Opinion ID: 3037834
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Was Jose immediately advised of his rights?

Text: Jose was considered “in custody” from the moment Officer Hill handcuffed him at approximately 4:15 p.m. See RRA-A, 229 F.3d at 744 (finding juvenile “in custody” from the moment he was handcuffed). Jose was not informed of his Miranda rights until 5:24 p.m, when Agent Martinez began to interrogate him. In this appeal, Jose argues that the arresting officers violated the JDA because he was not immediately notified of his Miranda rights. [1] “[T]here is a dearth of case law interpreting ‘immediately’ in the context of 18 U.S.C. § 5033.” Doe III, 219 F.3d at 1014. In Doe III, this court found that a delay of three and a half hours was untimely because the plain meaning of the term “immediately” does not countenance a three and a half hour delay, and because there was no showing “that exigent circumstances or other valid reasons caused the delay.” Id. In UNITED STATES v. JOSE (JUVENILE) 7205 another juvenile case, RRA-A, we found that a delay of four hours was not “immediate.” RRA-A, 229 F.3d at 744. [2] The delay at issue here is less than the delay in either of our previous cases on this question. And yet the notification here was certainly not “immediate.” Officer Hill did not advise Jose of his rights when Jose stood handcuffed at the border or when Jose was transported to the security office. Agent Cabrera did not advise Jose of his rights before she asked Jose why he thought he was in custody or before she solicited contact information. It appears that both agents spoke Spanish, and there was no valid reason presented why either of these two agents could not have informed Jose that he did not have to speak to the agents, or that he would be permitted the aid of counsel. Legal warnings need not be given instantaneously, especially where “exigent circumstances or other valid reasons” cause a short period of delay. Doe II, 219 F.3d at 1014. But it stretches the language of the statute too far to say that “immediately” means “just before you wish to seek a confession.” Miranda itself provides the right to receive such warnings before being interrogated, see Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 444-45 (1966), and to find otherwise would render the JDA’s protection for juveniles superfluous. We believe that Congress intended juveniles to be advised of their Miranda rights as soon as practicable after the juvenile was “in custody.” [3] Under this rubric, Jose was not advised of his Miranda rights “immediately.” At the very least, Agent Cabrera should have read Jose his rights before she asked Jose if he knew why he was being detained, and before she began the other tasks assigned to her by the JDA. See RRA-A, 229 F.3d at 746 (noting that arresting officer should read the juvenile his Miranda rights but delay interrogation of the juvenile until the consulate can be notified). Accordingly, we find that the government violated the JDA by failing to “immediately” notify Jose of his legal rights. 7206 UNITED STATES v. JOSE (JUVENILE) 2. Did the arresting officer improperly delegate the notification of duties? [4] Jose contends that the Border Patrol agents violated the JDA when Agent Hill, as the arresting officer, “delegated” the notification duty to Agents Cabrera and Zuchelli. In support of this argument, Jose cites RRA-A, in which we found a JDA violation where the arresting officer delegated the notification requirement to the United States Attorney’s Office. RRA-A, 229 F.3d at 745. We find that Agent Hill did not improperly delegate the notification duty. In RRA-A, the officer delegated the task of parental notification to the prosecutor, who subsequently delegated the task to the prosecutor’s secretary. See id. at 745. We concluded that delegation to a prosecutor strayed too far from the textual strictures of the JDA, which requires that the “arresting officer” notify the parents. See id. at 744-45; see also United States v. Doe (Doe IV), 170 F.3d 1162, 1167 (9th Cir. 1999) (finding that the text of the JDA does not allow for delegation to a “subsequent official who might handle the judicial phases of the matter”). [5] Nonetheless, it seems an overly narrow reading of “arresting officer” to exclude fellow officers and agents involved in the actual arrest and investigation at the scene of the arrest. In this case, Agent Hill was working at the border and conducted the initial investigation, after which he walked Jose back to the office so that a fellow agent could conduct initial processing. We believe that the purpose of the JDA was not thwarted by allowing an intake officer on the scene of the arrest to call the juvenile’s parents instead of the officer who made the initial arrest. Accordingly, we conclude that Agent Hill did not improperly delegate his notification duties in violation of the JDA. UNITED STATES v. JOSE (JUVENILE) 7207 3. Were Jose’s parents immediately notified that he was in custody and notified of his rights? [6] Section 5033 requires that federal law enforcement agents notify parents of a juvenile’s arrest “immediately” after the juvenile is taken into custody. See United States v. Female Juvenile (Wendy G.), 255 F.3d 761, 765 (9th Cir. 2001). In addition, a juvenile’s parents must also be notified of the minor’s Miranda rights, “to ensure that § 5033 provides juveniles with ‘meaningful protection.’ ” RRA-A, 229 F.3d 745. Because this protection is useless unless the parent has the right to consult with the juvenile before interrogation, the arresting officer must affirmatively inform the parents that they will have the opportunity to confer with and to advise their child before the child is interrogated. See Wendy G., 255 F.3d at 767. If notification is not immediately possible, the officers must delay interrogation for a reasonable time to allow parental notification and response. See RRA-A, 229 F.3d at 746. These steps ensure that a juvenile in custody receives “the aid of more mature judgment as to the steps he should take in [his] predicament,” that is, an adult who can provide the juvenile “the protection which his own immaturity could not.” United States v. Male Juvenile, 121 F.3d 34, 43 (2d Cir. 1997) (quoting Gallegos v. Colorado, 370 U.S. 49, 54 (1962)). [7] When the juvenile’s parents live outside the United States, the government must make “reasonable” efforts to contact the parents so that the juvenile can receive such protection. See Doe II, 862 F.2d at 779. “These reasonable efforts may consist of either (a) actual notification or (b) sufficient inquiry or effort to make the reasonable determination that actual notification is not feasible” Id. Only if actual notification is not feasible may the government notify a foreign consulate in this country in lieu of parental notification. See id. Consular notification facilitates parental notification, allowing an “in-country mechanism” to assist the government in locating the parent. RRA-A, 229 F.3d at 746. It also allows a coun7208 UNITED STATES v. JOSE (JUVENILE) try’s diplomatic officers to become involved as surrogates for the parents. See id. [8] The government contends that it made “every effort” to comply with these notification provisions. We disagree. Government agents notified Llanes-Angulo that Jose had been detained at the border, but that was the extent of their compliance with the JDA. Llanes-Angulo offered the agents a number of options, any of which probably would have complied with the JDA: The agents could have asked Llanes-Angulo to locate the mother or father and could have left a callback number so either parent could call and talk to their son. The agents could have clarified whether Llanes-Angulo intended to come to the border, and could have waited an hour and a half to allow Llanes-Angulo to travel to the border and to consult with her nephew.3 The agents also could have informed Llanes-Angulo that Jose had been caught at the border with cocaine, informed her of Jose’s Miranda rights, and offered her an opportunity to talk with her nephew.4 Arguably, any of 3 Llanes-Angulo stated that she told officers she would come to the border, whereas the agents stated that Llanes-Angulo stated that she could come to the border within an hour and a half, but did not make clear whether she intended to do so or not. For purposes of analysis, this matters little. The government bears the burden of showing compliance with the JDA and must show that it made reasonable efforts to contact the foreign juvenile’s parents and that parental notification was not feasible. See Doe II, 862 F.2d at 780. Therefore, the government agents should have affirmatively clarified whether Llanes-Angulo would notify the mother or father, or whether Llames-Angulo would come to the border. 4 This presumes that Llanes-Angulo was a responsible adult who the officers reasonably believed could act in loco parenti. The JDA requires that either a “parent, guardian or custodian” be notified. 18 U.S.C. § 5033. We have said that notification of a juvenile’s sister, where the sister spoke English and apparently translated for the non-English speaking parents, might substitute for parental notification. See Doe III, 219 F.3d at 1012, 1014-15. While we presume, for purposes of analysis, that the aunt was competent to act in lieu of Jose’s parents, we note that this requirement must also be read in light of the purposes of the JDA: to ensure that the juvenile is not left alone in a strange environment without advice and comUNITED STATES v. JOSE (JUVENILE) 7209 these options would have fulfilled the JDA’s requirement that a parent, or person who could reasonably be deemed to act in loco parenti, be notified of the juvenile’s situation, be informed of the juvenile’s Miranda rights, and be affirmatively offered the opportunity to consult with the juvenile. Instead, agents waited nine minutes — hardly a “reasonable time” to allow parental notification — and then began interrogating Jose.5 We believe the government spurned obvious alternatives that would have permitted Jose to consult with his mother or father, or at least with his aunt. As such, the government has not borne its burden to show that actual parental notification was not feasible. We therefore find a violation of the JDA. The government claims that this failure to notify Jose’s parents was somehow remedied by the fact that Jose waived his right to consular notification. Given that the government has not shown that parental notification was not feasible, consular notification is irrelevant. Consular notification is undertaken in lieu of parental notification, but it can never fully supplant parental notification. Consular notification should not be used simply because parental notification is inconvenient.6 fort of a responsible adult who can provide guidance. Giving the Miranda warning to a family member or friend who cannot provide the necessary assistance thwarts the purpose of the act. Indeed, in this case, the aunt declared under oath that she would not have felt comfortable making any decision about whether Jose could be interrogated because she was not his parent. Because the government violated the JDA by failing to provide Llanes-Angulo with the Miranda warning, we need not decide whether Llanes-Angulo was competent to act in lieu of Jose’s parents. 5 The Government claimed that it had to proceed expeditiously and could not wait before interrogating the minor because of the quantity of cocaine that was involved. This assertion is undercut somewhat by the officer’s statement that he handled this case the same way that he had handled ten to fifteen other juvenile cases. 6 We further note, because this situation is likely to recur, that it is highly doubtful that a juvenile can waive consular notification. This court 7210 UNITED STATES v. JOSE (JUVENILE) 4. Was Jose taken to a magistrate forthwith? [9] Jose next contends that the twenty-three hour delay between his arrest and his arraignment violates the JDA’s requirement that a juvenile be presented to a magistrate “forthwith.” As stated above, Jose was taken into custody at approximately 4:15 p.m. on May 10, 2005. He was interrogated from approximately 5:24 p.m. to 6:10 p.m. He was then transported to Juvenile Hall at 9:30 p.m. The following morning, at 8:00 a.m., Jose was taken to the courthouse in San Diego and turned over to the United States Marshal Service. Michelle Villasenor-Grant, the Federal Defender and the assigned “duty attorney” on May 11, was present at the courthouse from 9:00 a.m. The assigned magistrate began arraignments at 10:30 a.m. When Villasenor-Grant overheard the Assistant United States Attorney speaking about a juvenile who had been detained, Villasenor-Grant took affirmative steps to find Jose. She met with Jose at 12:55 p.m., and was ready to proceed at 1:10 p.m. The magistrate’s afternoon session began at 2:00 p.m., and still, Jose was not arraigned. At 3:30 p.m., after the entire adult calendar was finished, Jose was finally brought before the magistrate for arraignment — nearly twenty-four hours after his arrest. has held that a juvenile cannot waive the right to parental notification. See United States v. L.M.K., 149 F.3d 1033, 1035 (9th Cir. 1998) (concluding that § 5033 “does not permit the juvenile to waive notification of the parents”). The role of consular notification is to permit “diplomatic officials to become involved as surrogates for parents who are not in the country.” RRA-A, 229 F.3d at 746 (emphasis added). It stands to reason that if a juvenile cannot waive the right to parental notification, the juvenile cannot validly waive the right to consular notification. Indeed, there is even a greater reason not to allow a waiver of consular notification. A juvenile will intuitively grasp the significance of parental notification, but a juvenile is less likely to understand the important role of the consulate as surrogate. Where the statute does not permit waiver of the right to parental notification, we see no reason that a measure intended to supplant parental notification could be waived. UNITED STATES v. JOSE (JUVENILE) 7211 The government admits, as it must, that the delay was caused by its own processing. The magistrate began arraignments at 10:30 a.m. The public defender was present all day and could have met with Jose that morning if she had been informed that Jose was in custody. Thus, the government proffered only three reasons why Jose could not be arraigned in the morning: because of the large quantity of the drugs found in Jose’s vehicle, because the paperwork involved in preparing the information was “tedious,” and “because this case was urgent requiring a thorough, cautious approach.” [10] We have held that, in general, juveniles in custody should be given priority in the arraignment schedule. See United States v. Doe I, 701 F.2d 819, 824 (9th Cir. 1983). In Doe I, we upheld a thirty-six hour delay where the magistrate was unavailable and where agents had to give priority to other cases, including the arraignment of a pregnant woman and women with small children. See id. We held that “only because of these exigencies” was the delay in arraignment permissible. Id. (emphasis added); see also Doe III, 219 F.3d at 1015 (finding that thirty-one and a half hours is not “forthwith”). In contrast to the specific reasons offered for delay in Doe I, here we have only the government’s assertion that they were proceeding “with caution” and that the paperwork process was “tedious.” We refuse to accept the government’s bald assertion that caution was required to justify detaining Jose in the holding cell for almost seven and a half hours after he arrived at court. The Government also argues that Jose’s waiver of his Miranda rights necessarily permits a delay for the time of interrogation, relying on United States v. Indian Boy X, 565 F.2d 585 (9th Cir. 1977). Even if we were to permit a reasonable period of delay for purposes of interrogation, it would not excuse the additional twenty-one hour delay after interrogation was completed before Jose was presented to the magistrate. 7212 UNITED STATES v. JOSE (JUVENILE) [11] Rather than being treated with priority, Jose was arraigned after the magistrate judge had finished his entire calendar of adult arraignments. We find no reasonable cause for the twenty-three hour delay in proceedings before a magistrate, and therefore that the government violated the JDA when it failed to present Jose to a magistrate forthwith.