United States v. Mobley, 17-3234

Background

Mobley, a dual U.S.-Russian citizen, allegedly took her children from Kansas to Russia in 2014 during contested custody proceedings, remaining there over three years in violation of U.S. court orders.
She returned to the U.S. in 2017, was arrested by the FBI after filing child-support paperwork; the children remain in Russia.
Charged with international parental kidnapping under 18 U.S.C. § 1204, the government sought pretrial detention under the Bail Reform Act.
The magistrate judge ordered detention using a checklist form, finding by a preponderance that no conditions would assure her appearance; Mobley offered a release plan (parents’ residence, surrender passports, electronic monitoring).
The district court affirmed orally, citing flight risk and noncompliance with court orders but did not make detailed written findings or fully address proposed conditions or Mobley’s asserted affirmative defense of fleeing domestic violence.
The Tenth Circuit remanded, concluding the district court’s and magistrate’s findings were insufficient under 18 U.S.C. § 3142 and that the court failed to consider release conditions and the affirmative defense when weighing the § 3142(g) factors.

Issues

Issue	Mobley’s Argument	Government’s Argument	Held
Whether the government met its burden to show no conditions will reasonably assure appearance	Government failed to prove by preponderance; proposed conditions would ensure appearance	Mobley is a serious flight risk based on past international flight and noncompliance	Remanded: record lacks sufficient findings to show government met its burden; court must evaluate conditions and explain reasoning
Whether the § 3142(g) factors were properly considered	Court failed to analyze all § 3142(g) factors and release conditions	Detention justified by nature of offense (international flight), weight of evidence, and history of noncompliance	Remanded: district court’s consideration was incomplete and checklist order insufficient; must address each factor and release conditions
Whether Mobley’s asserted affirmative defense (fleeing domestic violence) should affect weight-of-evidence analysis	Affirmative defense under 18 U.S.C. § 1204(c)(2) could reduce weight of evidence and bear on detention decision	Defense is irrelevant to detention; flight was self-help and not exculpatory	Remanded: district court erred by not assessing whether abuse allegations could support the affirmative defense and affect the § 3142(g)(2) analysis
Adequacy of district court’s factual findings and record on appeal	Findings were cursory; no transcript of initial hearing; record insufficient for meaningful review	Oral affirmation and magistrate checklist sufficient to uphold detention	Remanded: factual findings were insufficient; court must issue findings of fact and reasons in writing or order release with conditions

Key Cases Cited

United States v. Salerno, 481 U.S. 739 (1987) (explaining pretrial detention is a limited exception to the norm of liberty)
United States v. Cisneros, 328 F.3d 610 (10th Cir. 2003) (standard of proof and review for pretrial detention; district court reviews magistrate’s order de novo and findings for clear error)