JOHN ANTOON II, United States District Judge.
Eugene Chisolm came before me for sentencing after a jury found him guilty of one count of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g) and one count of possession with intent to distribute crack cocaine in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1).
The probation office prepared four Presentence Reports ("PSRs") in this case. After Defendant objected to the base offense level in the third PSR (Doc. 49) — 24 under USSG § 2K2.1(a)(2) — the probation office changed the base offense level to 14 under USSG § 2K2.1(a)(6) in the fourth and final PSR (Doc. 62) ("the PSR"). After that change was made, neither the Defendant nor the Government objected to that base offense level or to increases of:
However, the PSR also included an enhancement under the Armed Career Criminal Act ("ACCA"), which provides for an increased sentence for a defendant who violates 18 U.S.C. § 922(g) and "has three previous convictions ... for a violent felony or a serious drug offense, or both." 18 U.S.C. § 924(e).
The PSR categorized Defendant as an armed career criminal based on: (1) a 1986 Florida burglary conviction; (2) a 1986 Florida robbery conviction; and (3) a 1992 Florida conviction for the sale of cocaine. (See Doc. 62 at 8). Defendant initially objected to all three of these convictions as bases for the ACCA enhancement, but at sentencing he withdrew his objection to the cocaine conviction. He maintained his objections to the burglary and robbery convictions, however, arguing that neither qualifies as a conviction for a "violent felony" under ACCA.
The ACCA definition of "violent felony" includes several alternatives. The term "means any crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year ... that — (i) has as an element the use, attempted use, or threatened use of physical force against the person of another; or (ii) is burglary, arson, or extortion, involves use of explosives, or otherwise involves conduct that presents a serious potential risk of physical injury to another." 18 U.S.C. § 924(e)(2)(B). In ACCA parlance, paragraph (i) is "the elements clause"; the portion of paragraph (ii) that lists several felonies by name is "the enumerated offenses clause"; and the closing phrase of paragraph (ii) that begins "otherwise involves" is "the residual clause." On the face of the statute, an offense need only qualify under one of these three alternative definitions to constitute an ACCA "violent felony."
However, on June 26, 2015, the Supreme Court held that ACCA's residual clause is unconstitutional — specifically, "that imposing an increased sentence under the residual clause of [ACCA] violates the Constitution's guarantee of due process." Samuel
The Florida burglary statute that Defendant was convicted of violating in 1986 provides: "`Burglary' means entering or remaining in a structure or a conveyance with the intent to commit an offense therein, unless the premises are at the time open to the public or the defendant is licensed or invited to enter or remain." § 810.02, Fla. Stat. (1986). It does not "ha[ve] as an element the use, attempted use, or threatened use of physical force against the person of another," and thus Defendant's burglary conviction does not qualify as an ACCA predicate felony under the elements clause. And, after Samuel Johnson, neither burglary nor any other offense can qualify under ACCA's residual clause.
Burglary is indeed listed as an enumerated offense in ACCA. See 18 U.S.C. § 924(e)(2)(B)(ii) (listing "burglary, arson, [and] extortion" as violent felonies). However, not all offenses labeled "burglary" in a state statute constitute burglary under ACCA. In Taylor v. United States, 495 U.S. 575, 598, 110 S.Ct. 2143, 109 L.Ed.2d 607 (1990), the Supreme Court explained that the meaning of burglary in ACCA is "the generic, contemporary meaning of burglary," which the Court defined as a "crime, regardless of its exact definition or label, having the basic elements of unlawful or unprivileged entry into, or remaining in, a building or structure, with intent to commit a crime." Id. at 599, 110 S.Ct. 2143.
Because not all burglary statutes fit precisely within the Taylor court's formulation of the elements of the offense, sentencing courts often must analyze the statute of conviction to determine whether the prior conviction was for generic burglary or something broader. "The Supreme Court has developed two methods for determining whether a prior conviction meets the generic definition of burglary: the categorical approach and the modified categorical approach." United States v. Howard, 742 F.3d 1334, 1342 (11th Cir. 2014). "The first thing [a court does] is examine the statute of conviction using the categorical approach." Id. at 1345. Under this approach, a court must "look[] only to the statutory definitions of the prior offenses, and not to the particular facts underlying those convictions." Taylor, 495 U.S. at 600, 110 S.Ct. 2143. "A conviction will qualify as an ACCA predicate under the categorical approach `only if the statute's elements are the same as, or narrower than, those of the generic offense.'" Howard, 742 F.3d at 1345 (quoting Descamps v. United States, ___ U.S.
If the categorical approach does not resolve the issue of whether a prior conviction meets the generic definition, a court may, "in a narrow range of cases," apply the modified categorical approach and look beyond the mere fact of conviction. Taylor, 495 U.S. at 602, 110 S.Ct. 2143. The modified categorical approach may be applied only where a statute is "`divisible' — i.e., comprises multiple, alternative versions of the crime." Descamps, 133 S.Ct. at 2284. Under either approach, the focus remains on the elements of the crime and not on the facts of the prior conviction:
Id. at 2285 (alteration in original) (internal citation omitted). In cases in which application of the modified categorical approach is appropriate, a sentencing court can, in addition to the statutory definitions and the fact of conviction, consider the charging document, jury instructions, a written plea agreement, a transcript of a plea colloquy, and "any explicit factual finding by the trial judge to which the defendant assented," Shepard v. United States, 544 U.S. 13, 16, 125 S.Ct. 1254, 161 L.Ed.2d 205 (2005) — so-called "Shepard documents." "A court may use the modified categorical approach only to determine which alternative element in a divisible statute formed the basis of the defendant's conviction." Descamps, 133 S.Ct. at 2294.
Here, under the first step of examining the statute of conviction under the categorical approach, Florida's burglary statute is not generic for at least two reasons. First, it includes "conveyances" as well as "structures," and the Supreme Court's definition of generic burglary includes only "buildings" and "structures," not "conveyances." See Taylor, 495 U.S. at 599, 110 S.Ct. 2143. Second, for purposes of the Florida burglary statute, the term "structure" is defined as "a building of any kind, either temporary or permanent, which has a roof over it,
Because the Florida burglary statute is non-generic, the next question is whether it "is a divisible statute to which sentencing courts can apply the modified categorical approach." Howard, 742 F.3d at 1347-48. A statute is divisible if it
The Florida burglary statute is, to some extent, divisible — it proscribes "entering or remaining in a structure or a conveyance with the intent to commit an offense therein." § 810.02, Fla. Stat. (emphasis added). Insofar as the statute distinguishes between structures and conveyances, it is indeed divisible. Descamps, 133 S.Ct. at 2281 (explaining that a divisible statute "sets out one or more elements of the offense in the alternative — for example, stating that burglary involves entry into a building or an automobile"): accord Howard, 742 F.3d at 1348; cf. Taylor, 495 U.S. at 602, 110 S.Ct. 2143 (explaining that "[f]or example, in a State whose burglary statutes include entry of an automobile as well as a building, ... then the Government should be allowed to use the conviction for enhancement" if it can present appropriate documents showing that the defendant was charged with, and necessarily found guilty of, burglary of a building rather than burglary of an automobile).
However, the divisibility of the Florida burglary statute between burglary of a structure and burglary of a conveyance is not the sort of divisibility that supports application of the modified categorical approach. Divisibility is only significant "[i]f at least one, but not all of th[e] crimes [in the statute] matches the generic version," because then "a court needs a way to find out which [crime] the defendant was convicted of." Descamps, 133 S.Ct. at 2285. Burglary of a conveyance does not constitute generic burglary, and a Florida conviction for burglary of a conveyance would thus not constitute an ACCA violent felony. Setting aside the "burglary of a conveyance" portion of the Florida statute and considering only the "burglary of a structure" component, burglary of a structure is not generic burglary and is not divisible. Instead, as explained below, it "criminalizes a broader swath of conduct than the relevant generic offense." Id. at 2281.
At sentencing, the Government argued that the statute is divisible "because a person could commit a burglary by being on the curtilage or entering the structure." This argument is circular and misses the mark. As noted earlier, "structure" is defined for purposes of the burglary statute as including the curtilage of a building. § 810.011, Fla. Stat. (1986). In other words, "Florida does not consider burglary of the curtilage of a structure to be a crime distinct from burglary of that structure." United States v. Matthews, 466 F.3d 1271, 1274 (11th Cir.2006) (citing Henry v. State, 707 So.2d 370, 372 (Fla. 1st DCA 1998)).
This is consistent with the reasoning of the Supreme Court in Descamps, where
And, in Howard, the Eleventh Circuit examined an Alabama burglary statute that provided that "`[a] person commits the crime of burglary in the third degree if he knowingly enters or remains unlawfully in a building with intent to commit a crime therein.'" 742 F.3d at 1348 (alteration in original) (quoting Ala.Code § 13A-7-7(a)). After stating that the statute "appears to match all three elements of generic burglary," the Howard court noted that "building" is defined for purposes of the Alabama burglary statute as "`[a]ny structure which may be entered and utilized by persons for business, public use, lodging or the storage of goods, and such term includes any vehicle, aircraft or watercraft used for the lodging of persons or carrying on business therein, and such term includes any railroad box car or other rail equipment or trailer or tractor trailer or combination thereof.'" Id. (quoting Ala. Code § 13A-&-1(2)).
The Howard court explained that the Alabama statute "provides one definition of building and then includes a non-exhaustive list of things that fall under that definition." Id. Concluding that "illustrative examples are not alternative elements," id. the court found that the Alabama burglary statute is "non-generic and indivisible" and that a conviction under it "cannot qualify as generic burglary under the ACCA," id. at 1349. Although the problem in the case at bar is the inclusion of "curtilage" — rather than a list of illustrative examples — in the definition of "structure" in the Florida burglary statute, the same result obtains here as in Howard. The definitions in both statutes render them non-generic and indivisible.
In sum, the Florida burglary statute defines burglary "overbroadly" rather than "alternatively," Descamps, 133 S.Ct. at 2286, and it is indivisible. Because the statute is indivisible, review by this Court of a "plea colloquy or other approved extra-statutory documents" is not authorized, and "the inquiry is over."
Unlike burglary, robbery is not an enumerated felony under ACCA, and thus for robbery to qualify as an ACCA predicate felony it must do so under the "elements clause" — and have "as an element the use, attempted use, or threatened use of physical force against the person of another." 18 U.S.C. § 924(e)(2)(B)(i). The Eleventh Circuit held in U.S. v. Lockley, 632 F.3d 1238, 1245 (11th Cir.2011), that Florida robbery categorically satisfies the elements clause.
In 1986, Florida's robbery statute provided: "`Robbery' means the taking of money or other property which may be the subject of larceny from the person or custody of another by force, violence, assault, or putting in fear." § 812.13(1), Fla. Stat. (1986).
Although Defendant describes the state of the law in Florida in 1986 as casting doubt on whether Defendant's 1986 robbery conviction was necessarily for a crime involving the use of force within the elements clause of ACCA, this argument misses the mark. In Robinson, the Supreme Court of Florida overturned a ruling by Florida's First District Court of Appeal "that the degree of force required to snatch property from a person, even without resistance by or injury to the victim, was sufficient to satisfy" the element of force in Florida's robbery statute. 692 So.2d at 885. The First District's decision
At sentencing, Defendant described the Florida Supreme Court as "changing course" in Robinson in 1997, but as noted above Robinson viewed its decision as "[i]n accord with" McCloud, which was decided in 1976. The Robinson court seemed to suggest that the Fifth District's reliance on and application of McCloud in Andre was misplaced. See 692 So.2d at 886.
An argument based on the uncertain state of pre-1997 Florida robbery law was made by the appellant in United States v. Welch, 683 F.3d 1304 (11th Cir.2012), which involved a 1996 Florida robbery conviction, see id. at 1307. There, the appellant asserted that the Eleventh Circuit "should distinguish Lockley because Lockley was convicted after Florida promulgated [a] `sudden snatching' statute" in apparent response to Robinson. Id. at 1312. After noting that the distinction urged "may fairly be made," id. the Eleventh Circuit did not reach the issue, concluding that it "need not decide whether snatching is sufficiently violent under the elements clause [of ACCA], because it suffices under the residual clause," id. at 1313.
Unlike the defendant in Welch, Defendant was convicted within a Florida appellate
Defendant also argues that his robbery conviction does not satisfy the elements clause because "putting in fear" does not necessarily require a threatened use of physical force. However, that argument was squarely rejected in Lockley. See 632 F.3d at 1245 ("[W]e find it inconceivable that any act which causes the victim to fear death or great bodily harm would not involve the use or threatened use of physical force. (Section 812.13(1) accordingly has, as an element, the `use, attempted use, or threatened use of physical force against the person of another.'")).
Finally, I reject Defendant's argument — based on the Supreme Court's decision in Curtis Johnson v. United States, 559 U.S. 133, 130 S.Ct. 1265, 176 L.Ed.2d 1 (2010) — that Florida robbery does not have as an element "physical force" because "physical force" means "violent force." In Curtis Johnson, the Supreme Court addressed whether committing battery by "actually and intentionally touching another person" necessarily constituted using "physical force" under ACCA's elements clause. In that context, and in answering the question presented in the negative, the Court equated "physical force" with "violent force — that is, force capable of causing physical pain or injury to another person." Id. at 140, 130 S.Ct. 1265 (emphasis removed). The fact that the Court did so in analyzing whether an "intentional unwanted touching" In the battery setting requires "physical force" does not mean that the amount of force required for a Florida robbery conviction is not "physical force" under the elements clause. Moreover, Curtis Johnson predates the Eleventh Circuit's Lockley decision, in which the appellate court squarely held that Florida robbery is a violent felony under the elements clause. In doing so, the Eleventh Circuit stated that all but the "putting in fear" means of committing Florida robbery "specifically require the use or threatened use of physical force." 632 F.3d at 1245. And, as earlier noted, the Lockley court also concluded that the "putting in fear" means of committing robbery "involve[s] the use or threatened use of physical force." Id.
In sum, the Eleventh Circuit held in Lockley that Florida's robbery statute satisfies
Defendant's objection to his categorization as an armed career criminal is sustained. Although Defendant's objection to the use of his 1986 Florida robbery conviction as an ACCA predicate felony is overruled, his objection as to his 1986 Florida burglary conviction is sustained. Without the burglary conviction, only two predicate felony convictions remain, and three are required for the ACCA enhancement. Absent the ACCA enhancement, the parties agreed that Defendant's Criminal History Category is V and that his total offense level is 20, for a Guidelines sentencing range of 63-78 months. The sentence imposed was 78 months.