2010 Decisions

Opinions of the United

States Court of Appeals

for the Third Circuit

3-24-2010

USA v. Terrell Brice

Precedential or Non-Precedential: Non-Precedential

Docket No. 08-4554

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Recommended Citation

"USA v. Terrell Brice" (2010). 2010 Decisions. Paper 1654.

http://digitalcommons.law.villanova.edu/thirdcircuit_2010/1654
 Honorable Yvette Kane, Chief District Court Judge for the Middle District of *

Pennsylvania, sitting by designation.

 NOT PRECEDENTIAL

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE THIRD CIRCUIT

_____________

No. 08-4554

_____________

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

 v.

TERRELL BRICE,

 Appellant.

_____________

On Appeal from the United States District Court 

for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania

(D.C. No. 06-cr-685)

District Judge: Hon. Paul S. Diamond

 

Submitted Under Third Circuit L.A.R. 34.1(a),

January 26, 2010

Before: FUENTES and FISHER, Circuit Judges

and KANE, District Judge. *

(Opinion Filed: March 24, 2010)

OPINION OF THE COURT
 The District Court had jurisdiction pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 3231. This Court has 1

jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291 and 18 U.S.C. § 3742. We exercise plenary

review over a district court’s rulings on questions of law and over a district court’s

interpretation of the Sentencing Guidelines. United States v. Doe, 564 F.3d 305, 307 n.2

(3d Cir. 2009); United States v. Mateo, 560 F.3d 152, 154 (3d Cir. 2009). “Whether a

particular crime constitutes a crime of violence is a question of law and the Court’s

review is plenary.” United States v. Dorsey, 174 F.3d 331, 332 (3d Cir. 1999).

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FUENTES, Circuit Judge:

Appellant, Terrell Brice, pled guilty to distribution of cocaine and possession of a

firearm by a convicted felon. The plea agreement allowed Brice to appeal his designation

as a career offender. At sentencing, pursuant to United States Sentencing Guidelines

(“U.S.S.G.”) § 4B1.1, the District Court concluded that Brice was a career offender based

on his prior convictions for simple assault and for possession of a controlled substance

with intent to deliver. As a career offender, Brice faced an advisory Guidelines range of

262 to 327 months imprisonment. On appeal, Brice contends that after the Supreme

Court’s recent decision in Begay v. United States, 553 U.S. 137, 128 S. Ct. 1581 (2008),

simple assault does not qualify as a crime of violence as that term is defined in the career

offender Guideline, U.S.S.G. § 4B1.2(a). For the reasons that follow, we will vacate

Brice’s sentence and remand for resentencing in accordance with this opinion and our

recent precedential opinion in United States v. Johnson, 587 F.3d 203 (3d Cir. 2009).1

I.

Because we write primarily for the parties, we only discuss the facts and
 In relevant part, U.S.S.G. § 4B1.1 provides that “[a] defendant is a career

2

offender if (1) the defendant was at least eighteen years old at the time the defendant

committed the instant offense of conviction; (2) the instant offense of conviction is a

felony that is either a crime of violence or a controlled substance offense; and (3) the

defendant has at least two prior felony convictions of either a crime of violence or a

controlled substance offense.”

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proceedings to the extent necessary for the resolution of the case.

Brice was charged in a three-count Indictment as follows: distribution of cocaine,

in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1) (Count One); possession of a firearm in furtherance

of a drug trafficking crime, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 924(c)(1) (Count Two); and

possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1) (Count

Three). At his trial, the jury was unable to reach a unanimous verdict, and the District

Court declared a mistrial. A second trial was scheduled, but before the retrial, Brice

opted to plead guilty to Counts One and Three. In his plea agreement, Brice reserved the

right to appeal his designation as a career offender.

Brice’s Presentence Report (“PSR”) listed three prior adult convictions: a 1999

conviction for simple assault, a 2000 conviction for possession of a controlled substance

with intent to deliver, and a 2003 conviction for possession of a controlled substance and

for flight from the police. The Probation Office concluded that two of these three

offenses—the conviction for simple assault and the conviction for possession of a

controlled substance with intent to deliver—served as predicate offenses for purposes of

the career offender Guideline, U.S.S.G. § 4B1.1. As a career offender, Brice had an 2
In Pennsylvania, a person is guilty of simple assault if he: 3

(1) attempts to cause or intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly causes bodily injury

to another;

(2) negligently causes bodily injury to another with a deadly weapon; [or]

(3) attempts by physical menace to put another in fear of imminent serious bodily

injury; or

(4) conceals or attempts to conceal a hypodermic needle on his person and

intentionally or knowingly penetrates a law enforcement officer or an officer or an

employee of an correctional institution, county jail or prison, detention facility or

mental hospital during the course of an arrest or any search of the person.

 The term “crime of violence” is defined in U.S.S.G. § 4B1.2(a) as “any offense 4

under federal or state law, punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year,

that . . . has as an element the use, attempted use, or threatened use of physical force

against the person of another, or . . . is burglary of a dwelling, arson, or extortion,

involves use of explosives, or otherwise involves conduct that presents a serious

potential risk of physical injury to another.”

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offense level of 34 and a criminal history category of VI, resulting in an advisory

Guidelines range of 262 to 327 months imprisonment. Absent career offender status,

Brice’s offense level would have been 24 and his criminal history category IV, resulting

in an advisory Guidelines range of 77 to 96 months imprisonment.

At the sentencing hearing, Brice objected to his classification as a career offender,

arguing that his conviction for simple assault did not qualify as a crime of violence for the

purpose of designation as a career offender under the Sentencing Guidelines. In 3

particular, Brice asserted that under the Supreme Court’s recent decision in Begay, simple

assault was not a crime of violence as it was not “roughly similar, in kind as well as in

degree of risk posed” to the crimes enumerated in the definition of a crime of violence.

4

Begay, 128 S. Ct. at 1585 (citations omitted). The District Court rejected this argument
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and ruled that simple assault qualified as a crime of violence under Begay and our preBegay case law. Brice, accordingly, was sentenced as a career offender. The District

Court varied downward from the advisory Guidelines range of 262 to 327 months

imprisonment and imposed a sentence of 180 months imprisonment.

II.

The outcome of the instant case is controlled by our recent precedential opinion in

Johnson, in which we examined the precise question presented by Brice’s appeal. In

Johnson, as in this case, the government conceded that if the simple assault had been

committed recklessly, it would not be a crime of violence following Begay. Johnson, 587

F.3d at 209–10. (Gov’t Br. 21–22.) We held, however, that if the simple assault was

knowing or intentional, it would “present a degree of risk similar to that presented by the

enumerated crimes and also be similar in kind to those offenses” and thus would qualify

as a crime of violence under the definition in the career offender Guideline, U.S.S.G.

§ 4B1.2(a)(2). Johnson, 587 F.3d at 211. Accordingly, we remanded for resentencing

and instructed the district court to determine the mens rea for the simple assault offense to

which Johnson pled guilty. Id. at 213. Under the categorical approach, such an inquiry is

limited to the documents outlined by the Supreme Court in Shepard v. United

States—“‘the statutory definition, charging document, written plea agreement, transcript

of plea colloquy, and any explicit factual finding by the trial judge to which the defendant

assented.’” Id. at 208 (quoting Shepard, 544 U.S. 13, 16 (2005)).
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In the instant case, the government argues that remand is appropriate to allow the

District Court to ascertain the mens rea of Brice’s prior conviction for simple assault, if

possible, from the limited universe of documents approved in Shepard. (Gov’t Br.

25–26.) The government further acknowledges that, as of the time that its brief was

prepared, it possessed only the charging document for the simple assault conviction and

admits that “[i]f this is the only available record pertinent to the inquiry, the government

will have to concede that it cannot establish that Brice was necessarily convicted of a

crime of violence predicate.” (Id. at 26.) The government was seeking, however, to

obtain the transcript of Brice’s simple assault bench trial. Under Shepard, on remand, the

District Court can consider “a bench-trial judge’s formal rulings of law and findings of

fact . . . .” 544 U.S. at 20. The approach advocated by the government is the correct one

and is in accordance with our opinion in Johnson.

III.

For the foregoing reasons, we vacate the sentence imposed by the District Court

and remand for resentencing in accordance with this opinion and with Johnson. The

resentencing proceeding is limited to an inquiry into the mens rea characterizing Brice’s

prior conviction for simple assault. If, upon examination of the documents permitted by

Shepard, the District Court determines that the simple assault was committed

intentionally or knowingly, the conviction may serve as a predicate offense for purposes

of career offender status. If, however, the District Court finds that the simple assault was
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committed recklessly or if the District Court cannot conclusively determine the mens rea,

Brice’s conviction for simple assault will not qualify as a crime of violence under

U.S.S.G. § 4B1.2(a) and thus will not serve as a career offender predicate offense under

§ 4B1.1(a).