Document ID: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-ca8-03-03811/USCOURTS-ca8-03-03811-0/pdf.json

Parties Involved:
Melvin Nolan
Appellant
United States of America
Appellee

Document Text:

1

The Honorable Rodney W. Sippel, United States District Judge for the Eastern

District of Missouri.

United States Court of Appeals

FOR THE EIGHTH CIRCUIT

___________

No. 03-3811

___________

United States of America, *

*

Plaintiff - Appellee, *

* Appeal from the United States 

v. * District Court for the Eastern

* District of Missouri 

* 

Melvin Nolan, * 

 *

Defendant - Appellant. *

___________

 Submitted: September 13, 2004

 Filed: February 11, 2005 

___________

Before BYE, BOWMAN, and MELLOY, Circuit Judges.

___________

MELLOY, Circuit Judge.

Defendant-Appellant Melvin Nolan pled guilty to one count of being a felon

in possession of a firearm in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1) and an armed career

criminal under the Armed Career Criminal Act, 18 U.S.C. § 924(e). The district

court1

 sentenced him to 180 months, the mandatory minimum under 18 U.S.C. §

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924(e). Nolan appeals the district court’s classification of his prior convictions for

second-degree burglary and escape as violent felonies for purposes of imposing a

sentence under the Section 924(e). We affirm.

On November 7, 2002, a federal grand jury indicted Nolan, a prior felon, for

unlawful possession of a firearm. Nolan entered a plea of guilty. The district court

advised Nolan of the possible sentence, set a sentencing hearing for May 16, 2003,

and ordered a pre-sentence investigation report. The probation officer found that

Nolan had four prior violent felony convictions, and thus classified him as an “armed

career criminal.” Since this classification altered the possible maximum term Nolan

faced, the court permitted Nolan to withdraw his guilty plea. Nolan re-entered a plea

of guilty, but reserved the right to raise the issue on appeal. The district court

accepted his plea of guilty and sentenced Nolan to the mandatory minimum sentence

of 180 months to be followed by a five year term of supervised release. 

Nolan argues that the district court erred by considering his two prior

convictions for second-degree burglary and his two prior escape convictions as

violent felonies. 

 We construe “violent felony” under 18 U.S.C. § 924(e)(B)(ii) to have the same

meaning as “crime of violence” under U.S.S.G. §4B1.2. Compare 18 U.S.C. §

924(e)(2)(B)(ii) with U.S.S.G. § 4B1.2(a)(2). See United States v. Blahowski, 324

F.3d 592, 594-95 (8th Cir. 2003), cert. denied, 540 U.S. 934 (2003) (“Nevertheless,

we recognized that the clause in § 4B1.2 defining a crime of violence . . . contained

identical language to the definition of ‘violent felony’ under 18 U.S.C. §

924(e)(2)(B)(ii) of the Armed Career Criminal Act. . . . Since there was no reason to

conclude that these two identically worded clauses had different meanings . . . we

concluded that burglary of a commercial building was a crime of violence under the

‘otherwise clause’ of § 4B1.2(1)(ii) of the Sentencing Guidelines.”).

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We have consistently held that burglary is a predicate offense under § 924(e)

and U.S.S.G. § 4B1.2. See United States v. Mohr, 382 F.3d 857, 860-861 (8th Cir.

2003) (holding under U.S.S.G. § 4B1.2 that burglary is a crime of violence for

purposes of the career offender provision); Blahowski, 324 F.3d at 594-95 (holding

that burglary is a crime of violence under U.S.S.G. § 4B1.2, and stating that seconddegree burglary poses a “serious potential risk of physical injury”); United States v.

Sun Bear, 307 F.3d 747, 752 (8th Cir. 2002) (holding that burglary of commercial

property is a crime of violence under U.S.S.G. § 4B1.2); United States v. Peltier, 276

F.3d 1003, 1006 (8th Cir. 2002), cert. denied, 537 U.S. 862 (2002); United States v.

Nation, 243 F.3d 467, 471 n.1 (8th Cir. 2001); United States v. Stevens, 149 F.3d

747, 749 (8th Cir. 1998) (burglary of commercial property is a crime of violence

under U.S.S.G. § 4B1.2).

We have also repeatedly held that escape, as a crime of violence, is a predicate

offense under U.S.S.G. § 4B1.2. See United States v. Abernathy, 277 F.3d 1048,

1051 (8th Cir. 2002) (holding that even a walkaway escape is a crime of violence).

See also United States v. Gary, 341 F.3d 829, 836 (8th Cir. 2003), cert. denied, 540

U.S. 1139, 124 S.Ct. 1128 (2004) (“[W]e have categorically defined an escape as a

crime of violence because, by its nature, an escape involves potential risk of physical

injury to others. . . . This includes ‘walkaway’ escapes even though there is no use or

threat of force or violence.”); Sun Bear, 307 F.3d at 752 (holding that the crime of

escape poses a serious potential for violence). Nolan’s conviction for escape is a

violent felony, and thus a predicate offense, under § 924(e). United States v.

Springfield, 196 F.3d 1180, 1185 (10th Cir. 1999) (stating that escape is a violent

crime under both § 924(e) and the United States Sentencing Guidelines). 

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2

Subsequent to the United States Supreme Court decision in Blakely v.

Washington, 124 S. Ct. 2531 (2004), the defendant filed a supplemental brief arguing

that the question of his prior convictions should have been submitted to a jury and

subject to proof beyond a reasonable doubt. The Supreme Court has now issued its

decision in United States v. Booker, 125 S. Ct. 738 (2005), which found the federal

sentencing guidelines not mandatory, but only advisory. We have not determined

whether plain error applies to sentencings such as this one, conducted prior to the

decision in Blakely, and in which any claim to the constitutionality of the guidelines

was not preserved. However, we do not need to wait for our court to reach that issue.

Even if we were to reach the merits of the issue raised in the supplemental brief, the

defendant would not be entitled to resentencing. Nolan's sentence was not

determined based upon an application of the federal sentencing guidelines, but rather

based upon the mandatory minimum sentence set forth in the Armed Career Criminal

Act. As to the finding concerning the prior convictions which triggered the

mandatory minimum sentence, the Supreme Court has consistently said that the fact

of a prior conviction is for the court to determine, not a jury. See, Apprendi v. New

Jersey, 530 U.S. 466, 490 (2000); Booker, 125 S. Ct. at 756. Consequently, there is

no Blakely/Booker issue in this case. 

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Therefore the district court did not err in classifying Nolan’s burglary and

escape convictions as violent felonies for purposes of imposing a sentence under

the Armed Career Criminal Act.2

 

The judgment of the district court is affirmed.

______________________________

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