## Facts

- Jean-Baptiste Bado, a non-citizen asylum seeker from Burkina Faso, was charged in D.C. Superior Court with misdemeanor sexual abuse of a minor for allegedly touching his stepdaughter’s genital area over her jeans.
- The offense carried a maximum of 180 days’ incarceration, a fine, and sex-offender registration requirements.
- Because Bado was a non-citizen, a conviction rendered him deportable under federal immigration law and subjected him to removal proceedings.
- Bado demanded a jury trial; the trial court denied the request, treating the charge as a “petty offense” under the traditional six-month maximum-incarceration threshold.
- After a bench trial, Bado was convicted, sentenced to 180 days, fined $50, ordered to register as a sex offender, and placed in removal proceedings.

## Issues

1. Whether the Sixth Amendment jury-trial right applies to an offense punishable by no more than 180 days’ incarceration when conviction carries mandatory deportation as a direct consequence under federal law.
2. Whether mandatory removal can render an otherwise “petty” offense “serious” for Sixth Amendment jury-trial purposes.

## Decision

- The District of Columbia Court of Appeals, sitting en banc, reversed Bado’s conviction and remanded for further proceedings.
- The court held that the Sixth Amendment required a jury trial because conviction would subject Bado to deportation as a direct and automatic legal consequence.
- The court vacated the earlier panel decision and resolved the case en banc, concluding the trial court’s denial of a jury trial violated the Sixth Amendment.

## Legal Principles

- The Sixth Amendment guarantees a jury trial for “serious” offenses, but not for “petty” offenses.
- An offense with a maximum authorized term of six months or less is presumed “petty,” but that presumption can be overcome by additional legally prescribed penalties that demonstrate seriousness.
- Mandatory deportation is a particularly severe penalty that may be treated as part of the relevant penalty scheme when it follows directly and automatically from conviction under statute.
- The rule is limited to removal consequences that are direct and automatic by operation of law, not discretionary or speculative outcomes, and does not extend to all collateral consequences.

## Conclusion

The en banc court held that when a non-citizen’s conviction for an otherwise petty offense will automatically trigger deportation under federal law, the offense is “serious” for Sixth Amendment purposes and the defendant must be afforded a jury trial; Bado’s bench-trial conviction was therefore reversed and the case remanded for a jury trial.


Bado v. United States, 186 A.3d 1243 (D.C. 2018)