Document ID: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-ca10-16-02036/USCOURTS-ca10-16-02036-0/pdf.json

Parties Involved:
Larry Pam
Petitioner

Document Text:

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS 

FOR THE TENTH CIRCUIT 

_________________________________ 

In re: LARRY PAM, 

 Movant. 

No. 16-2036 

(D.C. Nos. 1:12-CV-01113-LH-ACT & 

1:11-CR-00882-LH-1) 

(D. N.M.) 

_________________________________ 

ORDER

_________________________________ 

Before BRISCOE, GORSUCH, and BACHARACH, Circuit Judges. 

_________________________________ 

Movant Larry Pam, a federal prisoner proceeding pro se, seeks an order 

authorizing him to file a second or successive 28 U.S.C. § 2255 motion in the district 

court so he may assert a claim for relief based on Johnson v. United States, 135 S. Ct. 

2551 (2015). See 28 U.S.C. §§ 2255(h), 2244(b)(3). By order of March 21, 2016, we 

abated this proceeding. We now lift the abatement and grant authorization. 

In 2012, Movant was convicted of a firearms offense in violation of 18 U.S.C. 

§ 922(g). He alleges that his sentence for that offense was enhanced under the Armed 

Career Criminal Act (ACCA) based on his having three qualifying prior convictions, see

18 U.S.C. § 924(e)(1), at least one of which was a violent felony. Movant now seeks to 

file a § 2255 motion challenging his enhanced sentence based on the Supreme Court’s 

opinion in Johnson, which invalidated the residual clause in the ACCA’s definition of 

“violent felony” as unconstitutionally vague. 

FILED 

United States Court of Appeals 

Tenth Circuit 

April 27, 2016

Elisabeth A. Shumaker 

Clerk of Court

Appellate Case: 16-2036 Document: 01019610131 Date Filed: 04/27/2016 Page: 1 
2 

To obtain authorization, Movant must make a prima facie showing that his claim 

meets the gatekeeping requirements of § 2255(h). See 28 U.S.C. § 2244(b)(3)(C). 

Relevant here is the requirement that the claim rely on “a new rule of constitutional law, 

made retroactive to cases on collateral review by the Supreme Court, that was previously 

unavailable,” 28 U.S.C. § 2255(h)(2). Based on the information before us, we conclude 

that the Movant has made the required showing. Johnson announced a new rule of 

constitutional law, and the Supreme Court made Johnson retroactive to cases on 

collateral review in Welch v. United States, ___ S. Ct. ___, 2016 WL 1551144, at *8 

(Apr. 18, 2016). 

Accordingly, we lift the abatement and grant Larry Pam authorization to file a 

second or successive § 2255 motion in district court to raise a claim based on Johnson v. 

United States. 

Entered for the Court 

ELISABETH A. SHUMAKER, Clerk 

Appellate Case: 16-2036 Document: 01019610131 Date Filed: 04/27/2016 Page: 2