United States v. Frank Townsley

322 F. App'x 837
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
DecidedApril 8, 2009
Docket08-13517
StatusUnpublished

This text of 322 F. App'x 837 (United States v. Frank Townsley) 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
United States v. Frank Townsley, 322 F. App'x 837 (11th Cir. 2009).

Opinion

PER CURIAM:

Frank Townsley appeals his convictions and sentences for being a felon in possession of a firearm, 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1), possession with intent to distribute cocaine base. 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1), and carrying a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, 18 U.S.C. § 924(c)(1)(A). On appeal, Townsley argues that the district court erred in denying his motion to suppress. Specifically, he argues that the district court applied a presumption in favor of the government’s witnesses and summarily discounted his own testimony without making proper credibility findings. Townsley also argues that the district court erred in sentencing him under the Armed Career Criminal Act (“ACCA”), 18 U.S.C. § 924(e)(1), because his three prior Florida convictions for unlawfully carrying a concealed weapon, Fla. Stat. § 790.01(2), did not constitute “violent felonies.”

I.

“A district court’s ruling on a motion to suppress presents a mixed question of law and fact.” United States v. Zapata, 180 F.3d 1237, 1240 (11th Cir.1999). We review the district court’s factual findings for clear error. Id. All facts are construed in the light most favorable to the prevailing party below. United States v. Bervaldi, 226 F.3d 1256, 1262 (11th Cir.2000). The district court’s application of the law to the facts is reviewed de novo. Id.

Townsley relies primarily on our decision in Gallego v. United States, 174 F.3d 1196 (11th Cir.1999). In that case, Galle-go, a federal prisoner, brought an 18 U.S.C. § 2255 motion alleging that he had received ineffective assistance of counsel. Id. 1196-1197. He argued that his attorney had failed to inform him that he had a constitutional right to testify at trial. Id. at 1197. After hearing conflicting testimony from Gallego and his attorney, the magistrate-and later the district court-ruled against Gallego because he had not provided any additional evidence to support his motion. Id. at 1198. The magistrate did not make any findings as to the credibility of Gallego’s testimony. Id. We vacated and remanded the lower court’s findings, holding that a court may not adopt a per se rule against a defendant in a case involving conflicting testimony. Id. at 1198-1199. Instead, a court must weigh the credibility of the parties’ testimony. Id. at 1198.

The facts of this case are distinguishable from those of Gallego. In this case, the district court explicitly found that the government’s witnesses had testified credibly. Also, unlike the magistrate judge in Gallego, the district court did not automatically discount all of Townsley’s testimony. The court believed Townsley’s testimony that the officers had been making statements to him prior to giving him his Miranda warnings. The court simply concluded that these statements did not constitute “interrogation,” and, thus, there had been no violation of Miranda. 1

*839 Because the district court here properly analyzed the testimony and the credibility of the witnesses at the suppression hearing, and because the evidence supported its finding of probable cause, it did not clearly err in denying Townsley’s motion to suppress. Because Townsley’s only challenge to his convictions is his suppression argument, and because we reject that challenge, his convictions are due to be affirmed. We turn next to Townsley’s challenge to his sentence.

II.

We review de novo a district court’s determination that a defendant’s prior convictions constitute “violent felonies” under the ACCA. United States v. Bennett, 472 F.3d 825, 831 (11th Cir.2006). The ACCA provides that a defendant is subject to an enhanced 15-year mandatory minimum sentence if the defendant has been convicted of being a felon in possession of a firearm, 18 U.S.C. § 922(g), and the defendant has at least three prior convictions for a “violent felony” or a “serious drug offense.” 18 U.S.C. § 924(e)(1).

The ACCA defines the term “violent felony” as “any crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year” that “(i) has as an element the use, attempted use, or threatened use of physical force against the person of another; or (ii) is burglary, arson, or extortion, involves use of explosives, or otherwise involves conduct that presents a serious potential risk of physical injury to another.” 18 U.S.C. § 924(e)(2)(B). The term “serious drug offense” is defined as any state or federal drug offense with a maximum term of imprisonment of ten years or more. 18 U.S.C. § 924(e)(2)(A). The Sentencing Guidelines provide for an enhanced guideline range for defendants who fall under the ACCA. U.S.S.G. § 4B1.4.

Florida law makes it a felony for a person to carry a concealed firearm without a license to do so. Fla. Stat. § 790.01(2)(2008). In United States v. Hall, 77 F.3d 398, 401-402 (11th Cir.1996), we held that violations of Fla. Stat. § 790.01(2) were “violent felonies” under the ACCA. Later, relying on our analysis in Hall, we also held that violations of Fla. Stat. § 790.01(2) were “crimes of violence” under the career offender guideline, § 4B1.1. United States v. Gilbert, 138 F.3d 1371, 1372 (11th Cir.1998).

Recently, in Begay v. United States, 553 U.S. -, 128 S.Ct.

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Related

United States v. Gilbert
138 F.3d 1371 (Eleventh Circuit, 1998)
Gallego v. United States
174 F.3d 1196 (Eleventh Circuit, 1999)
United States v. Zapata
180 F.3d 1237 (Eleventh Circuit, 1999)
United States v. Malcolm E. McVay
447 F.3d 1348 (Eleventh Circuit, 2006)
United States v. Carl Bennett
472 F.3d 825 (Eleventh Circuit, 2006)
United States v. Archer
531 F.3d 1347 (Eleventh Circuit, 2008)
Begay v. United States
553 U.S. 137 (Supreme Court, 2008)
United States v. Alonzo Hall, Sedrick Latroy McKinney
77 F.3d 398 (Eleventh Circuit, 1996)
United States v. Jason R. Bervaldi
226 F.3d 1256 (Eleventh Circuit, 2000)

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322 F. App'x 837, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-frank-townsley-ca11-2009.