Antonio v. United States

CourtDistrict Court, D. Arizona
DecidedSeptember 16, 2022
Docket4:16-cv-00341
StatusUnknown

This text of Antonio v. United States (Antonio v. United States) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Arizona primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Antonio v. United States, (D. Ariz. 2022).

Opinion

1 WO 2 3 4 5 6 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 7 FOR THE DISTRICT OF ARIZONA

9 James Paul Antonio, No. CV-16-00341-TUC-CKJ CR-06-02089-CKJ-BPV-1 10 Movant/Defendant, ORDER 11 v.

12 United States of America,

13 Respondent/Plaintiff. 14 15 Before the Court is Movant/Defendant James Paul Antonio's Motion to Vacate, Set 16 Aside, or Correct Sentence Under 28 U.S.C. § 2255. (Habeas Petition (Doc. 1)1 For the 17 reasons that follow, the motion is denied, judgment is entered, and this case is closed. A 18 certificate of appealability shall issue. The sentence imposed by the Court in 2008 on Count 19 3 is not unconstitutional, and Antonio is not entitled to resentencing. 20 BACKGROUND 21 On May 15, 2008, a jury convicted Antonio of six felony offenses, including Count 22 1, assault with a machine gun resulting in serious bodily injury in violation of 18 U.S.C. 23 §§ 113(a)(6) and 1153; Count 2, assault with a dangerous weapon with intent to do bodily 24 harm in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 113(a)(3) and 1153, and Count 3, possession and use of 25 a deadly weapon during a crime of violence in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 924(c)(1)(A)(iii), 26 924(c)(1)(B)(ii), and 924(c)(1)(C)(ii).2 The Second Superseding Indictment (SSI) (CR 27 1 Citations using "Doc." refer to the docket in civil case #16-cv-341-TUC-CKJ. Citations 28 using "CR Doc." refer to the docket in underlying criminal case #06-cr-2089-CKJ-BPV- 2 Section 924(c)(1) provides in relevant part for “any person who, during and in relation to 1 Doc. 20) identified the assault charges in Count 1 and 2 as predicate offenses to the crime 2 of violence charge.3 3 On December 29, 2017, the Court sentenced Antonio to concurrent ten-year 4 sentences to imprisonment followed by three years of supervised release on Counts 1, 2, 4, 5 5, and 6, and thirty-years in prison followed by five years of supervised release for 6 possession and use of a deadly weapon during a crime of violence (Count 3) to run 7 consecutive to the ten-year sentences. The thirty-year consecutive sentence was because 8 Antonio used a machine gun instead of a hand gun to commit his crimes.4 9 On June 10, 2016, Antonio filed his Motion to Vacate, Set Aside, or Correct 10 Sentence Under 28 U.S.C. § 2255, arguing that after the Supreme Court's decision in 11 Johnson v. United States, 135 S. Ct. 2551 (2015) his assault convictions no longer qualify 12 as predicate crimes of violence under 18 U.S.C. § 924(c) and that the Court should vacate 13 his thirty-year sentence. (Habeas Petition (Doc. 1) at 1.) 14 18 U.S.C. § 924(c)(1)(A) punishes the use, carrying, or possession of a firearm 15 “during and in relation to any crime of violence or drug trafficking crime” and other felony- 16 assault charges not at issue here. The term “crime of violence” is defined in two ways in 17 18 U.S.C. § 924(c)(3). In subsection A, known as the elements clause, a felony qualifies as 18 a crime of violence if it “has as an element the use, attempted use, or threatened use of 19 physical force against the person or property of another.” Id. § 924(c)(3)(A). Under the so- 20 called residual clause, subsection B, a felony qualifies as a crime of violence if it is an 21 offense “that by its nature, involves a substantial risk that physical force against the person

22 any crime of violence or drug trafficking crime . . . uses or carries a firearm, or who, in furtherance of any such crime, possesses a firearm” to be sentenced to an additional 23 punishment of “not less than 5 years” for “such crime of violence or drug trafficking crime.” 24 3 The other three counts are not relevant to this habeas action, and were as follows: Count 4, possession of ammunition by a prohibited possessor; Count 5, possession of an 25 unregistered firearm, and Count 6, unlawful possession of a machine gun. (CR Doc. 20) 4 18 U.S.C. § 924(c)(1)(B)(ii) states, "If the firearm possessed by a person convicted of a 26 violation of this subsection … is a machinegun … the person shall be sentenced to a term of imprisonment of not less than 30 years." Had he used a standard handgun, he would 27 have been subject to a mandatory minimum consecutive sentence of ten years instead of thirty. 28 1 or property of another may be used in the course of committing the offense.” Id. § 2 924(c)(3)(B). 3 In Johnson, the Court found a similarly worded residual clause in § 924(e),5 which 4 provides enhanced sentences where there are prior violent felony convictions, to be 5 unconstitutionally vague. 6 PROCEDURAL HISTORY 7 On December 31, 2008, just days after sentencing, Antonio appealed his conviction 8 to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. (CR Doc. 86.) On appeal, 9 Antonio argued that this Court erred by (i) denying his motion to suppress the search of his 10 backpack; (ii) denying his motion to preclude prior act testimony; (iii) denying his motion 11 for mistrial; and (iv) permitting his wife to speak at sentencing. On July 8, 2010, the Ninth 12 Circuit affirmed his conviction, see United States v. Antonio, 386 F. App'x 678 (9th Cir. 13 2010); and on October 6, 2010, Antonio's conviction became final, see Clay v. United 14 States, 537 U.S. 522, 525 (2003) ("[A] judgment of conviction becomes final when the 15 time expires for filing a petition for certiorari contesting the appellate court's affirmation 16 of the conviction."); United States v. Garcia, 210 F.3d 1058, 1059 (9th Cir. 2000) (ruling 17 that a § 2255 petitioner has "90 days after entry of the court of appeals' judgment" to file a 18 writ for certiorari.). 19 Antonio filed the June 10, 2016, habeas motion pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2255 nearly 20 six years after his conviction became final. On June 26, 2017, the Court denied his motion 21 and dismissed his claims with prejudice, ruling that Johnson was inapplicable to his 22 sentencing pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 924(c)(3). The Court limited Johnson to 18 U.S.C. 23 924(e)(1) sentencings, distinguishing its definition for “violent felony” from the § 924(c)

24 5 18 U.S.C.A.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

United States v. Frady
456 U.S. 152 (Supreme Court, 1982)
Reed v. Ross
468 U.S. 1 (Supreme Court, 1984)
Murray v. Carrier
477 U.S. 478 (Supreme Court, 1986)
Brecht v. Abrahamson
507 U.S. 619 (Supreme Court, 1993)
Bousley v. United States
523 U.S. 614 (Supreme Court, 1998)
Edwards v. Carpenter
529 U.S. 446 (Supreme Court, 2000)
Slack v. McDaniel
529 U.S. 473 (Supreme Court, 2000)
Clay v. United States
537 U.S. 522 (Supreme Court, 2003)
Leocal v. Ashcroft
543 U.S. 1 (Supreme Court, 2004)
James v. United States
550 U.S. 192 (Supreme Court, 2007)
Hedgpeth v. Pulido
555 U.S. 57 (Supreme Court, 2008)
United States v. James Antonio
386 F. App'x 678 (Ninth Circuit, 2010)
United States v. Lavern Charles Dunham
767 F.2d 1395 (Ninth Circuit, 1985)
United States v. James Cantu Sanchez
914 F.2d 1355 (Ninth Circuit, 1990)
School District No. 1j, Multnomah County, Oregon v. Acands, Inc., a Pennsylvania Corporation E.J. Bartells Company, a Washington Corporation A.P. Green Refractories Company, School District No. 1j, Multnomah County, Oregon v. Acands, Inc., a Pennsylvania Corporation, and Fibreboard Corp., a Delaware Corporation as Successor in Interest to the Paraffine Companies, Inc., Pabco Products, Inc., Fibreboard Paper Products Corporation, Plant Rubber & Asbestos Works and Plant Rubber & Asbestos Co., School District No. 1j, Multnomah County, Oregon v. Acands, Inc., a Pennsylvania Corporation Armstrong Cork Company, Inc., a Delaware Corporation Atlas Asbestos Company, Inc., a Canadian Corporation, and Keene Corporation, a New York Corporation Individually and as Successor in Interest to the Baldwin Ehret Hill Company, School District No. 1j, Multnomah County, Oregon v. Acands, Inc., a Pennsylvania Corporation Armstrong Cork Company, Inc., a Delaware Corporation Atlas Asbestos Company, Inc., a Canadian Corporation, and Us Gypsum Company, a Delaware Corporation, School District No. 1j, Multnomah County, Oregon v. Acands, Inc., a Pennsylvania Corporation Armstrong Cork Company, Inc., a Delaware Corporation Atlas Asbestos Company, Inc., a Canadian Corporation, and Owens-Corning Fiberglass Corporation, School District No. 1j, Multnomah County, Oregon v. Acands, Inc., a Pennsylvania Corporation Armstrong Cork Company, Inc., a Delaware Corporation Atlas Asbestos Company, Inc., a Canadian Corporation, and Flintkote Company, a Delaware Corporation, School District No. 1j, Multnomah County, Oregon v. Acands, Inc., a Pennsylvania Corporation Atlas Asbestos Company, Inc., a Canadian Corporation, and Armstrong Cork Company, Inc., a Delaware Corporation
5 F.3d 1255 (Ninth Circuit, 1993)
United States v. Michael Leslie Blaylock
20 F.3d 1458 (Ninth Circuit, 1994)
Steven Edward Manning v. Phil Foster
224 F.3d 1129 (Ninth Circuit, 2000)
United States v. Jermaine Savoires
430 F.3d 376 (Sixth Circuit, 2005)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
Antonio v. United States, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/antonio-v-united-states-azd-2022.