Source: http://openjurist.org/661/f2d/72
Timestamp: 2015-07-30 14:18:16
Document Index: 730138708

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 111', '§ 113', '§ 113', '§ 5005', 'art, 568', '§ 113', '§ 5005']

661 F2d 72 United States v. Hunt | OpenJurist
661 F. 2d 72 - United States v. Hunt Home
661 F2d 72 United States v. Hunt 661 F.2d 72
UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee,v.Alvin HUNT, Defendant-Appellant.
No. 80-5180.
Argued April 9, 1981.Decided Sept. 23, 1981.
Thomas V. Wilhelm, F. Randall Karfonta, Detroit, Mich., for defendant-appellant.
James K. Robinson, U. S. Atty., John N. Thompson, Jr., Asst. U. S. Atty., Detroit, Mich., for plaintiff-appellee.
Before KEITH, MERRITT and BOYCE F. MARTIN, Jr., Circuit Judges.
This case presents an issue of whether a defendant who is charged with a petty offense is entitled to a jury trial by virtue of being subject to sentencing under the Federal Youth Corrections Act. We conclude that no jury right exists, and affirm District Judge Guy's decision.
On August 28, 1979, a federal grand jury indicted defendant-appellant Alvin Hunt for assaulting various federal officers. Hunt was serving a sentence at the Federal Correctional Institution at Milan, Michigan when he apparently got into a fight with several prison guards. Hunt was indicted under 18 U.S.C. § 111,1 which defines a felony. Upon reconsideration in January of 1980, the government concluded that the interests of justice did not require a felony disposition of the case. Accordingly, the government dismissed the felony indictment and charged Hunt with three counts of simple assault in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 113(e) and one count of assault by striking, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 113(d).2
Hunt demanded a jury trial. His counsel argued that Hunt was subject to possible sentencing under the Federal Youth Corrections Act, 18 U.S.C. § 5005 et seq. and that this possibility triggered a constitutional right to trial by jury. The district court denied the jury trial motion. The case proceeded to trial before the district court. The court found Hunt guilty of one count of simple assault,3 and sentenced him to three months in prison, to be served consecutively to the sentence Hunt was already serving. The court also concluded that Hunt would not benefit from treatment under the Youth Corrections Act, and did not sentence him under the Act.
* On appeal, the sole question raised is whether Hunt was entitled to a jury trial. The Supreme Court has held that there is a constitutional right to a jury trial in all cases except those involving "petty offenses." See, e. g. Baldwin v. New York, 399 U.S. 66, 90 S.Ct. 1886, 26 L.Ed.2d 437 (1970); Dyke v. Taylor Implement Co., 391 U.S. 216, 88 S.Ct. 1472, 20 L.Ed.2d 538 (1968). In Baldwin the Court held that no crime which subjected a defendant to more than six months imprisonment could ever be "petty." However, this does not mean that all offenses punishable by six months or less in prison are automatically "petty." A court must analyze the offenses charged with a view toward "the seriousness with which society regards the offense." Baldwin, supra, 399 U.S. at 68, 90 S.Ct. at 1888. See Duncan v. Louisiana, 391 U.S. 145, 160-61, 88 S.Ct. 1444, 1453, 20 L.Ed.2d 491 (1968); United States v. Stewart, 568 F.2d 501, 502-03 (6th Cir. 1978).
In United States v. Stewart, supra, this court analyzed 18 U.S.C. § 113(d) and concluded that a defendant charged under that provision did not have a right to a jury trial. That decision controls here.4
The defendant seeks to distinguish our decision in United States v. Stewart, supra, by arguing that the sentencing provisions of the Youth Corrections Act, 18 U.S.C. § 5005 et seq., convert the simple assault charg