UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS January 20, 2023

Christopher M. Wolpert FOR THE TENTH CIRCUIT Clerk of Court _________________________________

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,

Plaintiff - Appellee,

v. No. 23-9900

JANE DOE, (Female Juvenile),

Defendant - Appellant. _________________________________

Before TYMKOVICH, BRISCOE, and PHILLIPS, Circuit Judges. _________________________________

TYMKOVICH, Circuit Judge. _________________________________

Jane Doe and two boys are accused of killing Doe’s parents. Even though Doe

is a juvenile (she was 17 at the time of the murders), the government charged her

with two counts of first-degree murder. The government successfully moved to

transfer her case to adult court, where the punishments for first-degree murder are

death or mandatory life imprisonment without parole. These punishments are

unconstitutional when applied to a juvenile. Doe argues she cannot be transferred to

adult court because, even if guilty, there is no statutory punishment available for her

alleged crime. She also argues the district court used an incorrect legal standard for

transfer from juvenile to adult court and improperly weighed the relevant factors for

transfer. Appellate Case: 23-9900 Document: 010110800815 Date Filed: 01/20/2023 Page: 2

We find that her constitutional argument is not ripe, the district court applied

the correct legal standard, and the district court did not abuse its discretion in

weighing the transfer factors. We therefore affirm the district court’s transfer of

Doe’s case from juvenile to adult court.

I. Background

When defendant Jane Doe was 17 ½ years old she allegedly orchestrated the

murder of her two parents. After posturing a false pregnancy to her fifteen-year-old

boyfriend and lamenting her parents’ opposition to their relationship, Doe asked her

boyfriend and another friend to kill her mother and father. They quickly formulated

a plan. While Doe hid in the bathroom of her parents’ house, the two boys snuck into

the home then beat and stabbed Doe’s mother multiple times. They buried the body

in a crude grave and waited for Doe’s father. When he arrived, the boys clubbed and

set him on fire. Doe’s father died of blunt force trauma and smoke and soot

inhalation. Doe and the boys fled but were soon apprehended. Although Doe did not

participate in the physical assaults, she was the author of the plan—the murders

would not have occurred without her initiative.

The gruesome facts of the crime are preceded by a neglected and dysfunctional

childhood for Doe. According to the record, she was born into an unstable and

impoverished household. For the first eight years of her life, Doe lived in

approximately eight different residences. Her father was a violent alcoholic, and Doe

said that she had been physically abused since she was five or six years old. The

Oklahoma Department of Human Services (DHS) received multiple referrals against 2 Appellate Case: 23-9900 Document: 010110800815 Date Filed: 01/20/2023 Page: 3

Doe’s mother alleging inadequate care of her children. When Doe was nine years

old, DHS took Doe and her siblings into emergency custody because of concerns of

child sexual abuse. Doe’s father’s parental rights were terminated. Doe lived in

foster care from age 9 to 13, then returned to living with her parents. When Doe was

14, her father was convicted of Sexual Abuse of a Child Under Twelve for abusing

his daughter, Doe’s half-sister. Beginning after Doe turned 15, she lived al

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