United States v. Bordeaux

886 F.3d 189
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Second Circuit
DecidedMarch 27, 2018
DocketNo. 17-486-cr; August Term 2017
StatusPublished
Cited by17 cases

This text of 886 F.3d 189 (United States v. Bordeaux) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. Bordeaux, 886 F.3d 189 (2d Cir. 2018).

Opinion

José A. Cabranes, Circuit Judge:

This case presents two questions: (1) whether first-degree robbery in violation of Connecticut General Statutes section 53a-134(a)(4) qualifies as a "violent felony" under the so-called elements clause of the Armed Career Criminal Act of 1984 ("ACCA"), 18 U.S.C. § 924(e)(2)(B)(i) ; and (2) whether Defendant-Appellant Aldric Bordeaux's three prior convictions were for offenses "committed on occasions different *192from one another" within the meaning of ACCA, id. § 924(e)(1). We answer in the affirmative to both questions and therefore AFFIRM the February 17, 2017 judgment of the United States District Court for the District of Connecticut (Alvin W. Thompson, Judge ).

I. BACKGROUND

Defendant-Appellant Aldric Bordeaux ("Bordeaux") appeals the District Court's judgment convicting him of one count of unlawful possession of a firearm in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1)1 and of ACCA, 18 U.S.C. § 924(e), after a plea of guilty with a reservation of the right to argue to the District Court that ACCA was not applicable. The District Court held that ACCA did apply and sentenced Bordeaux principally to one hundred eighty months' imprisonment.

ACCA sets a mandatory minimum sentence of fifteen years' imprisonment for unlawful possession of a firearm under certain conditions.2

Violent Felony . One condition is that the defendant must have been convicted three times of committing "a violent felony or a serious drug offense." Id. § 924(e)(1). The definition of "violent felony" includes "any crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year ... that ... has as an element the use, attempted use, or threatened use of physical force against the person of another." Id. § 924(e)(2)(B)(i). The clause beginning with the words "has as an element" is known as the "elements clause." Welch v. United States , --- U.S. ----, 136 S.Ct. 1257, 1261, 194 L.Ed.2d 387 (2016).

Different Occasions . Another condition is that the three prior convictions must be for offenses "committed on occasions different from one another." 18 U.S.C. § 924(e)(1).

The District Court held that three of Bordeaux's prior convictions-all three for first-degree robbery under Connecticut law-met these conditions.

On appeal, Bordeaux argues that the District Court erred in applying ACCA because (a) the Connecticut-law offense of first-degree robbery is not a "violent felony" as that term is defined in federal ACCA; and (b) the three prior convictions were not for offenses "committed on occasions different from one another" as ACCA requires.

A district court's determinations that a prior conviction is for a violent felony and that prior convictions are for offenses committed on different occasions are reviewed de novo . See United States v. Beardsley , 691 F.3d 252, 257 (2d Cir. 2012). The factual basis of these determinations is reviewed for clear error. United States v. Brown , 629 F.3d 290, 293 (2d Cir. 2011).

*193II. DISCUSSION

A. Violent Felony

1. Law

Bordeaux's first argument is that the District Court erred when it concluded that first-degree robbery under Connecticut law is a violent felony within the meaning of ACCA.

To determine whether a given prior conviction is for a violent felony, we "first identify the elements of the statute forming the basis of the defendant's conviction. In doing so, we examine what is the minimum criminal conduct necessary for conviction under [that] particular [state] statute." Stuckey v. United States , 878 F.3d 62, 67 (2d Cir. 2017) (alterations in original) (internal quotation marks and citations omitted).

If the statute lists alternative ways for a defendant to commit an offense, we next "look [ ] to a limited class of documents (for example, the indictment, jury instructions, or plea agreement and colloquy) to determine what crime, with what elements, a defendant was convicted of." Id. (alteration in original) (internal quotation marks omitted).

After identifying the elements of the offense, we "compare the minimum conduct necessary for a state conviction with the conduct that constitutes a 'violent felony' under the ACCA. If the state statute sweeps more broadly-i.e. , it punishes activity that the federal statute does not encompass-then the state crime cannot count as a predicate 'violent felony' for the ACCA's fifteen-year mandatory minimum." Id. (emphasis added) (citation and internal quotation marks omitted).

To qualify as a violent felony under the "elements clause" of ACCA, an offense must be defined so as to require both intent and the use, attempted use, or threatened use of "violent force"; "violent force" means "force capable of causing physical pain or injury to another person." Id.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
886 F.3d 189, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-bordeaux-ca2-2018.