United States v. Samuel Lee Lynch

CourtCourt of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
DecidedAugust 1, 2023
Docket16-12638
StatusUnpublished

This text of United States v. Samuel Lee Lynch (United States v. Samuel Lee Lynch) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Eleventh 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. Samuel Lee Lynch, (11th Cir. 2023).

Opinion

USCA11 Case: 16-12638 Document: 97-1 Date Filed: 08/01/2023 Page: 1 of 18

[DO NOT PUBLISH] In the United States Court of Appeals For the Eleventh Circuit

____________________

No. 16-12638 Non-Argument Calendar ____________________

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff-Appellee, versus SAMUEL LEE LYNCH, REO THOMAS NANCE,

Defendants-Appellants.

Appeals from the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida D.C. Docket No. 8:15-cr-00171-SCB-JSS-1 USCA11 Case: 16-12638 Document: 97-1 Date Filed: 08/01/2023 Page: 2 of 18

2 Opinion of the Court 16-12638

Before WILLIAM PRYOR, Chief Judge, and JILL PRYOR and TJOFLAT, Circuit Judges. PER CURIAM: A jury in the Middle District of Florida convicted Appellants Samuel Lee Lynch and Reo Thomas Nance of conspiracy to com- mit Hobbs Act robbery, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1951(a); Hobbs Act robbery, in violation of § 1951(a); discharging or brandishing a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 924(c)(1)(A)(ii)–(iii); and being a felon in possession of a firearm or ammunition, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1). The District Court sentenced Lynch to life in prison and Nance to 624 months in prison. Lynch and Nance both argue on appeal that their Hobbs Act robbery convictions are not predicate crimes of violence for pur- poses of their § 924(c) convictions. Lynch also argues that his pre- vious Florida felony convictions for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and aggravated battery on a law enforcement of- ficer with a deadly weapon are not predicate offenses for his sen- tencing enhancements under U.S.S.G. § 4B1.1 and 18 U.S.C. §§ 924(e) and 3559(c). After careful review, we affirm. I. We review de novo whether an offense qualifies as a crime of violence under § 924(c). Steiner v. United States, 940 F.3d 1282, 1288 (11th Cir. 2019) (per curiam). However, an argument raised for the USCA11 Case: 16-12638 Document: 97-1 Date Filed: 08/01/2023 Page: 3 of 18

16-12638 Opinion of the Court 3

first time on appeal is reviewed only for plain error. United States v. Rodriguez, 751 F.3d 1244, 1251 (11th Cir. 2014). Similarly, where a defendant fails to clearly state the grounds for his objection in the district court, we review only for plain error. United States v. Ramirez-Flores, 743 F.3d 816, 821 (11th Cir. 2014). To establish plain error, a defendant must show “(1) error, (2) that is plain, and (3) that affects substantial rights.” Rodriguez, 751 F.3d at 1251–52 (quoting United States v. Moriarty, 429 F.3d 1012, 1019 (11th Cir. 2005)). Plain error review is discretionary, but “the court of appeals should exer- cise its discretion to correct the forfeited error if the error seriously affects the fairness, integrity or public reputation of judicial pro- ceedings.” Molina-Martinez v. United States, 578 U.S. 189, 195, 136 S. Ct. 1338, 1343 (2016) (internal quotations and citations omitted). To satisfy the plain error rule, an asserted error must be clear from the plain meaning of a statute or constitutional provision, or from a holding of this Court or the Supreme Court. United States v. Morales, 987 F.3d 966, 976 (11th Cir.), cert. denied, 142 S. Ct. 500 (2021). Even if an error was not “‘plain’ at the time of sentenc- ing, . . . it is enough that the error be ‘plain’ at the time of appellate consideration.” United States v. Rodriguez, 398 F.3d 1291, 1299 (11th Cir. 2005) (quoting Johnson v. United States, 520 U.S. 461, 468, 117 S. Ct. 1544, 1549 (1997)). A plain error affected a defendant’s substantial rights if it was prejudicial, meaning the error actually made a difference in the de- fendant’s sentence. Rodriguez, 398 F.3d at 1300. If the appellate court would have to speculate that the result would have been USCA11 Case: 16-12638 Document: 97-1 Date Filed: 08/01/2023 Page: 4 of 18

4 Opinion of the Court 16-12638

different, the defendant has not met the burden to show that his substantial rights have been affected. Id. at 1301. In this case, neither Lynch nor Nance argued in the District Court—in their motions for judgment of acquittal or otherwise— that their convictions for Hobbs Act robbery did not qualify as crimes of violence under § 924(c). Instead, they maintained throughout the proceedings below that they were innocent of the underlying crimes. And while both objected to the entirety of the relevant offense conduct in their respective presentence investiga- tion reports (“PSR”), they did so only on the broad grounds that they were factually innocent on all counts of conviction. Accord- ingly, Lynch and Nance have not properly preserved this issue for appeal, and so we review only for plain error. Section 924(c) prohibits using or carrying a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence or possessing a firearm in furtherance of any such crime. 18 U.S.C. § 924(c)(1). It also pro- vides increased penalties, including a mandatory consecutive sen- tence, for those who brandish or discharge a firearm while com- mitting a crime of violence. Id. § 924(c)(1)(A)(ii)–(iii), (c)(1)(D)(ii). A “crime of violence” within the meaning of § 924(c) means that an offense is a felony and (A) has as an element the use, attempted use, or threatened use of physical force against the person or property of another, or (B) that by its nature, involves a substantial risk that physical force against the person or USCA11 Case: 16-12638 Document: 97-1 Date Filed: 08/01/2023 Page: 5 of 18

16-12638 Opinion of the Court 5

property of another may be used in the course of committing the offense. Id. § 924(c)(3). We refer to § 924(c)(3)(A) as the “elements clause,” and § 924(c)(3)(B) as the “residual clause.” See, e.g., Thompson v. United States, 924 F.3d 1153, 1155 (11th Cir. 2019). Lynch and Nance were convicted under § 924(c) for bran- dishing a firearm during the commission of a Hobbs Act robbery. Lynch was also convicted for discharging a firearm during the com- mission of a Hobbs Act robbery. They maintain that those convic- tions are invalid because Hobbs Act robbery does not qualify as a “crime of violence” under § 924(c). In United States v. St. Hubert, we rejected a similar challenge to a defendant’s § 924(c) conviction and held that Hobbs Act robbery qualified as a crime of violence under both the elements clause and the residual clause of § 924(c)(3). 909 F.3d 335, 344–46 (11th Cir. 2018), abrogated in part by United States v. Davis, 139 S. Ct. 2319, 2336 (2019); see also In re Saint Fleur, 824 F.3d 1337, 1340–41 (11th Cir.

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