United States v. Thompson

158 F.3d 223, 1998 U.S. App. LEXIS 26565, 1998 WL 723747
Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit·Decided October 16, 1998·No. 96-30394·Published·Cited by 2 cases

Opinions

ON PETITION FOR REHEARING

Before JONES, DeMOSS and PARKER, Circuit Judges.

PER CURIAM:

The motion for rehearing and motion to stay mandate in this matter were granted and the court held the opinion in abeyance pending the Supreme Court’s decision in Bousley v. United States, - U.S.-, 118 S.Ct. 1604, 140 L.Ed.2d 828 (1998). The original opinion, filed on September 23, 1997, United States v. Thompson, 122 F.3d 304 (5th Cir.1997), is now withdrawn and the following opinion is substituted in its place.

Mary Beth Thompson (“Thompson”) appeals the district court’s denial of her 28 U.S.C. § 2255 motion contending that her conviction and sentence for using and carrying firearms in relation to the commission of a drug trafficking crime, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 924(c)(1), should be reversed in light of the Supreme Court’s decision in Bailey v. United States, 516 U.S. 137, 116 S.Ct. 501, 133 L.Ed.2d 472 (1995). We affirm.

FACTS AND PROCEEDINGS BELOW

Thompson was convicted pursuant to a plea bargain for, inter alia, using and carrying firearms in relation to the commission of a drug trafficking crime, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 924(c)(1). Thompson’s arrest followed the execution of a search warrant at her residence. Drug Enforcement Agency (“DEA”) agents found amphetamine, chemicals used in the manufacturing of amphetamine and two semi-automatic pistols during the search of Thompson’s house. The firearms charged to Thompson were found in two different bureau drawers in a bedroom, with one of the pistols being in a purse within a bureau drawer. Thompson was not in the bedroom when the search warrant was executed and no drugs were found in the room in which the firearms were found.

On September 20,1989, Thompson pleaded guilty to Count I of the indictment (conspiracy to dispense and distribute amphetamine within 100 feet of a school yard) and to Count V (using and carrying a firearm during a drug trafficking offense). The district court sentenced Thompson to 151 months of imprisonment on Count I, and five years, to run consecutively to the imprisonment imposed in Count I, on Count V. Thompson did not appeal her conviction.

On March 8, 1996, Thompson filed this § 2255 motion seeking to have her conviction and sentence on the firearm charge overturned in light of the Supreme Court’s decision in Bailey v. United States, 516 U.S. 137, 116 S.Ct. 501, 133 L.Ed.2d 472 (1995). The district court denied the § 2255 motion. Thompson timely appealed the denial to this court, filing her notice of appeal prior to April 24, 1996, the date on which the President signed the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 (“AEDPA”), Pub.L. 104-132, 110 Stat. 1214.

DISCUSSION

A.

The AEDPA amended 28 U.S.C. § 2253 to require a certificate of appealability (“COA”) before an appeal may proceed in a § 2255 action. This court has determined that the COA requirement does not apply retroactively to petitioners who filed § 2255 appeals in which the final judgment and notice of appeal were entered before the AEDPA’s effective [225] date. United States v. Rocha, 109 F.3d 225, 229 (5th Cir.1997). Likewise, the AEDPA’s certification requirement regarding successive petitions does not apply. Id. Accordingly, we proceed to the merits of her appeal.

B.

In reviewing a district court’s denial of a § 2255 motion, we examine the lower court’s factual findings for clear error and its conclusions of law de novo. United States v. Faubion, 19 F.3d 226, 228 (5th Cir.1994).

Thompson argues that her conviction for using or carrying a firearm in relation to a drug trafficking offense should be overturned because the firearms with which she was charged were not found on her person, in her possession or within the vicinity of her arrest and therefore she could not be found to have either “used” or “carried” the firearms, as required by 18 U.S.C. § 924(c)(1). Thomp^ son contends that under Bailey, she could not have been convicted based on the mere storage of a firearm near drugs or drug proceeds.

Section 924(c)(1) is violated when a defendant “during and in relation to any crime of violence or drug trafficking crime ... uses or carries a firearm.” 18 U.S.C. § 924(c)(1). Under Bailey, Thompson could not be convicted under the “use” provision for the firearms found stored in her home. See Bailey, at 141, 148, 116 S.Ct. at 505, 508 (“ ‘use’ cannot extend to encompass [the] action” of “coneeal[ing] a gun nearby to be ready for an imminent confrontation”).

Because Thompson pleaded guilty to an indictment stating that she “knowingly used and earned a firearm” (emphasis added), the Government is only required to prove one of the acts charged, i.e., the use prong or the carry prong. See Turner v. United States, 396 U.S. 398, 420-21, 90 S.Ct. 642, 24 L.Ed.2d 610 (1970). The district court denied Thompson’s § 2255 motion based on a finding of sufficient evidence to support Thompson’s conviction under the “carry” prong of § 924(c).

Pursuant to the Supreme Court’s recent opinion in Bousley v. United States, - U.S. -, 118 S.Ct. 1604, 140 L.Ed.2d 828 (1998), a petitioner can successfully petition for § 2255 relief after a guilty plea only if: (1) the plea was not entered voluntarily or intelligently, see id. at-, 118 S.Ct. at 1610-11, or (2) the petitioner establishes that she is actually innocent of the underlying crime. See id. at-, 118 S.Ct. at 1611-12.

In Bousley, a petitioner collaterally attacked his § 924(c)(1) conviction pursuant 28 U.S.C. § 2255. See id. at-, 118 S.Ct. at 1608-09. Based on the Supreme Court’s decision in Bailey v. United States, 516 U.S. 137, 116 S.Ct. 501, 133 L.Ed.2d 472 (1995)-rendered following his guilty plea&emdash; the petitioner argued that his plea was not knowingly or intelligently entered. See Bousley, at-, 118 S.Ct. at 1609.

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United States v. Thompson, 158 F.3d 223, 1998 U.S. App. LEXIS 26565, 1998 WL 723747 (5th Cir. 1998).

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