United States of America v. David A.

Albuquerque, New Mexico criminal defense lawyer represented the Defendant, a juvenile, charged with distributing meth.



On July 12, 2004, the United States charged then sixteen-year-old David A. by criminal information with "knowingly violat[ing] the Federal Juvenile Delinquency Act [by] unlawfully, knowingly and intentionally distribut[ing] 50 grams or more of methamphetamine," contrary to 18 U.S.C. § 2 and 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1) and (b)(1)(A). The Government also certified its intent to proceed against David A. in federal court. Federal authorities took David A. into custody the next day, July 13, 2004.



On July 26, 2004, the Government filed a motion to proceed against David A. as an adult. In that motion, the Government asserted that the FJDA, see 18 U.S.C. § 5032, mandated transferring David A. to the United States district court to be tried as an adult because he was charged with a drug trafficking offense allegedly committed after he had turned sixteen years of age, and New Mexico had previously adjudicated David A. a juvenile delinquent based upon an earlier residential burglary charge. The district court conducted a hearing on that transfer motion on August 25, 2004, but postponed that hearing after discovering that David A.'s parents were not given notice of the hearing. The district court continued the hearing until October 18, 2004. At the conclusion of the October 18 hearing, the district court granted the Government's motion to transfer David A. to the district court to be tried as an adult. David A. timely appeals from that transfer.



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David A. asserts four reasons why the district court erred in transferring him to district court to be tried as an adult: 1) the district court delayed in granting the Government's motion to transfer David A. to be tried as an adult, violating his speedy trial rights provided under 18 U.S.C. § 5036; 2) the Government failed to comply with 18 U.S.C. § 5032's requirement that the district court, before transferring a juvenile, have all the juvenile's records before it; 3) mandatory transfer under § 5032 was not appropriate in this case because David A. was not "found guilty" of any offense in the prior state-court proceeding, but was instead only adjudicated a delinquent; and 4) the Government failed to meet its burden of proving that the David A. charged in these federal proceedings is the same juvenile that was adjudged delinquent in the earlier New Mexico proceeding. For the following reasons, we reject David A.'s arguments and AFFIRM the district court's decision to transfer David A. to the district court to be tried as an adult.

The Defendant was found guilty.



Affirmed.