Richard Wally Rose v. United States

CourtCourt of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
DecidedJune 6, 2018
Docket13-15376
StatusUnpublished

This text of Richard Wally Rose v. United States (Richard Wally Rose 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
Richard Wally Rose v. United States, (11th Cir. 2018).

Opinion

Case: 13-15376 Date Filed: 06/06/2018 Page: 1 of 36

[DO NOT PUBLISH]

IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT ________________________

No. 13-15376 Non-Argument Calendar ________________________

D.C. Docket Nos. 3:11-cv-00393-HLA-TEM, 3:08-cr-00072-HLA-TEM-1

RICHARD WALLY ROSE,

Petitioner-Appellant,

versus

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,

Respondent-Appellee.

________________________

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida ________________________

(June 6, 2018)

Before MARCUS, MARTIN, and HULL, Circuit Judges.

PER CURIAM:

Richard Wally Rose appeals the District Court’s denial of his motion to

vacate his conviction and sentence under 28 U.S.C. § 2255. This appeal has a Case: 13-15376 Date Filed: 06/06/2018 Page: 2 of 36

lengthy and complicated procedural history during 2009 to 2017, which we discuss

as necessary background to the issues currently before this Court.

I. 2009 SENTENCE

In 2008, a jury convicted Mr. Rose of one count of possession of a firearm

by a convicted felon, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 922(g)(1) and 924(e). The

presentence investigation report (“PSR”) said Mr. Rose qualified for a longer

sentence under the Armed Career Criminal Act (“ACCA”). Based in part on this

ACCA enhancement, the PSR set Mr. Rose’s adjusted offense level at 33 with a

criminal history category of IV. This yielded an advisory range of 188 to 235

months of imprisonment under the United States Sentencing Guidelines.

The PSR indicated that Mr. Rose had six prior felony convictions, listing

them as: (1) a 1972 Florida grand larceny conviction, for which Mr. Rose received

a three-year sentence; (2) a 1976 federal conviction for bank robbery and

aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, for which Mr. Rose received a fifteen-

year sentence; (3) a 1976 Pennsylvania robbery conviction, for which Mr. Rose

received a four-to-eight-year sentence; (4) a 1985 Florida conviction for unarmed

robbery, for which Mr. Rose received a four-year sentence; (5) a 1985 Florida

conviction for possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, for which Mr. Rose

received a four-year sentence; and (6) a 2000 Florida conviction for aggravated

2 Case: 13-15376 Date Filed: 06/06/2018 Page: 3 of 36

battery, for which Mr. Rose received a sentence of five years and 57 days. Mr.

Rose has never disputed that he has these six felony convictions.

In an addendum to the PSR, the probation office identified three of Mr.

Rose’s felony convictions as qualifying offenses under the ACCA: (1) the 1976

federal conviction for bank robbery and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon;

(2) the 1985 Florida unarmed robbery conviction; and (3) the 2000 Florida

aggravated battery conviction. The PSR addendum cited 18 U.S.C. § 924(e)(1)

and stated the ACCA sentencing enhancement applies in the case of a person who

violates § 922(g) and has three prior convictions for a violent felony or a serious

drug offense or both. The PSR addendum did not cite or mention any of the three

clauses in § 924(e)(2)(B) that define violent felony, which are the enumerated

crimes clause, the elements clause, and the residual clause. See 18 U.S.C.

§ 924(e)(2)(B).

At his 2009 sentencing in this case, Mr. Rose, who had already discharged

three court-appointed lawyers, elected to proceed pro se. Mr. Rose objected to the

ACCA enhancement, but his objections did not mention the elements or residual

clauses or any clause of the ACCA. Mr. Rose’s objections never claimed the

residual clause was unconstitutionally vague and never claimed his aggravated

battery conviction did not require enough physical force to qualify under the

3 Case: 13-15376 Date Filed: 06/06/2018 Page: 4 of 36

elements (use-of-force) clause. 1 Rather, Mr. Rose actually contended that his 2000

Florida aggravated battery conviction (case no. 99-5744) was his only countable

ACCA offense because the other two convictions were more than 15 years old.

The government argued that the ACCA and U.S.S.G § 4B1.4, unlike other

provisions of the Sentencing Guidelines, did not have a “15 year look-back period”

and that even old convictions counted.

The District Court overruled Mr. Rose’s time-bar objection and determined

that because Mr. Rose was an armed career criminal, his offense level was 33 and

his criminal history category was IV, for an advisory guidelines range of 188 to

235 months’ imprisonment.

At the 2009 sentencing, the government did submit certified copies of the

three prior convictions identified in the PSR addendum as ACCA predicates.

Specifically, the government provided the judgment and a copy of Mr. Rose’s

fingerprints from each conviction. Mr. Rose did not object to these exhibits,

1 Prior to his sentencing, Mr. Rose filed pro se written objections to the PSR. The District Court struck Mr. Rose’s pro se written objections because he was represented by counsel at the time he filed them. However, at the later sentencing hearing, Mr. Rose knowingly and voluntarily waived counsel. United States v. Rose, 590 F. App’x 937, 941 (11th Cir. 2014) (concluding Mr. Rose’s waiver of counsel was knowing and voluntary). Mr. Rose “was fifty-five years old,” “had obtained a GED and had no history of mental- or physical-health issues.” Id. Mr. Rose ‘had extensive contact with counsel prior to his decision to proceed pro se.” Id. At sentencing, Mr. Rose “said he had read and understood the PSR, “objected . . . to several aspects of the PSR,” and “presented the district court with appellate cases in support of his objections.” Id. Mr. Rose’s “substantial criminal history indicate[d] that he had significant experience with criminal trials (or, as relevant here, sentencing proceedings).” Id. at 942.

4 Case: 13-15376 Date Filed: 06/06/2018 Page: 5 of 36

except to reassert his objection for the record that two of the convictions were “out

of time.” The District Court admitted the exhibits.

The District Court imposed a 211-month sentence, in the middle of the

advisory guidelines range, followed by 60-months supervised release.

II. DIRECT APPEAL

Mr. Rose, now represented by counsel, appealed his sentence but, once

again, did not claim that his convictions did not qualify under the elements or

residual clauses, or even reassert his argument that his predicate convictions that

were more than 15 years old did not count for ACCA purposes. See United States

v. Rose, 368 F. App’x 55, 56-57 (11th Cir. 2010) (“Rose I”). Instead, Mr. Rose

argued that “the armed career criminal guideline, U.S.S.G. § 4B1.4, is itself

unreasonable because it permits the inclusion of convictions, like his 1976 and

1985 convictions, that are too old to count towards the criminal history category.”

Id.

In February 2010, this Court affirmed his sentence. Id. at 56. The Court

explained that U.S.S.G. § 4B1.4 “follows [the ACCA’s] Congressional mandate”

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