Opinion ID: 3053994
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: certification of this appeal under

Text: § 3731 [1] Under 18 U.S.C. § 3731, the government may bring an interlocutory appeal “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 proceeding.” See United States v. W.R. Grace, 526 F.3d 499, 504-05 (9th Cir. 2008) (en banc). We recently recounted in detail the procedural history of this interlocutory appeal in a published order, see United States v. Weyhrauch, ___ F.3d ___, 2008 WL 4277587 (9th Cir. Sept. 8, 2008) (order to show cause), so we summarize only the pertinent details here. Nicholas Marsh, lead trial counsel from the Department of Justice, Criminal Division, Public Integrity Section (PIS), orally advised the district court at a September 5 pre-trial conference that the government intended immediately to appeal the ruling, that the excluded evidence was substantial proof of a material fact and that the appeal was not being taken for the purpose of delay. Based on this oral certification, the district court stayed the trial pending the interlocutory appeal. However, because the purported certification to the district court was not made by the United States Attorney as required by § 3731, before oral argument we issued an order to show cause (OSC) why the appeal should not be dismissed as improperly certified. 15792 UNITED STATES v. WEYHRAUCH In its response, the government argued that Marsh’s certification was sufficient under § 3731 because it was made in consultation with and at the direction of William M. Welch II, Chief of PIS, who was overseeing the prosecution, and submitted a document signed by Chief Welch, dated July 25, 2008, certifying the appeal pursuant to § 3731. The government failed to explain how Chief Welch, who is not a United States Attorney, could properly certify an appeal under § 3731, so after oral argument we issued a second OSC to address this issue. In response, the government submitted a formal recusal notice, dated November 7, 2005, from the Executive Office for United States Attorneys stating that the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Alaska was recused from the investigation that led to the prosecution of Weyhrauch and that PIS had agreed to handle the matter in its entirety. The government also continued to argue that trial attorney Marsh’s September 5, 2007 certification was sufficient, but on a new theory that he was himself authorized to certify the appeal because he had been specially appointed under 28 C.F.R. § 0.13(a) by the Deputy Assistant Attorney General and therefore was authorized to conduct “any legal proceeding, civil or criminal, including grand jury proceedings and proceedings before committing magistrates, which United States attorneys are authorized by law to conduct.” 28 C.F.R. § 0.13(a). In a published OSC, we held that the recusal notice failed to explain Chief Welch’s authority to certify the appeal and rejected the government’s argument that any attorney specially appointed under § 0.13(a) can certify an interlocutory appeal under 18 U.S.C. § 3731. Weyhrauch, 2008 WL 4277587 at , . We gave the government a final opportunity to demonstrate that this appeal was properly certified. [2] On September 22, 2008, the government submitted two documents signed by Attorney General Michael Mukasey.3 In 3 Remarkably, the government also continued to argue that the recusal notice was sufficient to demonstrate that Chief Welch possessed authority UNITED STATES v. WEYHRAUCH 15793 the first, the Attorney General averred that the appeal was not taken for the purposes of delay and that the evidence at issue is substantial proof of facts material to the proceeding; in the second, he ratified Chief Welch’s written certification of July 25, 2008 and confirmed that Chief Welch had been delegated authority to make that certification. We accept that the Attorney General can himself certify an appeal. Plainly, Congress’ designation of the United States Attorney as the one authorized to make the requisite § 3731 certification was not intended to preclude certification by an equivalent or higher authority should there be no United States Attorney or acting United States Attorney overseeing a prosecution.4 Because the ultimate authority to appoint an acting United States Attorney rests with the Attorney General under 28 U.S.C. § 515(a), see Weyhrauch, 2008 WL 4277587, at , the Attorney General can certify an appeal under § 3731 if no one else has been properly designated to do so. Because we conclude that the to certify the appeal. Setting aside for the moment that the government’s filing was made in response to an order in which we squarely held that the recusal notice was insufficient, the government’s continued insistence that the recusal notice is sufficient ignores the rationale for our holding: when an investigation or prosecution is being overseen by someone outside of a United States Attorney’s office, that person can certify an appeal only if properly appointed pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 515(a) as the acting United States Attorney for the purposes of that investigation or prosecution. Although a document demonstrating that an entire United States Attorney’s office was recused from a case does suggest that someone else is running that case, it does not demonstrate that the Attorney General appropriately appointed that person as acting United States Attorney or to certify an appeal under 18 U.S.C. § 3731. 4 As the government noted in its most recent filing, some investigations originate and are conducted within the Department of Justice, without any involvement of the local United States Attorney’s office. The Department would do well to adopt procedures to ensure that someone has been expressly delegated authority to certify interlocutory appeals under § 3731 in such cases. See Weyhrauch, 2008 WL 4277587, at -5 (holding that someone outside of a United States Attorney’s office can certify an appeal under § 3731 only if specifically appointed to do so under 28 U.S.C. § 515(a)). 15794 UNITED STATES v. WEYHRAUCH Attorney General’s own certification is sufficient, we do not decide whether ratification alone would suffice. See Weyhrauch, 2008 WL 4277587, at  (noting that the government “has not submitted any documentation that the Attorney General or his delegee in the EOUSA explicitly appointed Chief Welch as a special attorney or special assistant under 28 U.S.C. § 515(a) to be the acting United States Attorney for the Weyhrauch investigation and prosecution” (emphasis added)). Although the Attorney General’s certification is a proper substitute for that of the United States Attorney for Alaska, we must still decide whether to exercise our discretion to accept the certification at this late date. See W.R. Grace, 526 F.3d at 507 n.4. Weyhrauch offers two reasons why we should decline to do so. First, he contends that he has been prejudiced by the government’s failure to certify this appeal properly at the outset, thereby delaying the appeal and his opportunity to address the charges against him and causing him to incur additional legal expenses defending against it. Any criminal defendant would suffer those consequences under § 3731, however, yet Congress nonetheless has authorized the government to pursue interlocutory appeals despite such hardships. Thus, Weyhrauch has been prejudiced largely by the interlocutory appeal itself, not by the government’s deficient certification. Although we are sympathetic to Weyhrauch because the certification dispute, which arose only because the government failed to comply with § 3731, may have aggravated his cost of defending against the appeal, we decline to dismiss the appeal on that basis alone. Second, Weyhrauch suggests that the government’s conduct demonstrates that it did not take the § 3731 certification requirement seriously. See W.R. Grace, 526 F.3d at 507 (“Congress plainly intended that the decision to take an interlocutory appeal be a serious, considered judgment . . . .”). The government’s belief that the oral certification by the line prosecutor and the subsequent written certification by Chief Welch without accompanying documentation of his delegated UNITED STATES v. WEYHRAUCH 15795 authority were sufficient is certainly difficult to fathom in light of our previous holdings. See Weyhrauch, 2008 WL 4277587, at  (“[O]ur prior decisions make clear that a § 3731 certification must be made personally by the United States Attorney or by someone acting with legitimate, delegated authority that is sufficiently documented.” (internal citations omitted)). Nonetheless, we are satisfied that the government did not take the decision to appeal lightly. The government has represented that the trial attorney consulted with the attorney supervising the prosecution and the Solicitor General before initiating the appeal. The legal issue on the merits presents a question of first impression in this circuit and therefore is not frivolous. Even though the government was careless about the certification process, we conclude that the government did not willfully disregard the certification requirement itself. Moreover, because this case presents a factual scenario (recusal of the entire United States Attorney’s office) not addressed in any of our prior opinions (or by any other circuit) and the Attorney General has now given this issue his personal attention, we will excuse the government’s confusion and allow it to supplement the record with the Attorney General’s certification. In doing so, however, we point out that we have previously invited the government to submit documentation of properly delegated authority when the certification is made by someone other than the United States Attorney, see United States v. Wallace, 213 F.3d 1216, 1219 (9th Cir. 2000), and more recently held that a trial attorney lacks authority to certify an appeal, see W.R. Grace, 526 F.3d at 506. Apparently, our hortatory language and square holdings have not convinced the government that the statutory requirements for § 3731 certification are requirements rather than suggestions. We shall not be so forgiving in the future. See United States v. Eccles, 850 F.2d 1357, 1359 (9th Cir. 1988) (“We recognize . . . that a general rule excusing the government from filing a certificate until after oral argument would eviscerate the statutory requirement that the United States 15796 UNITED STATES v. WEYHRAUCH attorney certify that the appeal has not been taken to delay trial.”).