## Facts

- Michael Bryant, Jr., an enrolled member of the Northern Cheyenne Tribe, had multiple domestic-violence convictions in Northern Cheyenne Tribal Court.
- In those tribal proceedings, Bryant was indigent and was not provided appointed counsel; the convictions generally carried sentences of up to one year.
- Federal prosecutors charged Bryant with two counts of “domestic assault by a habitual offender” under 18 U.S.C. § 117(a) for assaults in Indian country.
- Section 117(a) requires proof of at least two prior final domestic-violence convictions from federal, state, or tribal court; the indictment relied on Bryant’s uncounseled tribal-court convictions as the predicates.
- The district court denied Bryant’s motion to dismiss the indictment; Bryant pleaded guilty while preserving his right to appeal.
- The Ninth Circuit reversed, concluding that using the uncounseled tribal convictions to prove an element of the federal offense was constitutionally impermissible.
- The Supreme Court granted certiorari to decide whether reliance on those tribal convictions violates the Sixth Amendment.

## Issues

1. Whether uncounseled tribal-court convictions obtained in proceedings compliant with the Indian Civil Rights Act (ICRA) may be used as predicate convictions to satisfy 18 U.S.C. § 117(a).
2. Whether using such convictions in a later federal prosecution violates the Sixth Amendment right to appointed counsel.

## Decision

- The Supreme Court unanimously reversed the Ninth Circuit and remanded.
- The Court held that using Bryant’s uncounseled tribal-court convictions as § 117(a) predicates does not violate the Constitution because the convictions were valid when entered under ICRA.
- The Court distinguished prior cases barring use of convictions that were unconstitutional when obtained; the Sixth Amendment does not apply to tribal-court proceedings.
- The Court reasoned that § 117(a) punishes the new federal domestic assault offense; the prior convictions serve as recidivism predicates identifying repeat offenders.
- The Court relied on the principle that convictions valid when entered may be used later to enhance punishment or define a recidivist offense, and noted ICRA’s procedural protections and habeas remedy as supporting reliability.
- Justice Thomas concurred in the judgment, expressing separate views about modern right-to-counsel doctrine while agreeing the conviction should stand.

## Legal Principles

- The Sixth Amendment right to appointed counsel does not apply in tribal-court proceedings conducted under inherent tribal sovereignty.
- A prior conviction is barred from later use under right-to-counsel precedents only when it was unconstitutional when rendered; a conviction from a forum where the Sixth Amendment is inapplicable is not “constitutionally infirm” on that basis.
- Tribal-court convictions valid under ICRA may be used as predicate offenses in a federal prosecution under 18 U.S.C. § 117(a), even if no counsel was appointed for an indigent defendant.
- Recidivist statutes may rely on prior convictions to define a category of repeat offenders; use of predicates is treated as punishment for the new offense rather than a second punishment for earlier crimes.

## Conclusion

The Court upheld § 117(a) as applied, holding that uncounseled tribal-court convictions valid under ICRA can serve as predicate domestic-violence convictions in a federal habitual-offender prosecution without violating the Sixth Amendment.


United States v. Bryant, 579 U.S. 140 (2016)