United States v. Gary Apker

Procedural entryThis page is a short order in United States v. Gary Apker. Read the opinion of the Court — 174 F.3d 934
Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit·Decided April 19, 1999·No. 96-2384·Published

Opinion

United States Court of Appeals FOR THE EIGHTH CIRCUIT ___________

No. 96-2384 ___________

United States of America, * * Appellee, * * Appeal from the United States v. * District Court for the * District of Nebraska. Gary Apker, * * Appellant. * ___________

Submitted: February 10, 1999 Filed: April 19, 1999 ___________

Before BOWMAN, Chief Judge, HANSEN, and MORRIS SHEPPARD ARNOLD, Circuit Judges. ___________

BOWMAN, Chief Judge.

This case is before us on remand from the United States Supreme Court. See Apker v. United States, 118 S. Ct. 2339 (1998), vacating and remanding 101 F.3d 75 (8th Cir. 1996), opinion vacated and mandate recalled, 156 F.3d 1344 (8th Cir. 1998). We are instructed to further consider the 28 U.S.C. § 2255 motion of Gary Apker in light of Hohn v. United States, 118 S. Ct. 1969 (1998), in which the Government conceded that a § 2255 motion alleging a Bailey error amounted to a constitutional claim for the purposes of 28 U.S.C. § 2253(c)(2). Apker is in federal custody pursuant to his conditional guilty plea and resulting conviction on the charge of using or carrying a firearm equipped with a silencer or muffler during and in relation to a drug trafficking crime under 18 U.S.C. § 924(c). He appeals from the judgment of the District Court dismissing his § 2255 motion for procedural default. Recognizing that this case rests at the confluence of recent Supreme Court decisions, we reverse the judgment of the District Court and remand the case for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.

We begin with only a brief description of the criminal activity that resulted in Apker's eventual plea of guilty to a single violation of § 924(c), and then move to the procedural history of the case. More thorough recitations of the facts surrounding this case are reported at United States v. Friend, 101 F.3d 557 (8th Cir. 1996), and United States v. Lucht, 18 F.3d 541 (8th Cir. 1994).

A lengthy investigation of a large-scale conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine involving Apker and other members of the Omaha Chapter of the Hell's Angels Motorcycle Club culminated in October 1990 with the execution of search warrants at the homes of Apker and other club members. The search of Apker's home revealed a hidden safe containing a firearm equipped with a silencer, ten pounds of methamphetamine, a large amount of cutting agent, and approximately $200,000 in cash.

A thirty-three-count superseding indictment charged Apker and his co- defendants with conspiring to distribute and possess with the intent to distribute methamphetamine in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 841(a)(1) and 846. The indictment also alleged numerous related crimes, including that Apker used or carried a firearm equipped with a silencer or muffler during and in relation to a drug trafficking crime in violation of § 924(c). In exchange for the Government's promise to dismiss the indictment as it pertained to Apker, Apker agreed to enter a conditional plea of guilty to a one-count information charging him with a single violation of § 924(c).

-2- Consistent with the plea agreement, Apker entered a conditional plea of guilty in the District Court and reserved the right to appeal the court's previous denial of certain motions to suppress evidence. At the change of plea hearing, the court carefully explained the elements of the § 924(c) violation and repeatedly confirmed that Apker understood the court's explanation. Furthermore, the court explained to Apker that mere possession of a firearm with a silencer "in and of itself wouldn't constitute sufficient evidence to convict you of the crime with which you are charged. You've got to have actually used or carried that firearm in the commission of a drug trafficking crime, all as I have heretofore explained to you." Hearing Tr. at 81. Finally, the court informed Apker that his guilty plea must be entered with knowledge of all the matters contained in Apker's plea petition and discussed at the plea hearing. Apker responded that he understood and maintained his conditional plea of guilty.

The court accepted Apker's plea and sentenced him to thirty years in federal prison and five years of supervised release. On direct appeal, Apker challenged the District Court's adverse suppression rulings, but did not challenge the validity of his plea. We affirmed the suppression rulings of the District Court. See Lucht, 18 F.3d at 546-50.

Nearly two years later, the Supreme Court decided in Bailey v. United States, 516 U.S. 137, 144 (1995), that the term "uses" in § 924(c) requires "active employment" of a firearm and, therefore, rejected the less rigorous standard that was the settled law of this Circuit. See United States v. Hellbusch, 147 F.3d 782, 783 (8th Cir. 1998) (recognizing Bailey's rejection of the "mere presence, availability or proximity" standard).

Claiming that his conviction was defective in light of Bailey, Apker filed a motion to vacate his sentence and withdraw his guilty plea pursuant to § 2255 and Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 32(e). The District Court dismissed the motion with prejudice because Apker, by pleading guilty, had waived all non-jurisdictional

-3- challenges, including any claim of factual innocence and any right to challenge the meaning of the terms of § 924(c).

Apker then sought review of the denial of his § 2255 motion in this Court. We denied Apker the certificate of appealability necessary for his appeal under the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 (AEDPA), 28 U.S.C. § 2253(c)(1),1 because Apker did not assert the denial of a constitutional right as required by AEDPA, 28 U.S.C. § 2253(c)(2).2 See Apker, 101 F.3d at 75. For this determination, we relied upon Hohn v. United States, 99 F.3d 892 (8th Cir. 1996) (per curiam), reversed, 118 S. Ct. 1969 (1998), in which this Court held that a § 2255 claim of Bailey error is not a constitutional claim for the purposes of AEDPA because "Bailey did no more than interpret a statute, and an incorrect application of a statute by a district court, or any other court, does not violate the Constitution." Hohn, 99 F.3d at 893. Apker thereafter petitioned for certiorari to the United States Supreme Court.

While Apker's petition for certiorari was pending, the Supreme Court vacated and remanded our decision in Hohn because "the Government now found itself in agreement with Hohn, saying his claim was, in fact, constitutional in nature." Hohn, 118 S. Ct. at 1972. One week later, the Supreme Court granted Apker's petition for certiorari, vacated our judgment, and remanded Apker's case to this Court for further consideration in light of the Government's concession in Hohn. See Apker, 118 S.

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