United States v. Ossana

638 F.3d 895, 2011 U.S. App. LEXIS 8320, 2011 WL 1517492
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
DecidedApril 22, 2011
Docket10-2205
StatusPublished
Cited by52 cases

This text of 638 F.3d 895 (United States v. Ossana) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Eighth 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. Ossana, 638 F.3d 895, 2011 U.S. App. LEXIS 8320, 2011 WL 1517492 (8th Cir. 2011).

Opinion

MELLOY, Circuit Judge.

Timothy G. Ossana challenges the sentence he received after pleading guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm. He specifically challenges the district court’s calculation of a base offense level pursuant to U.S. Sentencing Guideline § 2K2.1(a)(4)(A), which applies when a defendant in unlawful possession of a firearm has a prior felony conviction for a “crime of violence.” Ossana argues the government failed to establish that a prior Arizona conviction for aggravated assault qualified as a crime of violence. We reverse and remand for resentencing.

I.

In Ossana’s presentence investigation report, the probation office recommended a base offense level of twenty pursuant to U.S.S.G. § 2K2.1(a)(4)(A) because Ossana had obtained a prior conviction for a “crime of violence.” Without a prior conviction for a crime of violence, the base offense level would have been fourteen. See U.S.S.G. § 2K2.1(a)(6). In support of its recommendation, the probation office recited a conviction for “aggravated Assault, Deadly Weapon/Dangerous Instrument, Superior Court, Pima County, Arizona Docket No. CR-62031.” 1 Prior to his sentencing hearing, Ossana objected to several paragraphs of the PSR including the paragraph listing the Arizona offense and, by reference, the paragraph stating the prior offense qualified as a crime of violence. Ossana argued the base offense level should be fourteen rather than twenty, and he cited a document from the state-court record in which a judge had indicated the offense was “NONDANGEROUS; NONREPETITIVE.” In addition, Ossana claimed he was appealing the state conviction and the result of the appeal could impact his “offense level as well as his criminal history category.” The government made no objections to the PSR. The probation office responded to Ossana’s objection, stating no appeal had overturned the conviction, and “the conviction outlined in paragraph 59 for Aggravated Assault, Deadly Weapon/Dangerous Instrument, qualifies as a crime of violence pursuant to Section 4B1.2(a) and Application Note 1” based on “the elements of the offense.”

At the sentencing hearing, the parties addressed the issue of whether the Arizona conviction for Aggravated Assault *898 qualified as a violent felony, but only in terms of Ossana’s general objection. The only discussion of the state-court record focused on Ossana’s observation that the state-court judge’s written judgment classified the offense as “NONDANGEROUS, NONREPETITIVE.” The parties did not discuss the elements of the underlying Arizona statutory sections at issue, Ariz.Rev. Stat. §§ 13-1203 (simple assault) & 13-1204 (aggravating conditions). In fact, it appears section 13-1203 was not before the court. 2 The government submitted an exhibit containing state records, as discussed below, and Ossana did not object to the admission of these records.

On appeal to our court, Ossana for the first time presents more fully articulated arguments regarding the applicability of section 2K2.1(a)(4)(A). He renews his reference to the state-court materials identifying the offense as “NONDANGEROUS, NONREPETITIVE.” In addition, he discusses Ariz.Rev.Stat. §§ 13-1203 & 1204 in detail, characterizing the underlying assault statute, section 13-1203, as over-inclusive because it encompasses different offenses, only some of which satisfy the generic elements of assault as relevant for federal enhancement and recidivist provisions. In particular, he argues section 13-1203 defines assault to include various actions, one of which may be satisfied with a mens rea of mere recklessness (if an actual injury results), see Ariz.Rev.Stat. § 13-1203(A)(1) (“Intentionally, knowingly or recklessly causing any physical injury to another person”), and another one of which may be satisfied with mere insulting or provoking contact (without a requirement for a resultant injury, violent contact, or threats of violence), see id. (A)(3) (“Knowingly touching another person with the intent to ... insult or provoke such person”). He presents additional arguments related to the scope of permissible materials for use in applying the modified categorical approach, and the need to look beyond the state’s labels for its offenses to examine the elements of the underlying state offenses.

The government counters that we need look no further than the state’s label of “aggravated assault” for the underlying offense. In the alternative, the government argues state records show that Ossana was convicted pursuant to a subsection of the state statute that qualifies as a crime of violence because it has as an element the use or threatened use of force or because it qualifies as a crime of violence pursuant to the “residual clause.” We address these arguments below.

II.

The guideline provision for determining Ossana’s base offense level adds six levels to the base offense if the defendant has a prior conviction for a “crime of violence.” U.S.S.G. § 2K2.1(a)(4)(A). Section 2K2.1 does not itself define the term “crime of violence,” but the commentary to this section states, “ ‘Crime of violence’ has the meaning given that term in § 4B 1.2(a) and Application Note 1 of the Commentary to § 4B1.2.” Section 4B1.2(a), in turn, provides:

(a) The term “crime of violence” means any offense under federal or state law, punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year, that—
(1) has as an element the use, attempted use, or threatened use of *899 physical force against the person of another, or
(2) is burglary of a dwelling, arson, or extortion, involves use of explosives, or otherwise involves conduct that presents a serious potential risk of physical injury to another.

In addition, Application Note 1 of the Commentary to section 4B1.2 lists several example crimes that qualify as crimes of violence, including, among others, “murder, manslaughter, kidnapping, aggravated assault, forcible sex offenses.... ”

The government first argues that, given the listing of “aggravated assault” in the Commentary to section 4B1.2, we need look no further than the name Arizona chose to place on the statute of conviction, “Aggravated Assault,” or that appears on the written judgment, “Aggravated Assault/Deadly Weapon.” We disagree. In Taylor v. United States, 495 U.S. 575, 110 S.Ct. 2143, 109 L.Ed.2d 607 (1990), when addressing the definition of the term “burglary” as used in 18 U.S.C. § 924(e)(2)(B)(ii), 3 the Court held Congress intended the term to have one uniform definition — a definition comporting with “the generic sense in which the term is now used in the criminal code of most States.” Id.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
638 F.3d 895, 2011 U.S. App. LEXIS 8320, 2011 WL 1517492, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-ossana-ca8-2011.