Document ID: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-ca10-16-02034/USCOURTS-ca10-16-02034-0/pdf.json

Parties Involved:
Adam Jason Garcia
Petitioner

Document Text:

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE TENTH CIRCUIT

_________________________________

In re: ADAM JASON GARCIA, 

 Movant.

No. 16-2034

(D.C. Nos. 1:12-CV-00312-JCH-LAM & 

1:09-CR-01766-JCH-1)

(D. N.M.)

_________________________________

ORDER

_________________________________

Before KELLY, HARTZ, and MATHESON, Circuit Judges.

_________________________________

Movant Adam Jason Garcia, 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 22, 2016, we 

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

In 2011, Movant was convicted of a firearms offense in violation of 18 U.S.C. 

§ 922(g). He alleges 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: 16-2034 Document: 01019609800 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 Adam Jason Garcia 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: 16-2034 Document: 01019609800 Date Filed: 04/27/2016 Page: 2