A juvenile cannot be prosecuted in federal adult criminal court for conspiracy to commit an offense unless an overt act was committed by the juvenile prior to his or her 18th birthday.[178]  A person can only be convicted as an adult if s/he “participated in” or “ratified” the conspiracy after attaining the age of 18.[179]  Furthermore, a person must be acquitted if s/he withdrew from the conspiracy prior to turning 18.[180]  Moreover, since a conspiracy is not invariably a crime of violence, under a categorical analysis, a juvenile cannot be transferred to adult court for conspiracy even though the overt acts included acts of violence.[181]

 

[178] United States v. Chambers, 944 F.2d 1253, 1257 (6th Cir. 1991).

[179] United States v. Welch, 15 F.3d 1202, 1209 (1st Cir. 1993), citing United States v. Maddox, 944 F.2d 1223, 1233 (6th Cir. 1991).

[180] Id. at 1211 (citation omitted).

[181] United States v. Baker, 10 F.3d 1374 (9th Cir. 1993)

Ninth Circuit

JUVENILE - TRANSFER FROM JUVENILE TO ADULT - ERROR TO TRANSFER JUVENILE TO ADULT PROSECUTION AFTER MAKING CLEARLY ERRONEOUS FINDINGS CONCERNING DEFENDANT'S SOCIAL BACKGROUND
United States v. Juvenile Male, 492 F.3d 1046 (9th Cir. July 5, 2007) (reversing district court order granting government motion to transfer a juvenile case alleging second degree murder to adult criminal prosecution pursuant to the Federal Juvenile Delinquency Act where district court made clearly erroneous findings concerning defendant's social background).