Filed: May 01, 2020
Latest Update: May 01, 2020
Summary: Case: 17-14249 Date Filed: 05/01/2020 Page: 1 of 3 [DO NOT PUBLISH] IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT _ No. 17-14249 Non-Argument Calendar _ D.C. Docket No. 1:16-cv-02226-ODE, 1:12-cr-00205-ODE-ECS-2 KIRK L. FLOYD, a.k.a. Twin, a.k.a. Kirk Lorin Floyd, Petitioner-Appellant, versus UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Respondent-Appellee. _ Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia _ (May 1, 2020) Before ED CARNES, Chief Judge, GRANT, and
Summary: Case: 17-14249 Date Filed: 05/01/2020 Page: 1 of 3 [DO NOT PUBLISH] IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT _ No. 17-14249 Non-Argument Calendar _ D.C. Docket No. 1:16-cv-02226-ODE, 1:12-cr-00205-ODE-ECS-2 KIRK L. FLOYD, a.k.a. Twin, a.k.a. Kirk Lorin Floyd, Petitioner-Appellant, versus UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Respondent-Appellee. _ Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia _ (May 1, 2020) Before ED CARNES, Chief Judge, GRANT, and L..
More
Case: 17-14249 Date Filed: 05/01/2020 Page: 1 of 3
[DO NOT PUBLISH]
IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT
________________________
No. 17-14249
Non-Argument Calendar
________________________
D.C. Docket No. 1:16-cv-02226-ODE,
1:12-cr-00205-ODE-ECS-2
KIRK L. FLOYD,
a.k.a. Twin, a.k.a.
Kirk Lorin Floyd,
Petitioner-Appellant,
versus
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Respondent-Appellee.
________________________
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Northern District of Georgia
________________________
(May 1, 2020)
Before ED CARNES, Chief Judge, GRANT, and LUCK, Circuit Judges.
PER CURIAM:
Case: 17-14249 Date Filed: 05/01/2020 Page: 2 of 3
Kirk Floyd is a federal prisoner serving a total 300-month sentence for
multiple convictions, including conspiracy to commit Hobbs Act robbery, in
violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1951(a), and brandishing a firearm in furtherance of a
crime of violence, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 924(c)(1)(A)(i) and (B)(i) and § 2.
Floyd’s § 924(c) conviction was predicated on conspiracy to commit Hobbs Act
robbery. He appeals the district court’s denial of his 28 U.S.C. § 2255 motion to
vacate, arguing that his § 924(c) conviction is no longer constitutional in light of
United States v. Davis,
139 S. Ct. 2319 (2019), and Brown v. United States,
942 F.3d 1069 (11th Cir. 2019). The government opposed his § 2255 motion
before the district court, but now agrees with Floyd and asks us to vacate and
remand for a full resentencing. We agree with the parties and reverse the district
court’s denial of Floyd’s § 2255 motion.
In reviewing a district court’s denial of a § 2255 motion, we review de novo
the court’s legal conclusions and its factual findings for clear error.
Brown,
942 F.3d at 1072. Section 924(c) provides for a mandatory consecutive sentence
for any defendant who uses a firearm during a crime of violence or drug-trafficking
crime. 18 U.S.C. § 924(c)(l). A “crime of violence” is an offense that is a felony
and: (A) has as an element the use, attempted use, or threatened use of physical
force against the person or property of another, or (B) by its nature, involves a
substantial risk that physical force against the person or property of another may be
2
Case: 17-14249 Date Filed: 05/01/2020 Page: 3 of 3
used in the course of committing the offense.
Id. § 924(c)(3). We commonly refer
to § 924(c)(3)(A) as the “elements clause” and § 924(c)(3)(B) as the “residual
clause.”
Brown, 942 F.3d at 1071.
In Davis, the Supreme Court struck down § 924(c)’s residual clause as
unconstitutionally
vague. 139 S. Ct. at 2323-24, 2336. We have held that Davis
announced a new rule of constitutional law that applies retroactively to cases, like
Floyd’s, on collateral review. In re Hammoud,
931 F.3d 1032, 1037–39 (11th Cir.
2019). We have also held, in Brown, that conspiracy to commit Hobbs Act
robbery is not categorically a crime of violence under § 924(c)’s elements clause
because the statutory elements of Hobbs Act conspiracy do not require the
existence of a threat or attempt to use
force. 942 F.3d at 1075–76.
Floyd’s conviction for conspiracy to commit Hobbs Act robbery was not a
crime of violence under either § 924(c)’s elements clause, in light of Brown, or
§ 924(c)’s residual clause, in light of Davis. Because there were no other predicate
offenses for his § 924(c) conviction, that conviction must be vacated. We therefore
reverse the district court’s denial of Floyd’s § 2255 motion and remand for
resentencing.
REVERSED AND REMANDED.
3