United States v. Butler

208 F. App'x 167
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Third Circuit
DecidedDecember 18, 2006
Docket05-2965
StatusUnpublished

This text of 208 F. App'x 167 (United States v. Butler) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Third 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. Butler, 208 F. App'x 167 (3d Cir. 2006).

Opinion

OPINION

SMITH, Circuit Judge.

In August of 2001, two officers with the Philadelphia Police Department stopped Terrence Butler when he failed to stop his vehicle at a stop sign. During the traffic stop, one of the police officers observed a firearm on the floor of Butler’s vehicle, and a struggle ensued. The police officers were able to place Butler in handcuffs. Although handcuffed, Butler managed to extract another firearm from his person. After another struggle between Butler and the officers, during which Butler pointed the firearm at the officers, the firearm was removed from Butler’s possession.

A grand jury returned an indictment against Butler, charging him with being a felon in possession of two firearms in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1). A jury found Butler guilty of the offense. The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania sentenced Butler to, inter alia, seventy months of imprisonment. Butler appealed. We affirmed his conviction, but vacated his sentence and remanded for resentencing in accordance with United States v. Booker, 543 U.S. 220, 125 S.Ct. 738, 160 L.Ed.2d 621 (2005). See United States v. Butler, 127 Fed.Appx. 600 (3d Cir.2005).

On remand, the District Judge imposed the same seventy month sentence of imprisonment, explaining that she believed that her “original sentence is the appropriate sentence.” The District Judge pointed *169 out that she could have given sixty-three months at the lower end of the guideline range, but imposed a seventy month sentence “because as I considered the nature of the crime, it seemed to me that the 63 months was not sufficient.” She stated her belief that this offense “was serious” as it endangered both the police and Butler.

Butler appealed, contending that the District Court erred in its calculation of his guideline range in several respects. For the reasons set forth below, we will affirm.

The District Court had jurisdiction pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 3231. We exercise appellate jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291 and 18 U.S.C. § 3742(a). See United States v. Cooper, 437 F.3d 324, 327-28 (3d Cir.2006).

Butler contends that the District Court erred by finding that his prior manslaughter conviction constituted a crime of violence under United States Sentencing Guideline (U.S.S.G. or Guideline) § 4B1.2(a), thereby warranting a base offense level of twenty points in accordance with U.S.S.G. § 2K2.1(a)(4). Because this is an issue of law, we exercise plenary review over the District Court’s determination that Butler’s prior conviction qualified as a crime of violence. United States v. Dorsey, 174 F.3d 331, 332 (3d Cir.1999).

Sentencing Guideline § 2K2.1 applies to convictions for the unlawful possession of a firearm and directs that a base offense level of twenty must be assessed if the “defendant committed any part of the instant offense subsequent to sustaining one felony conviction of either a crime of violence or a controlled substance offense.” U.S.S.G. § 2K2.1(a)(4). One of the application notes for § 2K2.1 specifies that “crime of violence” has the “meaning given that term in § 4B1.2(a) and Application Note 1 of the Commentary to § 4B1.2.” U.S.S.G. § 2K2.1, application note 1. Guideline § 4B1.2 provides that a crime of violence may be any federal or state offense punishable by a term of imprisonment exceeding one year, if that conviction “has as an element the use, attempted use, or threatened use of physical force against the person of another....” 1 U.S.S.G. § 4B1.2 (a)(1). Application Note 1 to U.S.S.G. § 4B1.2 instructs that crimes of violence include “murder, manslaughter, kidnapping, aggravated assault, forcible sex offenses, robbery, arson, extortion, extortionate extension of credit, and burglary of a dwelling.” Id. at application note 1 (emphasis added).

Consistent with the application note, we find no error in the District Court’s determination that Butler’s prior conviction for manslaughter constituted a crime of violence meriting the assessment of the base offense level of twenty. Indeed, we have on several occasions instructed that there is no need to inquire into the facts of a prior conviction if the “predicate conviction is enumerated as a ‘crime of violence’ in Application Note ... to § 4B1.2.” United States v. McQuilkin, 97 F.3d 723, 728 (3d Cir.1996); see also United States v. Parson, 955 F.2d 858, 871 (3d Cir.1992) (observing that the government may show that a prior conviction is a “crime of violence” by establishing that it “is among those specifically enumerated in the application note”). Manslaughter, as the Application Note clearly states, is among the specifically enumerated crimes qualifying as a crime of violence. See Stinson v. *170 United States, 508 U.S. 36, 47, 113 S.Ct. 1913, 123 L.Ed.2d 598 (1993) (observing that the interpretive commentary to the U.S.S.G. may be accorded “controlling weight” if it is not inconsistent with a federal statute or the Constitution); see also United States v. Fry, 51 F.3d 543, 546 (5th Cir.1995) (concluding conviction for involuntary manslaughter was a crime of violence as clearly indicated by the commentary to the guidelines); United States v. Payton, 28 F.3d 17, 19 (4th Cir.1994) (following Stinson, supra, and according controlling weight to the Application Note to § 4B1.2 which specifies that manslaughter is a crime of violence).

Contrary to Butler’s assertion, the charging indictment and state court conviction record are sufficient to support the District Court’s determination that this predicate offense of manslaughter qualifies as a “crime of violence.” The state court conviction record to which Butler refers us establishes that he was adjudged guilty of involuntary manslaughter in violation of 18 Pa. Cons.Stat.Ann. § 2504 and sentenced to lVk to 23 months imprisonment. Inasmuch as manslaughter is specifically enumerated in Application Note 1 of U.S.S.G.

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Related

Stinson v. United States
508 U.S. 36 (Supreme Court, 1993)
United States v. Booker
543 U.S. 220 (Supreme Court, 2004)
United States v. Dennis L. Astorri
923 F.2d 1052 (Third Circuit, 1991)
United States v. Steven L. Parson
955 F.2d 858 (Third Circuit, 1992)
United States v. William Bonnie Fry
51 F.3d 543 (Fifth Circuit, 1995)
United States v. Robert McQuilkin
97 F.3d 723 (Third Circuit, 1996)
United States v. William M. Dorsey
174 F.3d 331 (Third Circuit, 1999)
United States v. Robert E. Brennan
326 F.3d 176 (Third Circuit, 2003)
United States v. Lydia Cooper
437 F.3d 324 (Third Circuit, 2006)
United States v. Butler
127 F. App'x 600 (Third Circuit, 2005)

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Bluebook (online)
208 F. App'x 167, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-butler-ca3-2006.