United States v. Shawn Christopher Wright

CourtCourt of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
DecidedAugust 4, 2023
Docket22-5452
StatusUnpublished

This text of United States v. Shawn Christopher Wright (United States v. Shawn Christopher Wright) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Sixth 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. Shawn Christopher Wright, (6th Cir. 2023).

Opinion

NOT RECOMMENDED FOR PUBLICATION File Name: 23a0357n.06

Case No. 22-5452

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE SIXTH CIRCUIT FILED Aug 04, 2023 DEBORAH S. HUNT, Clerk ) UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, ) Plaintiff-Appellee, ) ON APPEAL FROM THE ) UNITED STATES DISTRICT v. ) COURT FOR THE EASTERN ) DISTRICT OF TENNESSEE SHAWN CHRISTOPHER WRIGHT, ) Defendant-Appellant. ) OPINION )

Before: COLE, READLER, and DAVIS, Circuit Judges.

DAVIS, Circuit Judge. In 2019, authorities discovered firearms and drugs in Shawn

Wright’s truck. Wright was charged in a federal indictment with being a felon in possession of

firearms and ammunition and possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine. He pleaded

guilty to both charges.

At sentencing, Wright and the government disputed whether he was a “career offender”

under the United States Sentencing Guidelines. If deemed a career offender, Wright’s Guidelines

range would increase by over five years. Wright argued that his earlier conviction for second-

degree assault under Kentucky law was not a predicate offense for career-offender status because

it was not a “crime of violence” as defined in the Guidelines. More specifically, Wright claimed

that because Kentucky’s second-degree-assault statute was indivisible and criminalized

“wanton[]” conduct, it did not satisfy the “elements” clause of the “crime of violence” definition. Case No. 22-5452, United States v. Wright

The district court disagreed. It concluded that the assault conviction was a crime of violence, that

Wright had the necessary career-offender predicates, and that the Guidelines range would be

enhanced accordingly. The district court sentenced Wright to the bottom of that enhanced range,

188 months’ imprisonment. In doing so, the court noted that even if Wright did not have the

requisite predicates for the career-offender designation, it would impose the same sentence because

it deemed him a “de facto” career offender.

Wright appeals. As explained below, regardless of whether his second-degree assault

conviction qualifies as a crime of violence under the elements clause, Wright has not shown that

the district court’s alternate basis for imposing a 188-month sentence was unreasonable.

Therefore, we AFFIRM on that basis alone.

I.

In November 2019, a sheriff’s deputy was dispatched to a residence in Harrogate,

Tennessee to investigate a possible burglary. Upon arrival, the deputy saw a clawfoot bathtub

loaded in the bed of Wright’s truck. The deputy spoke to the homeowner and learned that neither

Wright nor the other suspect, Toni Andrews, had permission to take the tub. So, the deputy

arrested both suspects. Authorities then searched the truck and found a loaded revolver, a loaded

AR-15 rifle, and loaded magazines. They also found 40 grams of methamphetamine, 3.5 grams

of suspected heroin, and 49 suspected clonazepam pills. Andrews denied knowledge of the rifle

and drugs, and Wright admitted that he stored the revolver in the truck. Wright also divulged that

he was a convicted felon.

A grand jury charged Wright with being a felon in possession of firearms and ammunition,

in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1), and possession with intent to distribute five or more grams

-2- Case No. 22-5452, United States v. Wright

of methamphetamine, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1), (b)(1)(B). Wright pleaded guilty to

both charges.

Ahead of sentencing, a United States probation officer prepared a presentence investigation

report (“PSR”). After reviewing Wright’s criminal history, the officer concluded that Wright was

a “career offender” under the United States Sentencing Guidelines. A defendant is a career

offender under the Guidelines if, among other things, he has at least two prior felony convictions

of either a “crime of violence” or a “controlled substance offense.” U.S.S.G. § 4B1.1(a). As

relevant here, one of the two predicate offenses the probation officer identified was a Kentucky

second-degree-assault conviction from 2001. If deemed a career offender, Wright’s Guidelines

range would increase—from 120–150 months’ imprisonment to 188–235 months’ imprisonment.

Wright objected to the PSR’s designation of his Kentucky second-degree-assault

conviction as a “crime of violence.” The Guidelines define “crime of violence” as any felony that

(1) “has as an element the use, attempted use, or threatened use of physical force against the person

of another” (the “elements clause”); or (2) is an enumerated crime, including “aggravated assault”

(the “enumerated clause”). Id. § 4B1.2(a). Wright pointed out that the Supreme Court had recently

concluded that the identically worded elements clause in the Armed Career Criminal Act did not

include “reckless” crimes. See Borden v. United States, 141 S. Ct. 1817, 1825 (2021). And he

argued that under Kentucky law, wanton conduct is the equivalent of reckless conduct and that

Kentucky’s second-degree-assault statute criminalized wanton conduct. Wright therefore claimed

that under Borden, his second-degree-assault conviction did not satisfy § 4B1.2(a)’s elements

clause. As for the enumerated clause, Wright argued that wanton second-degree assault was

broader than the enumerated offense of “aggravated robbery,” so his Kentucky conviction was also

not a crime of violence under that clause.

-3- Case No. 22-5452, United States v. Wright

The government disagreed. While the government would ultimately concede that under

Borden, the elements clause did not include second-degree assault committed wantonly,

it maintained that the elements clause nonetheless included Wright’s particular conviction. In its

view, Kentucky’s second-degree-assault statute is “divisible,” meaning that it creates three

different offenses, two of which criminalize intentional conduct. The government further

maintained that the indictment and plea agreement for the assault conviction made clear that

Wright committed one of the intentional offenses. Thus, in the government’s view, the elements

clause included Wright’s second-degree-assault conviction.

The district court largely agreed with the government. It first concluded that Kentucky’s

second-degree-assault statute is divisible. The court then noted that Wright’s plea agreement for

his assault conviction incorporated the facts alleged in the indictment, which provided that Wright

had “intentionally shot Savannah Sanders with a deadly weapon thereby causing serious physical

injury.” (R. 52, Sentencing Hrg. Tr., PageID 297, 304; R. 35-1, Indictment, PageID 138, 141). As

such, the district court concluded that Wright committed one of the intentional varieties of second-

degree assault, and Wright’s conviction therefore satisfied the elements clause. Based on this

reasoning, the district court applied the career-offender enhancement and calculated Wright’s

Guidelines range to be 188 to 235 months’ imprisonment.

At sentencing, the court deemed Wright’s offense of conviction “serious,” explaining that

he “possessed multiple guns and ammunition as well as distribution quantities of

methamphetamine.” (R. 52, Sentencing Hrg. Tr., PageID 316). As for Wright’s history and

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Shepard v. United States
544 U.S. 13 (Supreme Court, 2005)
Gall v. United States
552 U.S. 38 (Supreme Court, 2007)
United States v. Bistline
665 F.3d 758 (Sixth Circuit, 2012)
United States v. Lanesky
494 F.3d 558 (Sixth Circuit, 2007)
Wells v. Commonwealth
561 S.W.2d 85 (Kentucky Supreme Court, 1978)
State v. Duncan
312 N.W.2d 519 (Supreme Court of Iowa, 1981)
Carlos Rendon v. Eric Holder, Jr.
764 F.3d 1077 (Ninth Circuit, 2014)
United States v. Kevin Fuertes
805 F.3d 485 (Fourth Circuit, 2015)
United States v. Fernando Martinez
821 F.3d 984 (Eighth Circuit, 2016)
Mathis v. United States
579 U.S. 500 (Supreme Court, 2016)
United States v. Wakinyan McArthur
850 F.3d 925 (Eighth Circuit, 2017)
United States v. Patterson
853 F.3d 298 (Sixth Circuit, 2017)
United States v. Michael Herrold
883 F.3d 517 (Fifth Circuit, 2018)
United States v. Michael Herrold
941 F.3d 173 (Fifth Circuit, 2019)
United States v. Keli Dunnican
961 F.3d 859 (Sixth Circuit, 2020)
United States v. Gregory Raymore
965 F.3d 475 (Sixth Circuit, 2020)
United States v. Brenda Montgomery
969 F.3d 582 (Sixth Circuit, 2020)
United States v. Josh Small
988 F.3d 241 (Sixth Circuit, 2021)
Borden v. United States
593 U.S. 420 (Supreme Court, 2021)
Moore v. Commonwealth
597 S.W.2d 155 (Court of Appeals of Kentucky, 1979)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
United States v. Shawn Christopher Wright, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-shawn-christopher-wright-ca6-2023.