Court Opinion

ID: 9493814
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 15:20:21.674238+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:56:03.112939
License: Public Domain

Opinion by Judge PAEZ; Concurrence by Judge McKEOWN.
PAEZ, Circuit Judge:
Kenneth C., a juvenile, appeals the district court’s judgment of juvenile delinquency. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291. Kenneth C. contends that the district court did not have jurisdiction over the case because the requisite certification to hear a juvenile matter in federal court was not signed by an official authorized to do so by the relevant statute and regulations. On the record that was before the district court, we agree and vacate the judgment. We do, however, hold that a United States Attorney (“U.S. Attorney”) may delegate authority to sign these certifications to an Assistant U.S. Attorney (“AUSA”), serving as Acting U.S. Attorney. We remand so the district court may determine if the official who signed the certification in this case was the Acting U.S. Attorney at the time.
I
An action against a juvenile for juvenile delinquency may only be brought in a federal court if:
the Attorney General, after investigation, certifies to the appropriate district court of the United States that (1) the juvenile court or other appropriate court of a State does not have jurisdiction or refuses to assume jurisdiction over said juvenile with respect to such alleged act of juvenile delinquency, (2) the State does not have available programs and *686services adequate for the needs of juveniles, or (3) the offense charged is a crime of violence that is a felony ... and that there is a substantial Federal interest in the case or the offense to warrant the exercise of Federal jurisdiction.
18 U.S.C. § 5032. Regulations promulgated by the Department of Justice delegate authority to sign need certifications to the Assistant Attorney General for the Criminal Division and his Deputy Assistant Attorneys General, who may in turn delegate to the U.S. Attorneys. 28 C.F.R. § 0.57. The Assistant Attorney General of the Criminal Division issued a Memorandum on March 12, 1985, delegating “to United States Attorneys the authority of the Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Criminal Division pursuant to 18 U.S.C. [§ ] 5032 ... and 28 C.F.R. [§ ] 0.57.” United States v. Angelo D., 88 F.3d 856, 859 (10th Cir.1996).
Kenneth C. was charged with juvenile delinquency under 18 U.S.C. § 5032 for attempting to smuggle two illegal aliens into the United States. The information was filed on May 17, 1999, in the Southern District of California. The § 5032 need certification attached to the information was signed by “Patrick O’Toole for Gregory A. Vega, United States Attorney.” Patrick O’Toole is First Assistant United States Attorney in the Southern District of California, not one of the officials explicitly authorized by statute or regulation to sign the certification. Kenneth C. argued below, as he does here on appeal, that the certification was invalid because it was not signed by the U.S. Attorney and, therefore, the district court did not have jurisdiction. The district court summarily denied Defendant’s motion to dismiss the information. The district court’s judgment of juvenile delinquency was entered on September 21, 1999. Kenneth C. is serving a 22-month sentence.
Kenneth C. appeals, asking this court to vacate the adjudication of delinquency, or alternatively, to remand the case to the district court to determine whether the government complied with § 5032. At the time the government filed its brief in this court, it also filed in the district court an affidavit signed by Mr. O’Toole stating that on the day in question he was actually serving as Acting United States Attorney under 28 C.F.R. § 0.131, which permits “[e]ach U.S. Attorney ... to designate any Assistánt U.S. Attorney in his office to perform the functions and duties of the U.S. Attorney during his absence from office.... ” The government attached to its responsive brief this declaration and a general memorandum from U.S. Attorney Vega naming Mr. O’Toole as Acting U.S. Attorney in his absence or unavailability.
II
Whether the government complied with 18 U.S.C. § 5032 is an issue of statutory interpretation which this court reviews de novo. United States v. Doe, 98 F.3d 459, 460 (9th Cir.1996) [hereinafter Doe 1996].1
“To prosecute a juvenile in federal court, the government must follow the certification procedures required by 18 U.S.C. § 5032. Certification is a jurisdictional requirement.” United States v. Doe, 170 F.3d 1162, 1165 (9th Cir.1999); see also Doe 1996, 98 F.3d at 460; United States v. Juvenile Male, 864 F.2d 641, 643 (9th Cir.1988). The purpose of § 5032 is to guarantee careful scrutiny of each juvenile delinquency case brought in federal court, and to reduce the number of such cases prosecuted. See e.g., Juvenile Male, 864 F.2d at 644 (“The[ ] purpose was to *687help ensure that state and local authorities would deal with juvenile offenders wherever possible, keeping juveniles away from the less appropriate federal channels. The certifications were designed to remove juveniles from the federal system ....”) (citing S.Rep. No. 1011, 93rd Cong., 2d Sess. (1974), reprinted in 1974 U.S.C.C.A.N. 5283). Therefore, if the government did not comply with § 5032 here, the district court had no authority to hear the case and we must vacate the judgment.
In Doe 1996, we vacated a judgment of juvenile delinquency because the certification was signed by the AUSA beneath the name of the U.S. Attorney: “Janet Napoli-tano, United States Attorney for the District of Arizona, by Raquel Arellano, Assistant United States Attorney.” 98 F.3d at 460. The Doe 1996 court held that the certification did not comply with the statutory requirements because “[although the regulations authorize United States Attorneys to file certificates of need, Assistant United States Attorneys are not specifically authorized to do so.” Id. at 461. See also United States v. Male Juvenile, 148 F.3d 468, 469, 472 (5th Cir.1998) (finding that certification “bearing] the signature of [Assistant U.S. Attorney] Eric Reed under the printed name of United States Attorney Gaynelle Griffin Jones” was invalid).
Ill
Neither the Doe 1996 court nor the Fifth Circuit in Male Juvenile considered the question presented here, whether the U.S. Attorney can delegate the responsibility to sign § 5032 certifications to an Assistant U.S. Attorney serving as Acting U.S. Attorney. See Male Juvenile, 148 F.3d at 471 (“In the instant case, there is no evidence that United States Attorney Jones was unavailable or that she expressly delegated her authority to [Assistant U.S. Attorney] Reed.”). We now hold that this authority may be delegated to an Assistant U.S. Attorney under 28 C.F.R. § 0.131.
The Tenth Circuit, in United States v. Angelo D., 88 F.3d 856, 860 (10th Cir.1996), did directly confront the issue and concluded that 28 C.F.R. §§ 0.57 and 0.131 “read[ ] ... together” permit “a somewhat lengthy chain of delegation,” ending in an AUSA serving as an Acting United States Attorney with full authority to carry out the functions and duties of the U.S. Attorney, when the U.S. Attorney is absent from office.
The government also relies on this court’s recent decision in United States v. Wallace, 213 F.3d 1216 (9th Cir.), cert. denied — U.S. -, 121 S.Ct. 418, 148 L.Ed.2d 323 (2000). Wallace involved 18 U.S.C. § 3731, which requires U.S. Attorneys to certify that an interlocutory appeal of an order suppressing evidence is not taken for the purpose of delay and that the suppressed evidence is not material. In Wallace, the certification was signed by the same Assistant U.S. Attorney as in this case, Mr. O’Toole, rather than U.S. Attorney Vega. There we held that we had jurisdiction to hear the appeal because the U.S.- Attorney delegated the authority to sign the certification to Mr. O’Toole under 28 C.F.R. § 0.131. 213 F.3d at 1219.
. Wallace does not directly control this case. Noncompliance with § 3731 is not a jurisdictional bar to bringing an interlocutory appeal. See, e.g., United States v. Becker, 929 F.2d 442, 445 (9th Cir.1991). But noncompliance with § 5032 is such a bar.
We do, however, agree with the reasoning of Wallace and Angelo D. that 28 C.F.R. § 0.57 and 28 C.F.R. § 0.131 may be read together. Section 0.57 — which delegates authority to sign § 5032 certifications from the Attorney General to the Assistant Attorney General for the Criminal Division, his Deputy Assistant Attorneys General, and ultimately U.S. Attorneys — explicitly refers to § 5032. In contrast, 28 C.F.R. § 0.131, upon which the government relies here, is a more general delegation provision which can *688apply to any responsibility of the U.S. Attorneys. Both regulations, however, were issued under the same authority: 5 U.S.C. § 301 and 28 U.S.C. §§ 509, 510, 515-519. Section 510, in particular, provides that “[t]he Attorney General may ... authoriz[e] the performance by any other officer, employee, or agency of the Department of Justice of any function of the Attorney General.” Because both 28 C.F.R. § 0.57 and 28 C.F.R. § 0.131 were issued under this general provision of delegation from the Attorney General, the only individual actually authorized by § 5032 to sign certifications, we think it appropriate to read them together and permit the type of delegation of authority that the government asserts took place here.
IV
Kenneth C. challenged the validity of the certification in district court. The court summarily dismissed the objection, and Kenneth C. has had no opportunity to contest the assertions made in the government’s late affidavit. Because the statute was designed to keep juvenile cases out of federal court, we will adhere to the general rule that matters not presented to the district court at the time the litigation was before it are not to be considered on appeal. See Fed. R.App. P. 10(a) (specifying record on appeal).
On the record before us, then, this case is not distinguishable from Doe 1996. We vacate the judgment of juvenile delinquency. However, because, properly documented, delegation to Mr. O’Toole as Acting U.S. Attorney would have been permissible, we remand to the district court with instructions to determine if Mr. O’Toole was, in fact, the Acting U.S. Attorney, with all the responsibilities and duties of that position, on the day in question. If the district court finds that Mr. O’Toole was the Acting U.S. Attorney, it shall reinstate the judgment.2
VACATED and REMANDED.

. The government asks that we adopt a presumption that the § 5032 certification is proper. Cf. United States v. Jabara, 618 F.2d 1319, 1327 (9th Cir.1980) ("Because [wiretap] authorization orders are presumed to be proper, [that] condition precedent in the instant case is presumed to have been met.”) (citations omitted). We decline to do so because, as discussed below, § 5032 is a jurisdictional bar. A district court cannot entertain a juvenile delinquency action unless the § 5032 certification is properly filed.

. We agree with Wallace, 213 F.3d at 1219, that if a need certification is not signed by the U.S. Attorney because he is absent from office, then one of the authorized deputies should sign it as "Acting United States Attorney,” and the certification should be accompanied by the appropriate documentation establishing his authority to sign.