People of the Territory of Guam v. Concepcion Okada

Concepcion Okada was convicted in the Superior Court of Guam on a charge of delivering heroin. The appellate division of the District Court of Guam reversed the conviction and dismissed the indictment, holding that Okada’s due process rights had been violated by the government’s failure to preserve certain discoverable evidence. The People of the Territory of Guam brought this appeal, and Okada moved to dismiss on the ground that Guam lacks statutory authority to appeal from the appellate division of the District Court of Guam’s reversal of a conviction. We postponed consideration of Okada’s motion until such time as the case was heard on the merits. We now grant Okada’s motion and dismiss this appeal for lack of jurisdiction.

I

It has long been established that the government may not appeal in a criminal case in the absence of express statutory authority. United States v. Wilson, 420 U.S. 332, 336, 95 S.Ct. 1013, 1018 , 43 L.Ed.2d 232 (1975); Carroll v. United States, 354 U.S. 394, 400 , 77 S.Ct. 1332, 1336 , 1 L.Ed.2d 1442 (1957); United States v. Sanges, 144 U.S. 310, 318 , 12 S.Ct. 609, 612 , 36 L.Ed. 445 (1892). The Supreme Court has explained that “ ‘appeals by the…