United States v. Kendall

876 F.3d 1264
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit
DecidedDecember 11, 2017
Docket16-6344
StatusPublished
Cited by41 cases

This text of 876 F.3d 1264 (United States v. Kendall) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Tenth 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. Kendall, 876 F.3d 1264 (10th Cir. 2017).

Opinion

TYMKOVICH, Chief Judge.

Anthony Kendall pleaded guilty to forcibly assaulting a federal officer and inflicting a bodily injury in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 111(b). Kendall had two prior felony convictions: a federal conviction for aggravated assault while carrying a firearm and a conviction for assault on a District of Columbia police officer in violation-of a local provision, D.C. Code 22-405(c).

At sentencing, the district court held all three of these convictions supported a career offender sentence enhancement because each constituted a crime of violence under the United States Sentencing Guidelines (USSG). Kendall contends the district court erred in so classifying his conviction under 18 U.S.C. § 111(b) in this case and his prior conviction under D.C. Code 22-405(c).

Exercising jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291, wé affirm Kendall’s sentence because all three of his convictions constitute crimes of violence.

Í. Background

The Guidelines classify a defendant as a career offender if his current conviction constitutes a felony crime of violence and he has two prior convictions that likewise qualify as crimes of 'violence. 1 USSG § 4B.L1.

This case arises from Kendall’s conviction under 18 U.S.C. § 111(b) for forcibly assaulting a federal officer and inflicting a bodily injury. The presentence investigation report revealed that Kendall had two prior convictions, one for aggravated assault while armed and another for assault on a police officer in violation of D.C. Code § 22-405(c).

Section 111 provides in relevant part,

(a) In general.—Whoever—
(1) forcibly, assaults, resists, opposes, impedes, intimidates, or interferes with any person designated in section 1114 of this title while engaged in or on account of the performance of official duties .., shall, where the acts in violation of this section constitute only simple assault, be fined under this, title or imprisoned not more than one year, or both, and where such acts involve physical contact with the victim of that assault or the intent to commit another felony, be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than 8 years, or both.
(b) Enhanced penalty.—-Whoever, in the commission of any acts described in subsection (a), uses a deadly or dangerous weapon (including a weapon intended to cause death or danger but that fails to do so by reason of a defective component) or inflicts bodily .injury, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than 20 years, or both.

18 U.S.C. § 111 (emphasis added).

The D.C. Code provides,

(b). Whoever without justifiable and excusable cause, assaults, resists, opposes, impedes, intimidates, or .interferes with a law enforcement officer on account of, or while that law enforcement officer is engaged in the performance of his or her official duties shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, shall be imprisoned not more than 180 days or fined not more than $1,000, or both.
(c) A person who violates subsection (b) of this section and causes significant bodily injury to the law enforcement officer, or commits a violent act that creates a grave risk of causing significant bodily injury to the officer, shall be guilty of a felony and, upon conviction, shall be imprisoned not more than 10 years or fined not more than $10,000, or both.

D.C.: Code § 22-405 (2009) (emphasis added). 2

II. . Analysis

Kendall concedes aggravated assault while armed qualifies as a crime of violence, but argues 18 U.S.C. § 111 and D.C. Code § 22-405 do not constitute crimes of violence. Specifically, Kendall claims one can violate both statutes without the use, attempted use, or threatened use of violent physical force—the degree of force required to commit a crime of violence. Without those two convictions, he cannot qualify as a career offender. As we explain in turn, both provisions properly interpreted under controlling Supreme Court precedent qualify as crimes of violence.

A Background Principles

Before we turn to the 'statutes, a brief review of the legal principles applicable to the career-offender enhancement will be helpful. The Guidelines define a crime of violence as any federal or state offense punishable by imprisonment for more than one year that “has as an element the use, attempted use, or threatened use of physical force against the person of another.” USSG § 4B1.2. The Supreme Court explained that “physical force” means “violent force—that is, force capable of causing physical pain or injury to another person.” Johnson v. United States, 559 U.S. 133, 140, 130 S.Ct. 1265, 176 L.Ed.2d 1 (2010).

To determine if a specific conviction constitutes a crime of violence, courts always apply the so-called categorical approach. See Mathis v. United States, — U.S. -, 136 S.Ct. 2243, 2248, 195 L.Ed.2d 604 (2016); United States v. Taylor, 843 F.3d 1215, 1220 (10th Cir. 2016), cert. denied, 843 F.3d 1215 (2016). 3 The categorical approach focuses solely on the “elements of the statute forming the basis of the defendant’s conviction”; the specific facts of the .defendant’s case are irrelevant. Descamps v. United States, 570 U.S. 254, 133 S.Ct. 2276, 2281, 186 L.Ed.2d 438 (2013). To apply the categorical approach, we compare the statute of conviction’s elements to the Guidelines’ definition of a crime of violence. United States v. Titties, 852 F.3d 1257, 1268 (10th Cir. 2017). If the “statute sweeps more broadly” than the Guidelines’ definition of a crime of violence—that is, if someone could be convicted of violating the statute, but not commit a crime of violence—the statute cannot categorically be considered a crime of violence.. Id. at 1266. Put differently, if someone can violate the statute in many different ways, some of which meet the definition of a crime of violence and some of which do not, the statute does not constitute a crime of violence.

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Bluebook (online)
876 F.3d 1264, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-kendall-ca10-2017.