U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, 1977

United States v. Robert Chavez

United States v. Robert Chavez
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit · Decided December 20, 1977 · Chambers, Wallace, Wollenberg
566 F.2d 81 (Federal Reporter, Second Series)

United States v. Robert Chavez

Opinion

ORDER DISMISSING APPEAL

We are presented the question of whether a federal prosecution duplicating or substantially duplicating a prior indictment (later dismissed) by the State of California, is a violation of the Attorney General’s publicly announced policy on such matters and, if so, whether the district court and this court should do something about it.

We hold that under the doctrine of separation of powers federal courts have no discretion to conduct such an investigation. It might be otherwise if the Attorney General’s policy were something more than in-house rules, and had reached the stage of publication in the Code of Federal Regulations or some equivalent publication.

The appeal is dismissed.

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