Opinion ID: 3025437
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: jurisdiction

Text: Johnson and Bradshaw challenge our exercise of appellate jurisdiction. We must, of course, establish a proper basis for jurisdiction before analyzing the merits of a case. See Steel Co. v. Citizens for a Better Environment, 523 U.S. 83, 95 (1998). -3- Section 3731 of Title 18 permits the government to pursue an interlocutory appeal from an order suppressing evidence upon satisfaction of three requirements: (1) the defendant has not been put in jeopardy; (2) the appeal is not taken for purpose of delay; and (3) the evidence is a substantial proof of a fact material in the proceeding. Johnson and Bradshaw do not challenge the government’s compliance with the first two requirements, non-jeopardy and lack of delay. Rather, they concentrate their attack on the third element, materiality. They interpret § 3731 to require an independent evaluation of the “materiality” of the facts prompting the government’s appeal. Employing that standard, they contend that Agent Case’s expert opinion is not material to the government’s case-in-chief, and they therefore conclude that our jurisdiction is lacking. We have not previously had occasion to examine what showing must be made to permit an interlocutory appeal under this portion of § 3731. Other circuits have split on this question. The Ninth Circuit, apparently alone, requires the government to prove that the evidence suppressed by the district court is actually “material” to the upcoming trial. Sitting en banc, the Ninth Circuit held that [o]ne of the conditions [for appeal via § 3731] is that the evidence suppressed must be substantial proof of a fact material in the proceeding. This condition must be met before appeal of the suppression order can properly be taken. . . . [T]he suppressed evidence (dynamite) is not substantial proof of any material fact in the nondynamite counts of the indictment. The trial court found as much. Given the government’s failure to satisfy this condition, its appeal of the suppression order as it relates to the nondynamite counts was improper. United States v. Loud Hawk, 628 F.2d 1139, 1150 (9th Cir. 1979) (en banc); see United States v. Adrian, 978 F.2d 486, 490 (9th Cir. 1992). -4- In contrast, at least two other circuits have decided that appellate jurisdiction is proper if the government simply certifies that the evidence suppressed is substantial proof of a material fact. These circuits suggest that a court of appeals need look no further than the existence of an executive certification that the evidence suppressed is material. See United States v. Kepner, 843 F.2d 755, 761 (3d Cir. 1988); In re Grand Jury Investigation, 599 F.2d 1224, 1226 (3d Cir. 1979) (“Pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 3731, the United States Attorney has certified that this appeal ‘is not taken for the purpose of delay and that the evidence is a substantial proof of a fact material in the proceeding.’ The district court having received this certification, we are not required by section 3731 to evaluate independently the substantiality or the materiality of the contested material.”); United States v. Comiskey, 460 F.2d 1293, 1297-98 (7th Cir. 1972). Although we have not adopted a position, one of our prior cases suggested (purely in dictum) that we would follow the latter approach. See United States v. Juvenile Male J.A.J., 134 F.3d 905, 907 (8th Cir. 1998) (“Other unreviewable acts of prosecutorial discretion include . . . a United States Attorney’s certification under 18 U.S.C. § 3731 that an appeal from an adverse suppression ruling is not taken for purposes of delay and involves evidence material to the proceedings”) (citing Kepner, 843 F.2d at 761). A textual analysis of § 3731 supports the latter approach, requiring only executive certification to establish appellate jurisdiction. The second and third requirements (lack of delay and materiality) share the common modifying phrase, “if the United States attorney certifies to the district court.” See 18 U.S.C. § 3731. The syntax implies that executive certification establishes both lack of delay and materiality. Further, the “lack of delay” and “materiality” elements of § 3731 are joined in parallel structure, demarcated by two instances of the word “that.” See id. § 3731 (“if the United States attorney certifies to the district court that the appeal is not taken for purpose of delay and that the evidence is a substantial proof of a fact material in the -5- proceeding.”) (emphasis added). The language of § 3731 implies that mere certification is required to demonstrate materiality. The government’s Notice of Appeal states that “[t]he United States Attorney hereby certifies that this appeal is not taken for the purpose of delay and that the evidence excluded is a substantial proof of facts material in the proceeding.” In light of our conclusion above, we need not examine whether Agent Case’s expert testimony would actually be substantial proof of a material fact. The government has so certified; that suffices.2 We have jurisdiction to hear this interlocutory appeal.