United States v. Ortiz-Gonzalez

32 F. Supp. 3d 785, 2013 WL 9042004, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 188363
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. Texas
DecidedSeptember 6, 2013
DocketCr. No. B-13-285
StatusPublished

This text of 32 F. Supp. 3d 785 (United States v. Ortiz-Gonzalez) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. Ortiz-Gonzalez, 32 F. Supp. 3d 785, 2013 WL 9042004, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 188363 (S.D. Tex. 2013).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

ANDREW S. HANEN, District Judge.

The Court is faced with Defendant’s objection to the Pre-sentence Investigation Report (“PSR”) prepared by the United States Probation Office. The PSR, as filed with the Court, included a sixteen-point sentencing enhancement to the level eight base offense pursuant to United States Sentencing Guideline § 2L1.2(b)(l)(A)(ii). The basis of the enhancement is Defendant’s prior conviction of robbery under Virginia law, which the PSR designated as a crime of violence. For the reasons below, Defendant’s objection to the sixteen-point enhancement is DENIED.

I. BACKGROUND

Defendant Samuel Ortiz-Gonzalez pleaded guilty to the charge of illegal reentry after deportation, having been previously convicted of an aggravated felony in violation of 8 U.S.C. §§ 1326(a) and 1326(b). His PSR contained a sixteen-point enhancement due to his prior robbery conviction in the Circuit Court of Alexandria, Virginia on October 5, 2000. Defendant objects to this sixteen-point enhancement on the grounds that Virginia robbery is distinct from the Sentencing Guidelines’ enumerated robbery offense.

II. DISCUSSION

A. Legal Background

Under the Sentencing Guidelines, § 1326(a) illegal reentry convictions are subject to an enhancement if the individual committed a prior crime of violence. U.S.S.G. § 2L1.2(b)(l)(A)(ii). The Sentencing Guidelines’ comments delineate two ‘crimes of violence’ categories: enumerated offenses and those within a ‘catchall’ provision. § 2L1.2 cmt. n. l(B)(iii). The enumerated offenses include “robbery” while the ‘catch-all’ provision includes “any other offense ... that has as an element the use, attempted use, or threatened use of physical force against the person of another.” Id.

To determine whether a prior state conviction falls within an enumerated offense, there are three analytical steps: (1) determining the prior state conviction (2) defining the enumerated offense and (3) comparing the state law with the enumerated offense.

First, when examining the prior conviction, “the analysis is grounded in the elements of the statute of conviction rather than a defendant’s specific conduct.” United States v. Rodriguez, 711 F.3d 541, 549 (5th Cir.2013) (en banc); United States v. Calderon-Pena, 383 F.3d 254, 257 (5th Cir.2004) (en banc).

Second, as the United States Supreme Court has explained, the Sentencing Guidelines’ enumerated offenses were produced by Congress’ use of “uniform, categorical definitions....” Taylor v. United States, 495 U.S. 575, 590, 110 S.Ct. 2143, 109 L.Ed.2d 607 (1990). However, the Sentencing Guidelines do not provide these uniform, categorical definitions for the enumerated crimes of violence. See United States v. Martinez-Flores, 720 F.3d 293, 295-96 (5th Cir.2013) (“The guidelines, however, do not define the enumerated crimes of violence.... ”). Therefore, courts must determine the enumerated offenses’ definitions before resolving whether the sentence enhancement applies. To address this task, the Fifth Circuit has applied a “ ‘common sense approach,’ de[788]*788fining each crime by its ‘generic, contemporary meaning.’ ” United States v. Martinez-Flores, 720 F.3d 293, 295-96 (5th Cir.2013) (citing United States v. Sanchez-Ruedas, 452 F.3d 409, 412 (5th Cir.2006)).

Most recently, the Fifth Circuit has also distinguished between the tests for common law and non-common law offenses when deriving the enumerated offenses’ generic, contemporary meaning. United States v. Rodriguez, 711 F.3d 541, 552 (5th Cir.2013) (en banc).1 Robbery has been recognized by the Fifth Circuit as a common law offense. United States v. Rodriguez, 711 F.3d 541, 552 n. 16 (5th Cir.2013) (en banc) (citing LaFave, Criminal Law, § 2.1(e) (5th ed.2010) (stating that robbery is a common law felony)). For common law offenses, the Fifth Circuit derives the ‘generic, contemporary meaning’ by examining sources including the Model Penal Code, criminal law treatises, legal dictionaries, and other state laws. See, e.g., United States v. Martinez-Flores, 720 F.3d 293, 296 (5th Cir.2013) (holding that New Jersey third-degree aggravated assault was not a crime of violence by examining the Model Penal Code and comparing it with the state offense); United States v. Esparza-Perez, 681 F.3d 228, 229-30 (5th Cir.2012) (looking to the Model Penal Code, LaFave’s Subst. CRIM. L., modern state codes, and dictionary definitions to derive the generic, contemporary meaning of “aggravated assault” in the § 2L1.2 enhancement); United States v. Gonzalez-Ramirez, 477 F.3d 310, 317-18 (5th Cir.2007) (looking to the Model Penal Code, modern state codes, and LaFave’s Subst. Crim. L. to derive the generic, contemporary meaning of “kidnapping” in the § 2L1.2 enhancement).

While the Fifth Circuit has not ruled that Virginia’s robbery crime constitutes an enumerated offense,2 it has used the ‘circumstances involving immediate danger’ test when examining Texas’ and California’s robbery crimes under the § 2L1.2 enumerated robbery offense. See United States v. Castillo-Zuniga, 270 Fed.Appx. 342, 344 (5th Cir.2008) (asking whether the crime involves “[immediate] danger to the person.”) (citing United States v. Santies-teban-Hernandez, 469 F.3d 376 (5th Cir.2006) abrogated by United States v. Rodriguez, 711 F.3d 541 (5th Cir.2013)) (altera[789]*789tion in original).3 The Fifth Circuit reasoned that “It is this immediate danger element that makes robbery deserving of greater punishment than that provided for larceny and extortion. Such danger is inherently present when property is taken by force or putting in fear.” United States v. Castillo-Zuniga, 270 Fed.Appx. 342, 343 (5th Cir.2008) (citing Santiesteban-Hernandez, 469 F.3d at 380) (internal quotation marks and alterations omitted).

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Bluebook (online)
32 F. Supp. 3d 785, 2013 WL 9042004, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 188363, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-ortiz-gonzalez-txsd-2013.