Opinion ID: 674595
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Appeal as of Right.

Text: 46 The Appellate Rules require that an appellant's brief contain a statement of the basis for jurisdiction in the court of appeals ... with reference to the applicable facts to establish such jurisdiction. Fed.R.App.P. 28(a)(2)(ii). Complying, perhaps, with the letter of the rule, but not with its spirit, the government's brief states in a purely conclusory fashion only that its appeal is authorized under 28 U.S.C. Sec. 1291 (1988). 16 Despite this blithe assurance, the government's entitlement to an appeal as of right under section 1291 is problematic. We explain briefly. 47 An appeal by the government in a criminal case must be specifically authorized by statute. See United States v. Sanges, 144 U.S. 310, 312, 12 S.Ct. 609, 609-10, 36 L.Ed. 445 (1892). The appeal before us does not fit neatly into the confines of 18 U.S.C. Sec. 3731 (affording the United States a right of appeal from certain described orders in criminal cases, e.g., orders dismissing indictments, suppressing evidence, or mandating the return of seized property), or any more specialized statute conferring a right of appeal on the government in criminal cases, e.g., 18 U.S.C. Sec. 3742(b) (permitting the United States to appeal from certain sentencing determinations). And it is settled that, at least in the absence of very special circumstances, the general authorization contained in section 1291 is not sufficiently specific to authorize an appeal by the government in a criminal case. See, e.g., Arizona v. Manypenny, 451 U.S. 232, 246-47, 101 S.Ct. 1657, 1666-67, 68 L.Ed.2d 58 (1981) (citing cases); United States v. Patterson, 882 F.2d 595, 599 (1st Cir.1989), cert. denied, 493 U.S. 1027, 110 S.Ct. 737, 107 L.Ed.2d 755 (1990). 48 Notwithstanding this looming obstacle to appellate jurisdiction under section 1291, we believe that this case involves a sufficiently special set of circumstances to engage the exception rather than the rule. Some courts have suggested that, under what we choose to call the special circumstance exception, a government appeal may be entertained in a criminal case on the authority of section 1291 if the appeal satisfies the conditions of the so-called collateral order doctrine. See, e.g., Carroll v. United States, 354 U.S. 394, 403, 77 S.Ct. 1332, 1338, 1 L.Ed.2d 1442 (1957) (dictum); Patterson, 882 F.2d at 599; United States v. Powers, 622 F.2d 317, 319-20 n. 2 (8th Cir.), cert. denied, 449 U.S. 837, 101 S.Ct. 112, 66 L.Ed.2d 44 (1980). Application of the collateral order doctrine is limited to orders that (1) conclusively determine (2) important legal questions which are (3) completely separate from the merits of the underlying action and are (4) effectively unreviewable on appeal from a final judgment. Doughty v. Underwriters at Lloyd's, London, 6 F.3d 856, 862 (1st Cir.1993); see also Cohen v. Beneficial Loan Corp., 337 U.S. 541, 546, 69 S.Ct. 1221, 1225-26, 93 L.Ed. 1528 (1949) (originating doctrine). We think that these conditions are met in this case. 49 Moreover, the particular circumstances at hand, especially the procedural posture in which this appeal arises and the nature of the relief sought, are conducive to allowing the appeal to go forward. In criminal cases, the policy against permitting appeals to be taken too freely is heightened by speedy trial and double jeopardy concerns. See Will v. United States, 389 U.S. 90, 96, 88 S.Ct. 269, 274, 19 L.Ed.2d 305 (1967); DiBella v. United States, 369 U.S. 121, 126, 82 S.Ct. 654, 657-58, 7 L.Ed.2d 614 (1962). Here, those concerns do not come into play at all: the determination of the defendants' guilt has been made, sentence has been imposed, the attempted appeal is not interlocutory in any sense, and no prospect of piecemeal litigation endures. 50 We conclude, therefore, that we have jurisdiction over the instant appeal under 28 U.S.C. Sec. 1291. We emphasize, however, that our holding is a narrow one. Rather than importing the collateral order doctrine lock, stock, and barrel into our criminal jurisprudence, we hold only that when, as now, the conditions of the collateral order doctrine are satisfied, 17 and the prudential concerns that traditionally militate against allowing the government to appeal in a criminal case favor, or are at least neutral in respect to, the availability of a government appeal, then section 1291 affords a vehicle through which the government may seek appellate review in a criminal case. 51