek that he must submit to DNA collection on September 25, 2002. Sczubelek refused.
On October 1, 2002, the Probation Office filed a petition for violation of a mandatory condition of supervised release. On October 15, the District Court ordered Sczubelek to appear for a hearing on the alleged violation. After briefing and a hearing, the court found that the DNA Act's requirement that Sczubelek "submit to a DNA sampling does not violate his Fourth Amendment right against unreasonable searches and seizures." United States v. Sczubelek, 255 F.Supp.2d 315, 317 (D.Del.2003). The court also held that the DNA Act did not violate either the separation of powers doctrine or the ex post facto clause of the United States Constitution. Id. at 324. The court ordered Sczubelek to report by May 9, 2003, to a phlebotomist to have his blood taken.
from CODIS in the event he prevailed on appeal.
On October 5, 2003, Sczubelek's term of supervised release ended. The United States Probation Office for the District of Delaware sent Sczubelek a letter notifying him that his term of supervised release had been terminated and that he had satisfied all terms and conditions of his supervised release. On January 26, 2004, Sczubelek filed a motion to dismiss his appeal, asserting that the case is now moot because he is no longer on supervised release.
The District Court had jurisdiction pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 3231. We have jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291.
We exercise plenary review over jurisdictional issues, including whether this case is moot. See Belitskus v. Pizzingrilli, 343 F.3d 632, 639 (3d Cir.2003). We also exercise plenary review over the District Court's resolution of the constitutional issues Sczubelek raises in his appeal. United States v. Ledesma-Cuesta, 347 F.3d 527, 530 (3d Cir.2003).
Sczubelek argues that his appeal is moot because, even if the government prevails, the District Court no longer has jurisdiction over him to collect a DNA sample. In view of the fact that the DNA Act authorizes the collection of a DNA sample only from prisoners, parolees, and individuals on probation and supervised release and Sczubelek is no longer on supervised release, he asserts that the government has no authority under the DNA Act to collect the sample from him. The government contends on the other hand that, pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 3583(i), the District Court's jurisdiction to enforce an order it entered during Sczubelek's supervised release survives the expiration of his term of supervised release.
Under Article III, § 2, of the United States Constitution, we have the ability to entertain only cases and controversies. "Article III requires that an actual controversy exist through all stages of litigation, including appellate review." United States v. Kissinger, 309 F.3d 179, 180 (3d Cir.2002). A case should be dismissed as moot where "developments occur during the course of adjudication that eliminate a plaintiff's personal stake in the outcome of a suit or prevent a court from being able to grant the requested relief...." Morris v. Nationalist Movement, 273 F.3d 527, 533 (3d Cir.2001).
been issued on the basis of an allegation of such a violation.
It is difficult to think of a reason why a court should arbitrarily lose jurisdiction at the end of the five-year statutory period when the alleged violation took place within the five-year period and the probationer was formally notified within that period that the Government would seek to revoke his probation.

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