Juvenile

This case requires us to decide whether, when deciding a motion to transfer a juvenile to adult status pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 5032 for criminal prosecution, a district court must assume the juvenile defendant committed the crime with which he is charged. For the reasons that follow, we hold that the district court may indulge such an assumption but is not required to do so. If the district court chooses to assume guilt, it must confine the assumption to the elements of the offense charged.

I. Factual and Procedural History

The juvenile appellant in this case, to whom we will refer as T.J.S., was charged, along with a co-defendant, with first degree murder by Information. The charge against T.J.S. arises from events occurring on June 18, 2004 on the Rocky Boy’s Indian Reservation near Box Elder, Montana. The details of that day’s events are, of course, in dispute.

The government’s account is as follows. T.J.S., who was 15 years old at the time, was drinking alcohol with three of his friends on the evening of June 18, 2004 when one member of the group suggested they go pick up Alton Alexander so he could buy beer for the group. T.J.S. rejected that idea, expressing some disdain…