United States v. Juvenile Male

In February 2005, the defendant-appellant (“defendant”) was charged with “engaging in an act of juvenile delinquency by committing second degree murder.” He was fifteen years and eleven months old at the time of the incident, and was eighteen years and seven months old when proceedings commenced.

In May 2005, the government moved to have the proceedings transferred to adult criminal prosecution pursuant to the Federal Juvenile Delinquency Act (“FJDA”), 18 U.S.C. § 5032 . The government also filed a motion for observation and study, requesting that the defendant be committed to the custody of the Attorney General for a psychological examination, pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 5037 (e), to assist the court in determining whether he should be transferred to adult status. The district court granted the latter motion and ordered the defendant to undergo an evaluation in accordance with the factors listed in 18 U.S.C. § 5032 . The defendant was transferred to the Dakota Horizons Youth Center, a division of the Southwest Multi-County Correction Center, on June 10, 2005. Upon completion of the evaluation, a report (“Dakota Horizons Report”) was filed with the district court detailing the…