DENNIS, Circuit Judge:
Iveth Najera-Mendoza pleaded guilty to one count of attempted illegal reentry into the United States after having been deported, in violation of 8 U.S.C. § 1326, and one count of false personation, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1546(a), and was sentenced to concurrent terms of 46 months of incarceration. She now appeals her sentence, contending that the district court erred in applying a sixteen-level sentencing enhancement based on its conclusion that her prior Oklahoma kidnapping conviction was a "crime of violence" under § 2L1.2(b)(1)(A)(ii) of the United States Sentencing Guidelines.
"We review the district court's characterization of a prior offense as a crime of violence de novo." United States v. Flores-Gallo, 625 F.3d 819, 821 (5th Cir.2010) (per curiam) (citing United States v. Sanchez-Ruedas, 452 F.3d 409, 412 (5th Cir.2006)). We give controlling weight to the Sentencing Guidelines commentary unless it is plainly erroneous or inconsistent with the Guidelines. Id. (citing United States v. Velasco, 465 F.3d 633, 637 (5th Cir.2006)).
Section 2L1.2 of the Sentencing Guidelines prescribes a sixteen-level increase to the defendant's base offense level if the defendant was previously deported after a conviction for a "crime of violence." U.S.S.G. § 2L1.2(b)(1)(A)(ii); see United States v. Miranda-Ortegon, 670 F.3d 661, 662 (5th Cir.2012). "The Guidelines commentary defines a crime of violence as (1) any of a list of enumerated offenses, which include `kidnapping,' or (2) `any offense under federal, state, or local law that has as an element the use, attempted use, or threatened use of physical force against the person of another.'" United States v. Cervantes-Blanco, 504 F.3d 576, 578 (5th Cir.2007) (quoting U.S.S.G. § 2L1.2 cmt. n. 1(B)(iii)). Thus, for Najera-Mendoza's Oklahoma kidnapping offense to be a "crime of violence" under § 2L1.2, "it must be an offense which either belongs to the list of enumerated offenses, or has as an element the use, attempted use, or threatened use" of physical force. Flores-Gallo, 625 F.3d at 821.
In analyzing whether a prior offense qualifies as a crime of violence, this court applies a "categorical inquiry" that "`looks to the elements of the crime, not to the defendant's actual conduct in committing it.'" Miranda-Ortegon, 670 F.3d at 663 (emphasis in original) (quoting United States v. Calderon-Pena, 383 F.3d 254, 257 (5th Cir.2004) (en banc)). "[I]f the statute of conviction contains a series of disjunctive elements, this court may look beyond the statute to certain records made or used in adjudicating guilt to determine which subpart of the statute formed the basis of the conviction." United States v. Moreno-Florean, 542 F.3d 445, 449 (5th Cir.2008); see also Miranda-Ortegon, 670 F.3d at 663 ("We may take a modified categorical approach, permitting consultation of the allegations in the charging instrument, if the statute of conviction has disjunctive elements. But we may look beyond the elements and the fact of conviction only for the limited purpose of ascertaining which of the disjunctive elements the charged conduct implicated." (footnote omitted)). The records we will consider "are generally limited to the charging document, written plea agreement, transcript of the plea colloquy, and any explicit factual findings by the trial judge to which the defendant assented." Moreno-Florean, 542 F.3d at 449 (internal quotation marks omitted).
The parties in this case agree that Najera-Mendoza was convicted of violating title 21, section 741 of the Oklahoma Statutes. That section provides:
21 Okla. Stat. § 741. Since the statute has disjunctive elements, we may look to the
We now turn to consider whether this offense meets the definition of "crime of violence" under § 2L1.2 of the Guidelines by constituting the enumerated offense of "kidnapping," or by having as an element the use, attempted use, or threatened use of "physical force."
We first agree with Najera-Mendoza that her Oklahoma kidnapping offense does not constitute the enumerated offense of "kidnapping." In determining whether a prior state offense is one of the enumerated offenses, "[s]tate-law labels do not control this inquiry because the [crime of violence] enhancement incorporates crimes with certain elements, not crimes that happen to be labeled `kidnapping' ... under state law." Moreno-Florean, 542 F.3d at 449 (second alteration in original) (internal quotation marks omitted). Instead, we look to whether the elements of the offense of conviction satisfy the "generic, contemporary meaning of kidnapping." Id. (internal quotation marks omitted).
In Moreno-Florean, this court held that the California offense of kidnapping — which is substantially similar to the Oklahoma kidnapping offense at issue here — did not meet the generic, contemporary definition of kidnapping. Id. at 456.
We also agree with Najera-Mendoza that her Oklahoma kidnapping offense did not have as an element the use, attempted use, or threatened use of "physical force." In Johnson v. United States, ___ U.S. ___, 130 S.Ct. 1265, 176 L.Ed.2d 1 (2010), the Supreme Court held that "the phrase `physical force' means violent force — that is, force capable of causing physical pain or injury to another person." 130 S.Ct. at 1271 (emphasis in original). Because the Florida battery offense at issue in Johnson included an element of force that could be "satisfied by any intentional physical contact, no matter how slight," the Court held that it lacked an element of "physical force." Id. at 1269-71 (emphasis and internal quotation marks omitted).
Recently, in United States v. Miranda-Ortegon, 670 F.3d 661 (5th Cir.2012), another panel of this court applied the Johnson definition of "physical force" to hold that an Oklahoma assault and battery offense was not a crime of violence because it lacked the necessary element of physical force. Id. at 663 (quoting Flores-Gallo, 625 F.3d at 823, in turn quoting Johnson, 130 S.Ct. at 1271). The court explained that even though the Oklahoma assault and battery statute has an element of "force or violence," that element could be satisfied by "only the slightest touching." Id. (internal quotation marks omitted). Thus, the offense was not a crime of violence merely because it included as an element the word "force." Instead, the determinative issue was whether the amount of force necessary to satisfy that element of the crime could only be satisfied by "force capable of causing physical pain or injury to another person." Id.
Following Johnson and Miranda-Ortegon in the instant case leads us to conclude that Najera-Mendoza's Oklahoma kidnapping conviction lacks the requisite element of physical force. The pertinent "force" element of Najera-Mendoza's Oklahoma kidnapping conviction is, "forcibly seizes and confines another," 21 Okla. Stat. § 741. Although Oklahoma does not define "forcibly" by statute, and no Oklahoma case that we are aware of defines this term within the context of the state's kidnapping statute, the common law definition of kidnapping, caselaw interpreting other states' kidnapping statutes, and Oklahoma's interpretation of "force" in other penal laws indicate that "forcibly" can be satisfied by conduct other than the type of force stated in Johnson.
Under the common law, the commission of kidnapping had to be "forcible," but did not require force capable of causing physical pain or injury; and in Oklahoma, as elsewhere, it is the rule that "in construing a statute containing words which have a fixed meaning at common law, and the statute nowhere defines such words, that they will be given the same meaning they have at common law." Axhelm v. United States, 9 Okla. 321, 60 P. 98, 99 (1900); see also Johnson, 130 S.Ct. at 1270 ("[A] common-law term of art should be given its established common-law meaning."). The universally accepted definition of the common-law offense of kidnapping is: "The forcible abduction or stealing away of [a person] from [his] own
Moreover, Oklahoma courts routinely look to other state laws and judicial interpretations when construing its own statutes, see, e.g., Perry v. State, 853 P.2d 198, 201 (Okla.Crim.App.1993); Steele v. State, 778 P.2d 929, 931 (Okla.Crim.App.1989); and courts in other states have interpreted "forcibly" or "force" in their own states' kidnapping statutes to not require actual physical contact, or only the most minimal force. For instance, California's kidnapping statute uses the term "forcibly" just as Oklahoma's does, see Cal.Penal Code § 207; and the California Supreme Court has held that a kidnapping is forcible if accomplished through inducing fear, i.e., "the force used against the victim need not be physical." People v. Majors, 33 Cal.4th 321, 14 Cal.Rptr.3d 870, 92 P.3d 360, 363 (2004) (internal quotation marks omitted); see also People v. Hovarter, 44 Cal.4th 983, 81 Cal.Rptr.3d 299, 189 P.3d 300, 326 (2008) ("The movement is forcible where it is accomplished through the giving of orders which the victim feels compelled to obey because he or she fears harm or injury from the accused and such apprehension is not unreasonable under the circumstances." (internal quotation marks omitted)). The same is true of kidnapping statutes in Kansas,
Finally, Oklahoma defines the term "force" in its other penal laws to encompass any slight touching.
In sum, the elements of Najera-Mendoza's Oklahoma kidnapping conviction do not satisfy the generic, contemporary meaning of kidnapping; and there is strong legal authority that a defendant may "forcibly" kidnap another person under Oklahoma law without using "physical
The dissent relies on the Sixth Circuit's decision in United States v. Soto-Sanchez, 623 F.3d 317 (6th Cir.2010), to conclude that Najera-Mendoza's Oklahoma kidnapping offense includes an element of "physical force" because it required "forcible seizure and confinement." Dissent Op. at 637-38. However, that opinion is unpersuasive because it fails to follow Johnson. In Soto-Sanchez, the Sixth Circuit held that because the Michigan "false imprisonment kidnapping offense... requires that the victim be imprisoned or confined `forcibly[,]' [b]y its clear terms, then, it `has as an element the use, attempted use, or threatened use of physical force against the person of another.'" 623 F.3d at 325. That is the exact analysis though that the Supreme Court rejected in Johnson; instead, the Court held that to have an element of "physical force," the state-law offense must include an element that requires "force capable of causing physical pain or injury to another person." 130 S.Ct. at 1271. The Sixth Circuit did not cite or apply Johnson in its perfunctory analysis that the Michigan offense included an element of physical force.
The dissent also reasons that Najera-Mendoza's Oklahoma kidnapping offense must encompass only physical force of the type specified in Johnson because "Oklahoma separately criminalizes kidnapping, yet without a forcible seizure and confinement requirement, if the kidnapping occurs through inveigling." Dissent Op. at 638. Thus, in the dissent's view, the Oklahoma kidnapping statute encompasses only two kinds of conduct: kidnapping committed by inveiglement and kidnapping committed by violent force, viz., force capable of causing physical pain or injury. But this overlooks the Supreme Court's explanation that there are types of force other than violent force. Johnson, 130 S.Ct. at 1270 (recognizing that the element of "force" in the common-law crime of battery could "be satisfied by even the slightest offensive touching"); see also supra notes 5-9 (citing cases recognizing that an element of "force" in the offense of kidnapping could be satisfied by minimal force). The dissent's interpretation of the Oklahoma statute would therefore lead to absurd results by creating a lacuna between kidnapping by inveiglement and kidnapping by violent force, viz., force capable of
For the foregoing reasons, we VACATE Najera-Mendoza's sentence and REMAND to the district court for resentencing.
HIGGINSON, Circuit Judge, dissenting:
Defendant Iveth Najera-Mendoza pleaded guilty to a two-count indictment charging her with attempting to reenter the United States unlawfully after removal, in violation of 8 U.S.C. § 1326, and knowingly personating another in immigration matters, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1546. At sentencing, the district court enhanced Najera-Mendoza's offense level by sixteen levels based on its conclusion that Najera-Mendoza's prior Oklahoma conviction for kidnapping was a conviction for a crime of violence within the meaning of section 2L1.2(b)(1)(A)(ii) of the United States Sentencing Guidelines.
For violations of 8 U.S.C. § 1326, section 2L1.2(b)(1)(A)(ii) of the Sentencing Guidelines provides for a sixteen-level increase to a defendant's base offense level when the defendant was previously deported following a conviction for a felony that is a crime of violence. The Sentencing Guidelines commentary, in turn, defines a crime of violence as (1) any offense in a list of enumerated offenses, which includes "kidnapping," or (2) "any offense under federal, state, or local law that has as an element the use, attempted use, or threatened use of physical force against the person of another." U.S.S.G. § 2L1.2 cmt. n. 1(B)(iii).
"In determining whether the [state] crime at issue here is the enumerated
"In determining whether an offense has as an element the use, attempted use, or threatened use of physical force against the person of another, this court uses the categorical approach set forth in Taylor v. United States, 495 U.S. 575, 600-02, 110 S.Ct. 2143, 109 L.Ed.2d 607 (1990), and examines the elements of the offense, rather than the facts underlying the conviction." Mendoza-Sanchez, 456 F.3d at 482.
Importantly in this case, when considering whether an offense is an enumerated one or has physical force as an element, if the statute of conviction contains a series of disjunctive elements, this court may look beyond the statute to certain records made or used in adjudicating guilt to determine which subpart of the statute formed the basis of the conviction. United States v. Mungia-Portillo, 484 F.3d 813, 815 (5th Cir.2007). In this case, the parties agree that Najera-Mendoza's kidnapping conviction occurred pursuant to Oklahoma Statute title 21, section 741, which defines kidnapping disjunctively as:
21 OKLA. STAT. ANN. § 741. Since the statute contains several disjunctive elements, we look to the charging document to see which subpart formed the basis of the conviction in order to classify it as a crime of violence. See Mungia-Portillo, 484 F.3d at 815.
On November 18, 2008, Oklahoma filed a Second Amended Information charging Najera-Mendoza with kidnapping, "on or about the 4th day of May, 2008, by forcibly seizing R.G. from the City of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma County, Oklahoma, and confining R.G. in a residence located at 310 E. 5th Street, City of Hennessey, Kingfisher County, Oklahoma, without lawful authority and with the intent to cause R.G. to be confined/imprisoned against his will...."
We have not previously addressed whether a kidnapping offense that explicitly requires not only a showing of forcible seizure and forcible confinement, but also a state of mind to confine the kidnapped person against that victim's will, satisfies the "use of physical force" element for § 2L1.2(b)(1)(A)(ii) crime of violence enhancement purposes.
Needless to say, every forcible seizure and forcible confinement kidnapping prosecution reported in Oklahoma caselaw involves physical force, indeed, force that is physical, force that is more than minimal, and force that is capable of pain and injury, hence violent under any conception of violence. Tragically, too many involve rape and murder. Perhaps more instructively, no forcible seizure and forcible confinement kidnapping prosecution reported in Oklahoma caselaw involves force that is a mere slight touch-and-take, say of an infant too young to understand its circumstance, which some might conceive to be incapable of causing pain or injury. Perhaps because of this reason — the incongruity of declaring forcible confinement non-forceful — the Sixth Circuit recently held that Michigan's nearly identical kidnapping statute has as an element of the offense "the use, attempted use, or threatened use of physical force against another." In United States v. Soto-Sanchez, 623 F.3d 317 (6th Cir.2010), the court was presented with an older version of Michigan's kidnapping statute, which criminalized "forcibly confining or imprisoning any other person
Id. at 325 (footnote omitted).
I find this conclusion strong and forcible and applicable to Najera-Mendoza's sentencing and specifically her prior kidnapping conviction as limited to the Section § 741's forcible seizure and confinement subdivision, coupled with an intent to confine against the victim's will. I think this conclusion is reinforced by the fact that Oklahoma separately criminalizes kidnapping, yet without a forcible seizure and confinement requirement, if the kidnapping occurs through inveigling. Oklahoma's criminal pattern jury instructions and caselaw explain that kidnapping through inveiglement comprehends takings of others through trickery, inclusive of minimal physical force seizures of other people. Oklahoma Uniform Jury Instructions — Criminal § 4-110 (2010), Committee Comments (citing Ratcliff v. State, 289 P.2d 152 (Okla.Crim.App.1955) (12-year-old girl enticed into a car and held there by a man whom she thought to be a friend)). Najera-Mendoza's guilty plea to kidnapping, again, we properly must discern, was to Oklahoma's subdivision which requires a forcible seizure and confinement, coupled with the intent to confine against a victim's will. Accordingly, I would hold that the district court did not err in determining that Najera-Mendoza's prior conviction for kidnapping was a crime of violence for purposes of sentence enhancement pursuant to U.S.S.G. § 2L1.2(b)(1)(A)(ii).