United States v. Goodridge

392 F. Supp. 3d 159
District Court, District of Columbia·Decided July 23, 2019·No. Criminal Action No. 96-30015·Published·Cited by 4 cases

Opinion

MASTROIANNI, U.S.D.J.

I. INTRODUCTION

On June 23, 1997, a federal jury found Ralph A. Goodridge ("Defendant") guilty *163of three counts: bank robbery in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2113(a) (Count One), using and carrying a firearm during a crime of violence in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 924(c)(1) (Count Two),1 and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon in violation of 18 U.S.C § 922(g)(1) (Count Four). Defendant was sentenced to life imprisonment on Count One pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 3559(c)(1) (commonly known as the "three strikes law"), which mandated a life sentence for a person convicted of "a serious violent felony" if he or she had two or more convictions of "serious violent felonies" on separate prior occasions. Defendant also was sentenced to life imprisonment on Count Four pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 924(e)(1) (the Armed Career Criminal Act or "ACCA"), which prescribed a mandatory minimum penalty of 15 years imprisonment and a maximum of life for a person who violates section 922(g) and "has three previous convictions" for "a violent felony" committed on different occasions. In addition, Defendant was sentenced to ten years of imprisonment on Count Two, which was to be served consecutively to the life sentences.

On July 20, 2016, the First Circuit granted Defendant's application for leave to file a second or successive motion pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2255. In his Amended Second or Successive 28 U.S.C. § 2255 Motion to Vacate, Defendant challenges the life sentences imposed pursuant to the ACCA and 18 U.S.C. § 3559(c), as well as the ten-year sentence for violating 18 U.S.C. § 924(c)(1), based on the principles set forth in Johnson v. United States , --- U.S. ----, 135 S. Ct. 2551, 192 L.Ed.2d 569 (2015), and its progeny. For the following reasons, the court concludes Defendant has met his burden of demonstrating the illegality of his life sentences on Counts One and Four, but he has not done so with respect to his conviction and ten-year sentence on Count Two.

II. BACKGROUND AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

Following Defendant's conviction, the United States Probation Office prepared a presentence report ("PSR") in advance of sentencing. (Dkt. No. 311-1, PSR.) Among other information, the PSR recounted Defendant's prior convictions. It identified the following convictions as predicate violent felonies under the ACCA: Massachusetts breaking and entering in the daytime as a juvenile in 1969 (¶ 46); Massachusetts assault and battery on a corrections officer in 1973 (¶ 66); Massachusetts assault and battery with a dangerous weapon ("ABDW"), and assault on a prison guard in 1977 (¶ 77); assault on a federal officer in 1979 (¶ 80); and Massachusetts armed robbery while masked (five counts), and assault with a dangerous weapon ("ADW") (ten counts) in 1985 (¶ 81). (See PSR ¶ 85.) The PSR also identified as predicate serious violent felonies under 18 U.S.C. § 3559(c)(1) the 1977 convictions for ABDW and assault on a prison guard (¶ 77), as well as the 1985 convictions for armed robbery while masked and ADW (¶ 81). (See id. ¶ 125a.)

At Defendant's sentencing hearing on November 6, 1997, the court (Freedman, J.) explicitly found that the predicate convictions identified in the PSR "at paragraphs 46, 66, 77, 80, and 81" qualified him for Armed Career Criminal status, and thus an enhanced penalty, under 18 U.S.C. § 924(e)(1). (Dkt. No. 297-4 at 4.) The court also found that "there were at least two, if not more, previous acts of violence that this defendant was involved in prior to this particular case ... that puts the defendant *164squarely within the three strikes and you're out provisions of" 18 U.S.C. § 3559(c) and therefore mandated a prison sentence of life. (Id. at 4-6.) Accordingly, the court sentenced Defendant to "terms of life imprisonment on Count 1 and 4 to be served concurrently ... followed by a sentence of imprisonment for ten years on Count 2." (Id. at 8.)

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United States v. Goodridge, 392 F. Supp. 3d 159 (D.D.C. 2019).

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