United States v. Herbert Brown

379 F. App'x 872
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
DecidedMay 17, 2010
Docket09-14142
StatusUnpublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 379 F. App'x 872 (United States v. Herbert Brown) 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. Herbert Brown, 379 F. App'x 872 (11th Cir. 2010).

Opinion

PER CURIAM:

Herbert Brown appeals his conviction and sentence, imposed after he pleaded guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition that affected interstate commerce, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 922(g)(1) and 924(e). On appeal, Brown argues that: (1) the district court erred in sentencing him as an armed career criminal, after finding that burglary under Florida law is a violent felony, pursuant to the Armed Career Criminal Act (“ACCA”), 18 U.S.C. § 924(e); (2) the district court violated his Fifth and Sixth Amendment rights because it considered prior convictions that were not charged in the indictment or found by a jury when sentencing him; and (3) Congress exceeded its Commerce Clause power by enacting 18 U.S.C. § 922(g) because the statute does not explicitly mention “interstate or foreign commerce.” We affirm.

Pursuant to a written plea agreement, Brown pleaded guilty to possession of a firearm and ammunition by a convicted felon and conceded that he was subject to a mandatory fifteen-year minimum sentence under the ACCA, 18 U.S.C. § 924(e). In the presentence investigation report (“PSI”), the probation officer identified the qualifying prior felonies as burglary of an unoccupied dwelling, burglary of an occupied dwelling, burglary of a strueture/con-veyanee, and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. Brown’s guidelines range was 262 to 327 months’ imprisonment.

Brown objected to his classification as an armed career criminal and the identification of his conviction for burglary of a structure as an predicate offense for purposes of the ACCA. Because he did not file these objections until three days before sentencing, however, the court deemed them untimely and declined to consider them on the merits.

After considering the sentencing factors in 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a), and noting Brown’s lengthy criminal history, the court sentenced Brown to the mandatory fifteen-year minimum under § 924(e)(1), which was significantly below the guidelines range. Brown now appeals.

I. ACCA Classification

Brown argues that he should not have been classified as an armed career criminal because burglary of an unoccupied structure should not qualify as a violent felony under 18 U.S.C. § 924(e)(1). He concedes that the law would need to “evolve[ ] in his favor” for this argument to succeed. He points out that the Florida burglary statute under which he was convicted expressly “rules out any violence to a person.”

We consider de novo whether a particular conviction is a “violent felony” for purposes of the ACCA. United States v. Wilkerson, 286 F.3d 1324, 1325 (11th Cir.2002). Under the ACCA, a person who violates 18 U.S.C. § 922(g) and has three previous convictions for a “violent felony,” a serious drug offense, or both, is an armed career criminal and subject to imprisonment for a *874 period of not less than 15 years. 18 U.S.C. § 924(e)(1). The ACCA defines a 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[.]

Id. § 924(e)(2)(B).

To determine whether a crime constitutes a violent felony, a court must follow a categorical approach in which it looks “only to the statutory definitions of the prior offenses, and not to the particular facts underlying those convictions.” Taylor v. United States, 495 U.S. 575, 600, 110 S.Ct. 2143, 109 L.Ed.2d 607 (1990). It should be noted at the outset that, although Brown refers to the felony at issue as “burglary of an unoccupied structure,” the PSI lists that particular case as a conviction for “burglary of a structure/conveyance.” That conviction was the only predicate conviction that Brown attempted to challenge.

Regardless of whether Brown’s 1988 burglary conviction constitutes a predicate felony under the ACCA, the district court did not err in sentencing Brown as an armed career criminal. Brown had four prior violent felony convictions, and the ACCA only requires that a defendant have three prior violent felonies to be sentenced as an armed career criminal. See 18 U.S.C. § 924(e). On appeal, Brown does not dispute that the other three convictions are predicate felonies. Thus, the district court properly sentenced him as an armed career criminal.

II. Violation of Fifth and Sixth Amendment Rights

Brown argues that the district court violated the Fifth and Sixth Amendments to the Constitution by sentencing him above his statutory maximum sentence for the indicted § 922(g) offense based on facts about his prior convictions that were not charged in the indictment or found by a jury. He concedes that his arguments are subject to plain error review, and that they are “arguably contrary” to our precedent but he seeks preservation of the issue for further review.

Brown failed to object to the court’s consideration of his prior convictions when sentencing him. When a party fails to raise an issue before the lower court, we review the issue for plain error. United States v. Jones, 289 F.3d 1260, 1265 (11th Cir.2002). Plain error occurs if (1) there was error, (2) that was plain, (3) that affected the defendant’s substantial rights, and (4) that seriously affected the “fairness, integrity, or public reputation of judicial proceedings.” Id. “[Ujnder the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment and the notice and jury trial guarantees of the Sixth Amendment, any fact (other than prior conviction) that increases the maximum penalty for a crime must be charged in an indictment, submitted to a jury, and proven beyond a reasonable doubt.” Apprendi v. New Jersey, 530 U.S. 466, 476, 120 S.Ct. 2348, 147 L.Ed.2d 435 (2000).

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Related

Brown v. United States
178 L. Ed. 2d 225 (Supreme Court, 2010)

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Bluebook (online)
379 F. App'x 872, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-herbert-brown-ca11-2010.