United States v. Walter L. Ritte, Jr.

Ritte attempts to appeal from an order of a magistrate for the District of Hawaii finding Ritte in contempt and ordering forfeiture of his appearance bond for breach of a bail condition. That portion of the order adjudicating Ritte in contempt is invalid because the magistrate did not have jurisdiction. We must vacate the contempt order because 28 U.S.C. § 636 (d) requires that contemptuous acts committed in the presence of a magistrate or related to proceedings before a magistrate must be referred to a district judge for adjudication. We cannot reach the merits of the order of forfeiture because we lack jurisdiction to do so; the order of forfeiture was not a final appealable order. Under the doctrine of Campbell v. District Court (9th Cir. 1974), 501 F.2d 196 , the district court, not the magistrate, has the power to adjudicate a bond forfeiture. (The Campbell doctrine was adopted by recent amendments to the Magistrates Act, codified as 28 U.S.C. § 636 (b)(3).) There is nothing in the record indicating that the forfeiture finding was adopted by the district court. The magistrate’s order is not a final appealable order of the district court within the meaning of 28 U.S.C. § 1291…