United States v. Leilani Quintos

MEMORANDUM

Leilani Quintos challenges various aspects of her revocation hearing and subsequent sentence. This court has jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291 . We now dismiss her appeal pursuant to the fugitive disentitlement doctrine.

Under the fugitive disentitlement doctrine, this court may dismiss a defendant’s appeal where she “remains at large during the ongoing appellate process.” Sun v. Mukasey, 555 F.3d 802, 804 (9th Cir.2009) (internal quotations and citation omitted). To determine whether to apply the doctrine, “the critical question” this court “must ask ... is whether the appellant is a fugitive at the time the appeal is pending.” Id. at 805 . Still, “[t]he doctrine is equitable, not jurisdictional,” and its “application is discretionary.” See United States v. Gonzalez, 300 F.3d 1048, 1051 (9th Cir.2002). Thus, the court should also consider whether dismissal would advance the doctrine’s purposes. Id.

Here, Quintos failed to report to probation as directed after the court sentenced her to time served and three years of supervised release. When the probation officer contacted Quintos’s attorney and attempted to obtain Quintos’s contact information, Quintos’s…