Opinion ID: 3013039
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Accord With Existing Jurisprudence

Text: Requiring finality for appeals under 48 U.S.C. § 1493(c) accords with the role of the Appellate Division within the While the statute specifically refers to prosecutorial appeals “by the United States,” we have held that it also “applies to appeals taken by the Government of the Virgin Islands.” Gov’t of the V.I. v. Charleswell, 24 F.3d 571, 574 (3d Cir. 1994). Moreover, 18 U.S.C. § 3731 applies to appeals from the District Court of the Virgin Islands sitting both as a trial court and as an appellate court. Id. at 574-75. 10. We note that, aside from reiterating that 18 U.S.C. § 3731 does not authorize appeals of sentencing orders, our discussion of the statute takes no position on what types of non-final orders may be appealed under it. 11. Nor does the legislative history of 48 U.S.C. § 1493(c) indicate nonfinal orders may be appealed under the statute. 10 Virgin Islands court structure. As noted, we generally treat appeals from the Appellate Division of the District Court of the Virgin Islands the same as appeals from any other federal district court. See Ortiz, 126 F.3d at 548 (“[W]ith regard to the question of finality, we have treated appeals from the Appellate Division of the District Court of the Virgin Islands no differently than appeals taken from any other federal district court.”). In order to maintain consistency between appeals from the Appellate Division and other federal district courts, an appeal from the Appellate Division should either meet the finality requirement or satisfy a generally applicable finality exception. Allowing an exception to finality for appeals under 48 U.S.C. § 1493(c) would treat appeals from the Appellate Division differently than appeals from other federal district courts. Requiring finality also corresponds with another decision of this court. Recently, in Government of the Virgin Islands v. Marsham, we addressed a similar situation. 293 F.3d 114 (3d Cir. 2002). In Marsham, the defendant had appealed to the Appellate Division his sentence and restitution order imposed by the Territorial Court. The Appellate Division affirmed the sentence, but “remanded the case to the Territorial Court, ordering . . . that the restitution order be vacated.” Id. at 116. The Government of the Virgin Islands then appealed “the Appellate Division’s vacatur of the restitution order” to this court. Id. In addressing appellate jurisdiction over the government’s appeal, we held the Appellate Division’s decision must be final in order to be appealable. Id. at 117 (“The issue here is whether the Appellate Division’s decision is a final order.”).12 12. Notably, we did not specifically address 48 U.S.C. § 1493(c) in Marsham. Moreover, in Marsham, we concluded there was a “final [decision] for purposes of our appellate jurisdiction” because the Appellate Division judgment “conclusively and finally determined the issue of [the defendant’s] sentence and restitution, and sent the matter back simply for a ministerial entry” to vacate the restitution order. 293 F.3d at 117. But as we discuss infra Section II.C, there is no final decision here. 11 Moreover, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has read 48 U.S.C. § 1493(c) in conjunction with 48 U.S.C. § 1424-3(c), an analog of 48 U.S.C. § 1613a(c) providing “jurisdiction of appeals from all final decisions of the appellate division of the district court” of Guam. 48 U.S.C. § 1424-3(c). Under 48 U.S.C. § 1493(c), the territorial prosecutor in “Guam has the authority to appeal to [the Ninth Circuit] from an adverse final decision or order of the Guam Appellate Division.” Territory of Guam v. Borja, 983 F.2d 914, 916 (9th Cir. 1992); see also Territory of Guam v. Estrebor, 848 F.2d 1014, 1015 (9th Cir. 1988) (“48 U.S.C. § 1493(c), enacted after Okada, authorizes the prosecution in a territory to seek review of an adverse decision of an appellate court, and 48 U.S.C. § 1424-3(c) provides that this court has jurisdiction over appeals from all final decisions of the appellate division of the district court of Guam.”). In sum, there is no statutory authorization that would permit the prosecutor to appeal and to breach the traditional finality requirement. We hold that the Government of the Virgin Islands may only appeal final decisions, judgments, or orders under 48 U.S.C. § 1493(c).13