United States v. Lawrence Johnson

708 F. App'x 245
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
DecidedSeptember 12, 2017
DocketCase 16-4003
StatusUnpublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 708 F. App'x 245 (United States v. Lawrence Johnson) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Sixth 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. Lawrence Johnson, 708 F. App'x 245 (6th Cir. 2017).

Opinion

BERNICE BOUIE DONALD, Circuit Judge.

Lawrence Johnson pleaded guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm. At sentencing, the district court determined that four of Johnson’s previous convictions under Ohio state law qualified as violent felonies under the Armed Career Criminal Act. The district court sentenced Johnson to an enhanced sentence of 180 months’ imprisonment, the minimum term allowable under the Act. For the reasons stated below, we REVERSE AND REMAND for resentencing.

I.

A.

In August 2015, Lawrence Johnson was arrested for being in possession of a firearm with a prior felony conviction after the police were called to the scene of an altercation between two. men in the parking lot of a supermarket in Youngstown, Ohio. Johnson was previously convicted of attempted robbery under Ohio Rev. Code Ann. §§ 2923.02(A) and 2911.02(A) (1982) on December 21, 1982, robbery under Ohio Rev.' Code Ann. § 2911.02(A) (1982) on May 13, 1983, robbery under Ohio Rev. Code Ann. § 2911.02(A)(2) on November 12, 1997, and complicity to commit aggravated robbery under Ohio Rev. Code Ann. §§ 2923.02(A)(2) and (F), and §§ 2911.01(A)(1) and (C) in September 2005. After his most recent arrest, Johnson entered a plea of guilty. In its pre-sentence investigation report, the U.S. Probation Office suggested that Johnson qualified as an armed career criminal in accordance with the Armed Career Criminal Act (“the ACCA”). Defense counsel objected to the application of the ACCA to Johnson’s sentence both in a sentencing memorandum and at the sentencing hearing itself. After considering the objection, the district court applied the armed career criminal enhancement to Johnson’s sentence, sentencing him to 180 months of incarceration, the minimum mandatory sentence allowed under the ACCA.

B.

This Court has jurisdiction over this matter under 28 U.S.C. § 1291 and 18 U.S.C. § 3742(a), as an appeal from a case from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio under 18 U.S.C. § 3231.

II.

Johnson appeals his sentence on the grounds that none of his prior convictions qualify as predicate offenses under the ACCA. Under the ACCA, an offense punishable by at least one year in prison may be designated as a “violent felony” where the offense (1) “has as an element the use, attempted use, or threatened use of physical force against the person of another,” also known as the elements clause; (2) is an enumerated offense, such as “burglary, arson, or extortion, [or] involves [the] use of explosives”; or (3) “otherwise involves conduct that presents a serious potential risk of physical injury to another,” also known as the residual clause. 18 U.S.C. § 924(e)(2)(B). The Supreme Court recently invalidated the residual clause in Johnson v. United States, 559 U.S. 133, 130 S.Ct. 1265, 176 L.Ed.2d 1 (2010), and Johnson has not been convicted of any of the enumerated offenses. This leaves the element-of-force clause as the sole avenue under which Johnson may qualify as an armed career criminal based on his prior convictions.

In determining whether a crime qualifies as a violent felony under the statute, we apply the categorical approach to determine whether the statutory definition of the prior state offense, rather than the underlying facts of the crime, requires the use, attempted use, or threatened use of physical force against another. United States v. Mitchell, 743 F.3d 1054, 1058 (6th Cir. 2014). Under this inquiry, we determine “whether the state statute defining the crime of conviction categorically fits within the generic federal definition of a corresponding aggravated felony.” Moncrieffe v. Holder, 569 U.S. 184, 133 S.Ct. 1678, 1684, 185 L.Ed.2d 727 (2013) (quotations and citations omitted). Because the analysis does not turn on the facts underlying the conviction, we presume that the conviction rests on the minimum conduct criminalized by the statute. Id. However, this does not mean that we will consider a state statute to have as an element the use of force based on a mere theoretical possibility “that the State would apply its statute to conduct that falls outside the generic definition of a crime.” Id. at 1685 (citation omitted).

“The meaning of ‘physical force’ in § 924(e)(2)(B)© is a question of federal law, not state law.” Johnson, 559 U.S. at 138, 130 S.Ct. 1265. The Supreme Court has defined “physical force” as understood by the ACCA as “violent force — that is, force capable of causing physical pain or injury to another person.” Id. at 140, 130 S.Ct. 1265. The force must be substantial such that unwanted touching is insufficient. Id. at 142, 130 S.Ct. 1265; see also United States v. Castleman, — U.S. -, 134 S.Ct. 1405, 1412, 188 L.Ed.2d 426 (2014) (“Minor uses of force may not constitute ‘violence’ in the generic sense.”). However, while the definition of physical force is governed by federal law, determining the meaning or scope of the underlying state crime (robbery and aggravated robbery in this case) is a question of state law, “including its guidance on the elements of the crime.” Mitchell, 743 F.3d at 1058-59. Johnson was convicted under two separate robbery statutes. He was convicted of attempted robbery and robbery under Ohio Rev. Code Ann. §§ 2923.02(A) and 2911.02(A) (1982) (“Pre-Senate Bill Two”) in 1982 and 1983. He was again convicted of robbery in 1997 under Ohio Rev. Code Ann. § 2911.02(A)(2) (“Post-Senate Bill Two”). Johnson was also convicted of complicity to commit aggravated robbery under Ohio Rev. Code Ann. §§ 2923.02(A)(2) and (F), and §§ 2911.01(A)(1) and (C) in 2005. He argues that none of these prior convictions may be classified as violent felonies under the elements clause of the ACCA. For the reasons below, we agree that Johnson’s Pre-Senate Bill robbery and attempted robbery convictions no longer qualify as violent felonies under the ACCA.

First, we address Johnson’s attempted robbery and robbery convictions under Pre-Senate Bill Two. We review de novo “a district court’s determination that a pri- or conviction qualifies as a ‘violent felony* under the ACCA.” United States v. Anderson, 695 F.3d 390, 399 (6th Cir. 2012) (citation omitted).

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708 F. App'x 245, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-lawrence-johnson-ca6-2017.