Stewart v. United States

191 F. Supp. 3d 923, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 68704, 2016 WL 3024114
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Wisconsin
DecidedMay 25, 2016
DocketCase No. 16-C-206; Criminal Case No. 02-CR-205
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 191 F. Supp. 3d 923 (Stewart v. United States) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Wisconsin primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Stewart v. United States, 191 F. Supp. 3d 923, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 68704, 2016 WL 3024114 (E.D. Wis. 2016).

Opinion

DECISION AND ORDER

LYNN ADELMAN, District Judge

Petitioner Syrenas Stewart moves to vacate his sentence pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2255, arguing that he no' longer qualifies for an enhanced term under the Armed Career Criminal Act, (“ACCA”), 18 U.S.C. § 924(e). His motion turns on whether simple robbery under Wis. Stat. § 943.32 still qualifies as a “violent felony” after the Supreme Court’s decision Samuel Johnson v. United States, — U.S. -, 135 S.Ct. 2551, 192 L.Ed.2d 569 (2015). In Robinson v. United States, No. 16-C-156, 188 F.Supp.3d 857, 2016 WL 3059764 (E.D.Wis. May 24, 2016), I determined that it does not. I will accordingly grant petitioner’s motion.1

I. BACKGROUND

On January 21, 2003, petitioner pleaded guilty to possession of a firearm as a felon, 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1), and possession of crack cocaine with intent to distribute, 21 [925]*925U.S.C. § 841(a)(1), and on April 18, 2008,1 sentenced him to 188 months in prison each count running concurrently. In imposing sentence on the. firearm count, I determined that petitioner qualified for an enhanced term based (in part) on his three prior convictions of simple robbery.2 Under the ACCA, a felon with three prior convictions for either a “violent felony” or a “serious drug offense” faces a sentence of 15 years to life in prison, 18 U.S.C. § 924(e)(1); otherwise, the maximum penalty for unlawful firearm possession is 10 years, 18 U.S.C. § 924(a)(2).

In the instant § 2255 motion, petitioner argues that simple robbery under Wis. Stat. § 943.32 no longer qualifies as a “violent felony,” defined as any crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year that: (1) has as an element -the use, attempted use, or threatened .use of physical force against, the person of another (the “force clause” or the “elements clause”); (2) is burglary, arson, or extortion, or involves use of explosives (the “enumerated offenses clause”); or (3) otherwise involves conduct that presents a serious potential risk of physical injury to another (the “residual clause”). 18 U.S.C. § 924(e)(2)(B). In determining whether an offense qualifies as an ACCA predicate, the court applies a categorical approach, focusing on the elements of the statute of conviction, rather than the actual conduct of the particular offender. E.g„ United States v. Ker Yang, 799 F.3d 750, 752 (7th Cir.2015).

Robbery is not an enumerated offense, and in Samuel Johnson, 135 S.Ct. at 2557, the Supreme Court struck down the residual clause as unconstitutionally vague. Samuel Johnson applies retroactively to cases on collateral review. Welch v. United States, — U.S. -, 136 S.Ct. 1257, 194 L.Ed.2d 387 (2016); Price v. United States. 795 F.3d 731 (7th Cir.2015). Accordingly, unless Wisconsin robbery qualifies under the force clause it cannot serve as an ACCA predicate.

Wis. Stat. § 943.32(1) provides:

Whoever, with .intent- to steal, takes property from the person or presence of the owner by either, of the following means is guilty of a ,. felony:
(a) By using force against the person of the owner with intent thereby to overcome his or her physical resistance or physical power of resistance to the taking or carrying away of the property; or
(b) By threatening the imminent use of force against the person of the owner or of another who is present with intent thereby to compel the owner to acquiesce in the taking or carrying away of the property.

Petitioner concedes that the statute appears to fit within the force clause. Indeed, in United States v. Otero, 495 F.3d 393, 401 (7th Cir.2007), the court, quoting the statutory text, concluded that this offense qualifies as a crime of violence under the identically worded career offender guideline, U.S.S.G. § 4B1.2(a), as it “has as a necessary element the use of force against a victim.”

However, in Curtis Johnson v. United States, 559 U.S. 133, 130 S.Ct. 1265, 176 L.Ed.2d 1 (2010), the Supreme Court clarified that, in the context of the ACCA’s “violent felony” provision, “the phrase ‘physical force’ means violent force—that is, force capable of causing physical pain or injury to another person,” Id. at 140, 130 S.Ct. 1265. On this understanding, the Court held that battery under Florida law, which is satisfied by any intentional physical contact, no matter' how slight, id. at [926]*926138, 130 S.Ct 1265, does not qualify as a violent felony.

Petitioner contends that, given the Wisconsin supreme court’s construction of the force requirement in the robbery statute, the result should be the same here. See Walton v. State, 64 Wis.2d 36, 43, 218 N.W.2d 309 (1974) (holding that “force is ■not to be confounded with violence,” and that “the degree of force used is immaterial”). Petitioner notes that Wisconsin’s expansive definition of force varies from the rule in most jurisdictions, under which purse snatching and other grab-and-run thefts would be prosecuted under larceny laws, not as robberies. See Wayne LaFave, Substantive Criminal Law § 20.3(d)(1) (2015). This is significant, petitioner contends, because courts have found such street thefts to be crimes of violence under the now-defunct residual clause, not the force clause. E.g., United States v. Hollins, 514 Fed.Appx. 264, 267-68 (3d Cir.2013); see also United States v. Howze, 343 F.3d 919, 923-24 (7th Cir.2003) (collecting cases). He concludes that, with the residual clause gone, robbery statutes like Wisconsin’s, which are satisfied by any force, however slight, no longer qualify as violent felonies. He accordingly asks the court to vacate his sentence.3

II. DISCUSSION

’ The government does not assert procedural default or timeliness as bars to the court’s consideration of petitioner’s motion. Rather, the government defends the sentence on the merits, arguing that the Wisconsin crime of simple robbery remains a violent felony under the force clause.

As the government notes, the Seventh Circuit held that Wisconsin robbery satisfied the forcé clause both before and after Curtis Johnson. See Otero, 495 F.3d at 401; United States v. Beason, 493 Fed.Appx. 747, 749 (7th Cir.2012). These cases cannot end the inquiry, howevér.

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Bluebook (online)
191 F. Supp. 3d 923, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 68704, 2016 WL 3024114, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/stewart-v-united-states-wied-2016.