Irma Ovalles v. United States

861 F.3d 1257, 2017 WL 2829371, 2017 U.S. App. LEXIS 11768
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
DecidedJune 30, 2017
Docket17-10172 Non-Argument Calendar
StatusPublished
Cited by56 cases

This text of 861 F.3d 1257 (Irma Ovalles v. United States) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Irma Ovalles v. United States, 861 F.3d 1257, 2017 WL 2829371, 2017 U.S. App. LEXIS 11768 (11th Cir. 2017).

Opinion

HULL, Circuit Judge:

Irma Ovalles, a federal prisoner, appeals the district court’s denial of her 28 U.S.C. § 2255 motion to vacate her conviction and sentence for using and carrying a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence (Count Five), namely, attempted carjacking (Count Four), on the grounds that the “risk-of-force” clause in 18 U.S.C. § 924(c)(3)(B) is unconstitutionally vague under Johnson v. United States, 576 U.S. *1259 -, 135 S.Ct. 2551, 192 L.Ed.2d 569 (2015). The district court held that the “risk-of-force” clause in § 924(c)(3)(B) was not void for vagueness and that, therefore, Ovalles could not make a claim for relief under Johnson. Additionally, the government argues that Ovalles’s attempted-carjacking conviction in Count Four categorically qualifies as a crime of violence under the “use-of-force” clause in § 924(c)(3)(A).

After review, we conclude that Johnson does not apply to or invalidate § 924(c)(3)(B) and that Ovalles’s attempted-carjacking conviction in Count Four qualifies as a crime of violence .under § 924(c)(3)(B). Accordingly, we affirm the denial of Ovalles’s § 2255 motion on that basis. As an independent and alternative ground for affirmance of the denial of Ovalles’s § 2255 motion, we hold, as the government argues, that Ovalles’s attempted-carjacking offense qualifies as a crime of violence under the “use-of-force” clause in § 924(c)(3)(A).

I. BACKGROUND FACTS

A.Charges and Plea Agreement

In 2010, Ovalles was charged by information with Hobbs Act robbery, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1915 and 2 (Count One), three counts of carjacking, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2119 and 2 (Counts Two, Three and Six), attempted carjacking, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2119 and 2 (Count Four), and using and carrying a firearm during the attempted carjacking in Count Four, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 924(c)(1)(A)(iii) and 2 (Count Five).

Relevant to this appeal, Count Four charged that Ovalles and six other individuals “aided and abetted by each other, with the intent to cause death and serious bodily harm, did attempt to take a motor vehicle ..., that is, a Chevrolet Venture, from the person or presence of another, by force, violence and intimidation.” Count Five charged that Ovalles and the other six individuals “aided and abetted by each other, did use and carry a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence, that is, the carjacking as alleged in Count Four herein, an offense for which the defendants may be prosecuted in a court of the United States.”

Ovalles entered into a written plea agreement with the government and agreed to plead guilty to all six counts in the information. 1

B. Guilty Plea

At her plea hearing, Ovalles consented to proceed before a magistrate judge. Under oath, Ovalles stated that she was 20 years old, had reached the ninth grade in school, and could read, write, and understand English. Ovalles further testified that she had never been diagnosed with a mental or emotional illness or treated for alcoholism or drug addiction, and was not under the influence of any drugs, medications or alcohol.

The magistrate judge then summarized the plea agreement and potential sentence. Ovalles stated that no one had threatened her to plead guilty and that she was pleading guilty because she was, in fact, guilty. The government then discussed the elements of each offense in the information, and Ovalles stated that she understood what the government would be required to prove at trial.

C. Factual Proffer

The government provided a factual basis for Ovalles’s guilty plea at the plea hear *1260 ing, noting that Ovalles and several others were involved with a series of crimes, including the charged robbery and four separate carjackings, between December 12, 2008 and December 14, 2008. On December 12, 2008, Ovalles and several other individuals, one of whom the victim said had a firearm, committed a robbery at a grocery store, using baseball bats and taking cellular phones, prepaid phone cards, and Mexican blankets. 2 Victims of the grocery-store robbery identified Ovalles as one of the robbers.

The next day the carjackings began. On December 13, 2008, Ovalles and her accomplices stole a Dodge Ram pickup truck by striking the truck’s owner and taking his keys.

The day after the carjacking of the truck, on December 14, 2008, Ovalles and her accomplices stole another vehicle, a Toyota 4-Runner, by demanding the driver’s keys and striking him in the head with a pistol. Later that day, Ovalles and her accomplices attempted to steal another car, a Chevrolet Venture, by demanding the driver’s keys and striking the driver’s juvenile daughter in the mouth with a baseball bat. Ultimately, they did not take the Chevrolet, however, because they fled after being confronted by a man with a gun. In attempting to steal the Chevrolet, one of Ovalles’s accomplices fired an AK-47 rifle at the victims. Finally, Ovalles and her codefendants stole another truck, a Ford F-150, by demanding the vehicle at gunpoint.

After the government delivered the factual proffer, Ovalles agreed that she had committed the acts as the government described them. Ovalles stated that she was satisfied with her attorney’s representation. Ovalles pled guilty to the charges in the information, noting that her pleas were voluntary and of her own free will and that she was in fact guilty as charged.

The magistrate judge .subsequently entered a report (R&R) recommending that Ovalles’s guilty plea be accepted and that she be adjudicated guilty. Without objection, the district court adopted the R&R and accepted Ovalles’s guilty plea.

D. Presentence Investigation Report

The probation officer prepared a presen-tence investigation report (“PSI”), to which the government and defendant Ovalles did not object. According to the PSI, Ovalles was a member of a gang called SUR-13 and the. former girlfriend of the leader of SUR-13, Pedro Barrera-Perez. Between December 12 and 14, 2008, Ovalles and several others members of SUR-13 went on a violent crime spree that included both charged and uncharged conduct and involved a convenience store robbery, numerous stolen vehicles and armed robberies, injuries to some of the victims, and two high-speed police chases.

The PSI stated as to Counts Four (attempted carjacking of the Chevy) and Five (using and carrying a firearm during that attempted carjacking), which are relevant to this appeal, that at 9:30 p.m.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
861 F.3d 1257, 2017 WL 2829371, 2017 U.S. App. LEXIS 11768, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/irma-ovalles-v-united-states-ca11-2017.