United States v. Rayford Terrell

CourtCourt of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
DecidedFebruary 2, 2010
Docket08-10560
StatusPublished

This text of United States v. Rayford Terrell (United States v. Rayford Terrell) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Ninth 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. Rayford Terrell, (9th Cir. 2010).

Opinion

FOR PUBLICATION UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,  No. 08-10560 Plaintiff-Appellee, D.C. No. v.  2:05-CR-00923- RAYFORD L. TERRELL, FJM-1 Defendant-Appellant.  OPINION

Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Arizona Frederick J. Martone, District Judge, Presiding

Argued and Submitted December 7, 2009—San Francisco, California

Filed February 2, 2010

Before: A. Wallace Tashima, Susan P. Graber and Jay S. Bybee, Circuit Judges.

Opinion by Judge Bybee

1961 UNITED STATES v. TERRELL 1965 COUNSEL

Daniel R. Drake, Drake Law, PLC, Phoenix, Arizona, for the defendant-appellant.

Karla Hotis Delord, Assistant U.S. Attorney, Phoenix, Ari- zona, for the plaintiff-appellee.

OPINION

BYBEE, Circuit Judge:

Defendant-Appellant Rayford L. Terrell was convicted of one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm in viola- tion of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1). The district court enhanced Terrell’s sentence under the Armed Career Criminal Act (“ACCA”), 18 U.S.C. §§ 921-31, which raises the mandatory minimum sentence for convicted felons in possession of a firearm who have “three previous convictions . . . for a violent felony.” 18 U.S.C. § 924(e)(1). Terrell argues that the prior convictions relied upon for the enhancement—sexual assault under Arizona law, second-degree burglary under Arizona law, and second-degree burglary under Missouri law—do not qualify as “violent felon[ies]” under the ACCA. We hold that all of these prior offenses fit categorically within the ACCA’s residual clause in that they “involve[ ] conduct that presents a serious potential risk of physical injury to another.” Id. § 924(e)(2)(B)(ii). Thus, we affirm the district court’s deci- sion to enhance Terrell’s sentence.

I

On May 31, 2005, as part of a large-scale operation to iden- tify drug and firearm dealers, Phoenix Police Detective Mat- thew Shay met with Terrell, claiming that he wanted to purchase firearms. After several subsequent discussions and 1966 UNITED STATES v. TERRELL meetings with Terrell and with Terrell’s co-defendant, Cindy O’Quinn, Shay purchased a .380 caliber pistol from Terrell.

On September 20, 2006, Terrell was charged in the District of Arizona with one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 922(g)(1) and 924(a)(2). The indictment also alleged that, at the time of the offense, Terrell had previously been convicted of at least three felony offenses: (1) Burglary in the Second Degree on or about November 23, 1988, in Maricopa County, Arizona; (2) Sexual Assault on or about September 8, 1992, in Maricopa County, Arizona; and (3) Burglary in the Second Degree on or about March 3, 1993, in St. Louis County, Missouri. Fol- lowing a two-day trial, the jury found Terrell guilty as charged.

The Presentence Investigation Report (“PSR”) found that Terrell had “committed the instant offense subsequent to sus- taining three felony convictions for crimes of violence, as defined in U.S.S.G. § 4B1.2(a).” According to the PSR, these prior convictions made Terrell “an Armed Career Criminal within the meaning of U.S.S.G. § 4B1.4 and [therefore] sub- ject to an enhanced sentence under 18 U.S.C. § 924(e),” the ACCA.1 These determinations resulted in an offense level of thirty-three. The PSR then found that Terrell’s offense level of thirty-three and criminal history category of VI resulted in a Sentencing Guidelines range of 235 to 293 months.

Terrell objected to the PSR, arguing that the alleged prior felony convictions were not “violent felon[ies]” and therefore that Terrell was not subject to an enhanced sentence under the 1 The definition of “violent felony” under the ACCA is nearly identical to the definition of “crime of violence” under § 4B1.2 of the Guidelines, so we have interpreted these provisions in a “parallel manner.” United States v. Jennings, 515 F.3d 980, 990 n.11 (9th Cir. 2008). In order to avoid confusion, we will discuss Terrell’s convictions in terms of the ACCA, but the analysis applies equally to § 4B1.2. UNITED STATES v. TERRELL 1967 ACCA. The district court overruled Terrell’s objections to the PSR and held that Terrell’s prior convictions qualified him as an armed career criminal under the ACCA. The court stated:

I think . . . the whole approach to the categorization of prior offenses as crimes of violence . . . is really needlessly complex . . . . And the case law that has developed . . . contributes, I think, to the wholesale confusion in this area . . . . We, I think, intuitively know what Congress is trying to do, and yet given all the gloss and all the complexity, its intent is sometimes frustrated . . . . [I]t strikes me that at the end of the day, whether [Terrell’s prior offenses] fit nicely within the categorical approach or the modi- fied categorical approach, that, at a minimum, they fit within the residual clause of [the ACCA] as vio- lent felonies.

However, the court granted the government’s motion for a downward departure of two levels for substantial assistance and sentenced Terrell at the low end of the post-departure Guidelines range: 188 months’ imprisonment, followed by a five-year term of supervised release. Terrell timely appealed.

II

Terrell argues that the district court erred in imposing an enhanced sentence under the ACCA, contending that his prior felony convictions do not qualify as “violent felon[ies].”2 “We 2 Terrell also argues that the enhancement of his sentence violated the Sixth Amendment because the prosecution did not prove his prior convic- tions to a jury beyond a reasonable doubt. He argues that the Supreme Court’s rule announced in Almendarez-Torres v. United States, 523 U.S. 224 (1998), namely that prior convictions need not be proved to a jury, see id. at 247, has been called into question by the Court’s subsequent deci- sions in Jones v. United States, 526 U.S. 227 (1999), and Apprendi v. New Jersey, 530 U.S. 466 (2000). However, Terrell acknowledges that this position is contrary to Ninth Circuit law. See United States v. Grisel, 488 F.3d 844, 846 (9th Cir. 2007) (en banc). He raises the issue only so as not to forfeit it. 1968 UNITED STATES v. TERRELL review de novo whether a prior conviction is a predicate fel- ony under the ACCA.” United States v. Grisel, 488 F.3d 844, 846 (9th Cir. 2007) (en banc). We first review the complex statutory and legal framework governing this case.

[1] Terrell was convicted under 18 U.S.C. § 922(g), which prohibits previously convicted felons from possessing fire- arms.

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Coker v. Georgia
433 U.S. 584 (Supreme Court, 1977)
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Almendarez-Torres v. United States
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Jones v. United States
526 U.S. 227 (Supreme Court, 1999)
Apprendi v. New Jersey
530 U.S. 466 (Supreme Court, 2000)
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United States v. Darrel Duane Grisel
488 F.3d 844 (Ninth Circuit, 2007)
United States v. Cantrell
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United States v. Mayer
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