United States v. Ruben Cepeda-Luna

We are asked to decide in this case whether a civil arrest pursuant to deportation proceedings starts the clock under the Speedy Trial Act, 18 U.S.C. § 3161 et seq., for criminal charges which are later filed against the detainee. We hold that except in cases of collusion between Immigration and Naturalization officials and criminal authorities, where the civil detention is merely a ruse to avoid the requirements of the Speedy Trial Act, civil detention does not trigger the thirty-day clock under the Speedy Trial Act.

I

BACKGROUND

Appellant Ruben Cepeda-Luna appeals his indictment and subsequent conviction for illegal reentry, in violation of 8 U.S.C. § 1326 (1988). Cepeda-Luna alleges the district court erred by not dismissing the indictment under the Speedy Trial Act, 18 U.S.C. § 3161 (b), because more than thirty days elapsed between his civil deportation arrest on July 12, 1991, and his indictment for illegal reentry on October 18, 1991. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291 to review this final decision of the District Court.

Cepeda-Luna was arrested in Oregon on March 9, 1990, for drug offenses and was subsequently released from custody. He was arrested for drug…