Learn About the Law
Get help with your legal needs
FindLaw’s Learn About the Law features thousands of informational articles to help you understand your options. And if you’re ready to hire an attorney, find one in your area who can help.
UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. James Derek JUAN, Defendant-Appellant.
MEMORANDUM **
James Derek Juan appeals the imposition of a sex offender evaluation condition of supervised release. We review for abuse of discretion, United States v. Gnirke, 775 F.3d 1155, 1159 (9th Cir. 2015), and we vacate the condition.
The sex offender evaluation condition is substantively unreasonable. See United States v. Carty, 520 F.3d 984, 993 (9th Cir. 2008) (en banc). Juan’s only sexual offense occurred nearly three decades ago, when Juan was twelve. In the intervening years, despite Juan’s frequent contact with and monitoring by law enforcement, there is no evidence of any other history or characteristic of inappropriate sexual conduct. Furthermore, Juan’s offense of conviction is entirely unrelated to the facts and circumstances of his conduct as a child. Cf. United States v. Johnson, 697 F.3d 1249, 1251 (9th Cir. 2012) (“Johnson’s current offense involved possession of a gun, the same sort of weapon he used as a sexual offender.”). Thus, there is no substantial nexus between the conduct underlying Juan’s twenty-seven-year-old juvenile adjudication and any public safety rationale that justifies the imposition of the sex offender evaluation condition today.1 See United States v. Wise, 391 F.3d 1027, 1032 (9th Cir. 2004); United States v. T.M., 330 F.3d 1235, 1240 (9th Cir. 2003) (“Supervised release conditions predicated upon twenty-year-old incidents, without more, do not promote the goals of public protection and deterrence.”). While it is rare that we would find that an imposition of a condition of supervised release was an abuse of discretion, where, as here, there is insufficient basis in the record for its imposition, we must surely vacate the condition.2
REVERSED; SUPERVISED RELEASE CONDITION VACATED.
FOOTNOTES
1. We also note that neither the Probation Officer nor the government sought such a condition.
2. We need not reach Juan’s remaining arguments challenging the imposition of the sex offender evaluation condition of supervised release.
A free source of state and federal court opinions, state laws, and the United States Code. For more information about the legal concepts addressed by these cases and statutes visit FindLaw's Learn About the Law.
Docket No: No. 17-10050
Decided: May 18, 2018
Court: United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit.
Search our directory by legal issue
Enter information in one or both fields (Required)
Harness the power of our directory with your own profile. Select the button below to sign up.
Learn more about FindLaw’s newsletters, including our terms of use and privacy policy.
Get help with your legal needs
FindLaw’s Learn About the Law features thousands of informational articles to help you understand your options. And if you’re ready to hire an attorney, find one in your area who can help.
Search our directory by legal issue
Enter information in one or both fields (Required)