United States v. Winrow

49 F.4th 1372
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit
DecidedSeptember 27, 2022
Docket21-6069
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 49 F.4th 1372 (United States v. Winrow) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Tenth 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. Winrow, 49 F.4th 1372 (10th Cir. 2022).

Opinion

Appellate Case: 21-6069 Document: 010110745251 Date Filed: 09/27/2022 Page: 1 FILED United States Court of Appeals Tenth Circuit PUBLISH September 27, 2022 UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS Christopher M. Wolpert Clerk of Court TENTH CIRCUIT

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,

Plaintiff - Appellee,

v. No. 21-6069

MICHAEL JACKSON WINROW,

Defendant - Appellant

APPEAL FROM THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF OKLAHOMA (D.C. No. 5:19-CR-00394-PRW-1)

Leah Deborah Yaffe, Assistant Federal Public Defender (Virginia L. Grady, Federal Public Defender, and Shira Kieval, Assistant Federal Public Defender, with her on the briefs), Denver, Colorado, for Defendant-Appellant.

Stanley J. West, Assistant United States Attorney (Robert J. Troester, United States Attorney, with him on the brief), Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, for Plaintiff-Appellee.

Before HARTZ, SEYMOUR, and MORITZ, Circuit Judges.

SEYMOUR, Circuit Judge.

Michael Winrow pled guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm in violation

of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1). At the time of Mr. Winrow’s offense, this crime was ordinarily Appellate Case: 21-6069 Document: 010110745251 Date Filed: 09/27/2022 Page: 2

subject to a maximum sentence of 10 years. 18 U.S.C. § 924(a)(2) (2018). However, the

Armed Career Criminal Act provided for a minimum term of 15 years when a defendant

had three prior convictions for a “violent felony or a serious drug offense,” 18 U.S.C.

§ 924(e)(1) (2018). The district court sentenced Mr. Winrow to 188 months, concluding

that he was subject to the ACCA’s enhancement because he had three qualifying

predicates. Mr. Winrow contends that this was error. Two of those convictions were for

aggravated assault and battery under Okla. Stat. tit 21, § 646 (2011). He asserts that

aggravated assault and battery, as Oklahoma defines it, is not categorically a violent

felony, so his convictions under § 646 should not have counted as predicates. We agree.

I Legal Background

Under the ACCA’s “elements clause,” sometimes called the “force clause,” a

felony conviction qualifies as a “violent felony” if it “has as an element the use,

attempted use, or threatened use of physical force against the person of another.” 18

U.S.C. § 924(e)(2)(B)(i). The force must be “violent,” that is, it must involve “force

capable of causing physical pain or injury to another person.” Johnson v. United States,

559 U.S. 133, 140 (2010). In determining whether a conviction qualifies as an ACCA

predicate, courts take a “categorical approach,” focusing on the elements of the offense in

the abstract, rather than the particulars of the conduct that led to the defendant’s

conviction. United States v. Titties, 852 F.3d 1257, 1265 (10th Cir. 2017).

2 Appellate Case: 21-6069 Document: 010110745251 Date Filed: 09/27/2022 Page: 3

A. The Categorical and Modified Categorical Approaches

Under the categorical approach, a conviction qualifies as a predicate only if the

elements of the offense necessarily satisfy the ACCA definition. Id. at 1266 (citing

Descamps v. United States, 570 U.S. 254, 257 (2013)). Accordingly, we look to the least

acts criminalized by statute. If the statute “realistically reaches any conduct that does not

involve the use of physical force against another person, then a conviction under [the

statute] does not qualify as a violent felony under the ACCA’s element’s clause.” United

States v. Hammons, 862 F.3d 1052, 1054 (10th Cir. 2017) (citing Moncrieffe v. Holder,

569 U.S. 184, 190–91 (2013)). The test is all or nothing. Either any conviction under the

statute will qualify, or none will. Titties, 852 F.3d at 1265–66.

Courts employ the “modified categorical approach” when the prior conviction is

based on a so-called “divisible” statute, that is when the statute sets out one or more

elements of the offense in the alternative. Id. at 1266 (citing Descamps, 570 U.S. at 257).

When a statute has alternative elements, no one could know from the face of the statute

alone which version of the offense a defendant has been convicted of, rendering a

categorical comparison of elements impossible. Id. To get around this problem, courts

may consult certain record documents to determine which elements formed the basis of

the defendant’s offense. Id. Once the applicable elements are identified, we proceed

with the categorical approach in the usual manner. Id. at 1267.

3 Appellate Case: 21-6069 Document: 010110745251 Date Filed: 09/27/2022 Page: 4

B. Divisibility: The Means/Elements Distinction

Before resorting to the modified categorical approach, a court’s first task is to

determine whether the statute is truly divisible. If it is not, the modified categorical

approach has no role to play. Id. at 1267. A statute is only divisible if the alternative

terms are “elements” of different offenses, rather than merely “means” of committing the

same offense. Id. (citing Mathis v. United States, 579 U.S. 500, 517 (2016)). “Elements”

are the “constituent parts” of a crime’s legal definition. Mathis, 579 U.S. at 504. At trial,

they are the things a jury must find beyond a reasonable doubt; at a plea hearing, they are

what the defendant necessarily admits when he pleads. Id. “Means,” by contrast, merely

describe different factual ways of committing a single element. Id. at 506. Critically,

means are “legally extraneous”; a jury need not agree on the means by which a

defendant’s conduct satisfies an element, so long as they agree that the element is

satisfied. Id at 506. If the alternatives are means, we must apply the categorical

approach to the statute as a whole.

II Standard of Review

We review de novo the district court’s conclusion that Mr. Winrow’s convictions

for aggravated assault and battery are predicates under the ACCA. United States v.

Degeare, 884 F.3d 1241, 1245 (10th Cir. 2018). The government bears the burden of

showing these convictions qualify. Titties, 852 F.3d at 1264–65.

4 Appellate Case: 21-6069 Document: 010110745251 Date Filed: 09/27/2022 Page: 5

III Discussion

The statute under which Mr. Winrow was convicted provides, in relevant part, as

follows:

§ 646. Aggravated assault and battery defined

A. An assault and battery becomes aggravated when committed under any of the following circumstances:

1.When great bodily injury is inflicted upon the person assaulted; or

2. When committed by a person of robust health or strength upon one who is aged, decrepit, or incapacitated . . . .

Okla. Stat. tit 21, § 646.

Mr. Winrow argues that § 646(A)(1) and § 646(A)(2) describe alternative means

of committing a single offense so the statute is indivisible and must be evaluated as a

whole using the pure categorical approach. He further argues that, under Oklahoma law,

a person of robust health could commit an aggravated assault and battery by committing

the slightest unlawful touching of an elderly person.

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49 F.4th 1372, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-winrow-ca10-2022.