Document ID: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-ca8-09-02591/USCOURTS-ca8-09-02591-0/pdf.json

Parties Involved:
Thomas Boaz
Appellant
United States of America
Appellee

Document Text:

United States Court of Appeals

FOR THE EIGHTH CIRCUIT

___________

No. 09-2591

___________

United States of America, *

*

Plaintiff - Appellee, *

* Appeal from the United States

v. * District Court for the

* Western District of Missouri.

Thomas Boaz, *

*

Defendant - Appellant. *

___________

Submitted: January 15, 2010

Filed: March 15, 2010

___________

Before MELLOY, SMITH, and COLLOTON, Circuit Judges.

___________

MELLOY, Circuit Judge.

A jury convicted Appellant Thomas Monroe Boaz of being a felon in

possession of a firearm in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g). Based on prior violent

felony convictions, the district court determined that Boaz was subject to the Armed

Career Criminal Act, 18 U.S.C. § 924(e), and sentenced him to 190 months'

imprisonment. In a prior appeal, we reversed and remanded because the parties had

erroneously stated to the district court that the record contained certain identifying

information as to one of the prior violent felony convictions, a 1974 Yavapai County,

Arizona conviction for brandishing a weapon other than in self-defense. United States

v. Boaz, 558 F.3d 800, 809 (8th Cir. 2009). We instructed the court on remand to

Appellate Case: 09-2591 Page: 1 Date Filed: 03/15/2010 Entry ID: 3644083
-2-

reopen the record to permit the government an opportunity to prove whether Appellant

was, in fact, the same person who was named in the 1974 Arizona conviction. Id.

On remand, the district court received evidence, determined that Appellant was

the subject of the 1974 conviction, and imposed the same 190-month sentence. The

district court's identification determination is a factual determination that we review

for clear error. See United States v. Urbina-Mejia, 450 F.3d 838, 839 (8th Cir. 2006).

A certified copy of the 1974 Arizona conviction contains no identifying

information other than the name, Thomas Monroe Boaz. Appellant contends this

omission is fatal to the government's case. He asserts that fingerprint evidence is

required to prove that he was the same Thomas Monroe Boaz who was the subject of

that conviction. We disagree.

Other evidence presented at the hearing included several subsequent records

containing ample identification evidence listing not only the name, but also

identifying characteristics such as height, weight, age, and tattoos. It is undisputed

that these subsequent records, which included fingerprint evidence as to subsequent

offenses, matched Appellant. At least one of these records contains a hearsay report

from a probation officer who represented that he supervised Appellant in relation to

probation for the 1974 offense. Another record contains a hearsay statement from

Appellant himself claiming that he was on bond out of Prescott (a city in Yavapai

County) at a time that corresponded with the period of time between arrest and

conviction for the 1974 conviction. These statements show that Appellant was the

same Thomas Monroe Boaz as listed in the 1974 conviction. Review of these records

convinces us that, despite their age, they bear sufficient indicia of reliability to permit

their use at sentencing. United States v. Sanchez-Garcia, 461 F.3d 939, 948 (8th Cir.

2006). In total, the identical names coupled with this evidence is sufficient to support

the district court's finding, by a preponderance of the evidence, that Appellant is the

Appellate Case: 09-2591 Page: 2 Date Filed: 03/15/2010 Entry ID: 3644083
-3-

same Thomas Monroe Boaz who was the subject of the 1974 Yavapai County,

Arizona conviction. 

We affirm the judgment of the district court.

______________________________

Appellate Case: 09-2591 Page: 3 Date Filed: 03/15/2010 Entry ID: 3644083