Court Opinion

ID: 9468801
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 02:24:03.65241+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:41:03.821607
License: Public Domain

BOOCHEVER, Circuit Judge,
concurring:
I concur in the result reached by Judge Alarcon and agree with sections III and IV of his opinion. I do not believe, however, that it is necessary in this case to determine whether one charged with being a juvenile delinquent, who consents to a trial before a magistrate, has an absolute right to a trial or to enter a plea before the magistrate rather than the district court.
The only advantage to a defendant in being tried before a magistrate or in entering a plea before a magistrate, rather than a district court judge, is that a magistrate cannot impose a sentence of imprisonment. See 18 U.S.C. § 3401(h). Because jail sentences were not imposed in these cases, we need not reach the question of Magistrates Rule 2(c)’s applicability to juvenile proceedings.
I also agree with Judge Thompson that a magistrate serves as an adjunct of the district court. Accordingly, we are not confronted with a jurisdictional issue because cases come within a district court’s jurisdiction regardless of whether they are tried by a magistrate or a district court judge.