United States v. Morris

247 F.3d 1080, 2001 Colo. J. C.A.R. 1971, 2001 U.S. App. LEXIS 7102, 2001 WL 392055
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit
DecidedApril 18, 2001
Docket00-3076
StatusPublished
Cited by79 cases

This text of 247 F.3d 1080 (United States v. Morris) 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. Morris, 247 F.3d 1080, 2001 Colo. J. C.A.R. 1971, 2001 U.S. App. LEXIS 7102, 2001 WL 392055 (10th Cir. 2001).

Opinion

LUCERO, Circuit Judge.

DeMarques Morris was found guilty by a jury on two Hobbs Act counts, 18 U.S.C. § 1951, and five counts of using, brandishing, or discharging a firearm during a crime of violence, 18 U.S.C. § 924(c). On March 6, 2000, he was sentenced to 490 months imprisonment. This matter is before us on direct appeal of Morris’s convictions. We exercise jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291.

I

In the Spring of 1999, two Wichita grocery stores were robbed at gunpoint. During one of these robberies, a customer was injured by the discharge of a robber’s gun.

Approximately a month after the second robbery, on June 30,1999, Sh-Pone Harris and Elliot Toles were arrested following a robbery of a Burger King, also in Wichita. They were taken to the FBI’s Violent Crimes Task Force at approximately 5:30 p.m. During interrogation, Harris implicated a third suspect in the Burger King and grocery store robberies. He gave investigators information as to where they might find the third suspect, and the investigators set up surveillance at two spots at about 8:30 p.m. At 11:30 p.m., Morris, a.k.a. “Kidnap,” was arrested as he was coming out of a convenience store.

Morris was taken to the office of the FBI Violent Crimes Task Force and handcuffed to a table. At approximately 12:30 a.m. on July 1, a personal history on Morris was completed. Three hours later, *1083 agents Nevil and Pritchett returned to Morris and played portions of the recorded statements given to them by Toles and Harris. Thereafter, at 3:20 a.m., Morris signed a waiver of rights and gave an incriminating statement.

II

A. Double Jeopardy

Based on the two robberies, Morris was convicted of two Hobbs Act violations for interfering with commerce by robbery and of five § 924(c) violations for either using, brandishing, or discharging a firearm during a crime of violence. 1 Morris asserts his convictions violate the Double Jeopardy Clause because the five § 924(c) counts are multiplicitous 2 — that is, they are based on the same behavior— and because the § 924(c) counts constitute the same offenses as the Hobbs Act counts. We review his double jeopardy claims de novo. See United States v. Pearson, 203 F.3d 1243, 1267 (10th Cir.2000); United States v. McIntosh, 124 F.3d 1330, 1336 (10th Cir.1997).

The Double Jeopardy Clause provides that no “person [shall] be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb.” U.S. Const, amend. V. This protection applies not only to successive prosecutions, but also to successive punishments for the same offense. United States v. Dixon, 609 U.S. 688, 696, 113 S.Ct. 2849, 125 L.Ed.2d 556 (1993). This Court has held that a “person may be prosecuted for more than one crime based on the same conduct (1) if each crime requires proof of a fact that the other does not or (2) if Congress has clearly expressed its intent to impose cumulative punishment for the same conduct under different statutory provisions.” Pearson, 203 F.3d at 1267-68 (citing Blockburger v. United States, 284 U.S. 299, 304, 52 S.Ct. 180, 76 L.Ed. 306 (1932), and Garrett v. United States, 471 U.S. 773, 778, 105 S.Ct. 2407, 85 L.Ed.2d 764 (1985)); see also United States v. Overstreet, 40 F.3d 1090, 1094-95 (10th Cir.1994) (holding that the Double Jeopardy Clause is not violated if Congress intended to impose cumulative punishment through two different statutes prohibiting the same conduct; thus, convictions for carjacking and § 924(c) counts did not violate the Double Jeopardy Clause).

1. Multiple § 924(c) Convictions

Multiplicitous counts are “improper because they allow multiple punishments for a single criminal offense.” McIntosh, *1084 124 F.3d at 1336. “We have held that consecutive sentences may be imposed for multiple 924(c) counts if the offenses underlying each 924(c) count do not constitute a single offense for double jeopardy purposes.” United States v. Sturmoski, 971 F.2d 452, 461 (10th Cir.1992) (citing United States v. Chalan, 812 F.2d 1302, 1315-17 (10th Cir.1987)). We have also concluded that concurrent sentences for multiple § 924(c) violations cannot be imposed where consecutive sentences are prohibited by double jeopardy. See United States v. Moore, 958 F.2d 310, 313-14 & n. 5 (10th Cir.1992).

Our multiplicity analysis focuses on the number of offenses underlying the punishments imposed. United States v. Callwood, 66 F.3d 1110, 1114 & n. 4 (10th Cir.1995); see also Chalan, 812 F.2d at 1317 (holding that because defendant only committed a single crime of violence for double jeopardy purposes, two § 924(c) convictions could not be sustained). Accordingly, we have held that a single predicate offense cannot sustain multiple § 924(c) violations simply because a defendant employed multiple firearms. See, e.g., United States v. Rogers, 921 F.2d 1089, 1092-93 (10th Cir.1990); United States v. Henning, 906 F.2d 1392, 1399 (10th Cir.1990).

In the instant case, Morris was convicted of two Hobbs Act violations, each of which may serve as a predicate offense for a § 924(c) violation. 3 As dictated by our precedent, the commission of two Hobbs Act violations can support convictions on only two § 924(c) violations. Accordingly, we conclude that Morris’s rights under the Double Jeopardy Clause were violated when the district court entered five judgments of conviction on § 924(c) counts on the basis of only two predicate offenses.

Appellee argues that the district court’s entry of judgment on additional § 924(c) convictions was harmless to defendant because the sentences run concurrently to those on the properly entered judgments of conviction. Our precedent, however, expressly forecloses this argument. See Moore, 958 F.2d at 313-14 & n. 5. There are “potential adverse collateral consequences [arising from separate convictions] that may not be ignored.” Ball v.

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Bluebook (online)
247 F.3d 1080, 2001 Colo. J. C.A.R. 1971, 2001 U.S. App. LEXIS 7102, 2001 WL 392055, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-morris-ca10-2001.