Source: http://nc.findacase.com/research/wfrmDocViewer.aspx/xq/fac.20190906_0002952.WNC.htm/qx
Timestamp: 2020-08-10 08:38:30
Document Index: 261913741

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 2255', '§ 1201', '§ 924', '§ 922', '§ 1201', '§ 924', '§ 922', '§ 924', '§ 2255', '§ 924', '§ 924', '§ 924', '§ 924', '§ 924', '§ 924']

DANIEL DOUGLAS WHITE, Petitioner,
THIS MATTER is before the Court on the Petitioner's Motion to Vacate Sentence under 28 U.S.C. § 2255 [CV Doc. 1][1] and the Government's Response to Petitioner's Motion to Vacate [CV Doc. 10]. The Petitioner is represented by Joshua Carpenter of the Federal Defenders of Western North Carolina.
On January 26, 2005, Petitioner Daniel Douglas White (“Petitioner”) was charged in a Bill of Indictment with one count of federal kidnapping in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 1201(a) and 2 (“Count One”), and one count of using a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence, namely kidnapping, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 924(c)(1)(A)(ii) (“Count Two”). [CR Doc. 8: Indictment]. On February 8, 2005, Petitioner was charged in a Superseding Indictment, which retained Counts One and Two from the original Indictment and charged Petitioner with one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g). [CR Doc. 14: Superseding Indictment]. The Petitioner faced a maximum term of life imprisonment for Count One, see 18 U.S.C. §§ 1201(a) & 2; a mandatory consecutive sentence of not less than 7 years to life for Count Two, see 18 U.S.C. § 924(c)(1)(A)(ii); and not more than 10 years for Count Three, see 18 U.S.C. § 922(g).
On March 1, 2005, Petitioner pleaded guilty to Count One. [CR Doc. 28: Entry and Acceptance of Guilty Plea]. On March 8, 2005, after a jury trial on Counts Two and Three, Petitioner was found guilty as to both counts. [CR Doc. 33: Jury Verdict]. In preparation for sentencing, a probation officer prepared a Presentence Report (PSR). In the PSR, the probation officer noted the mandatory seven years to life consecutive sentence for Petitioner's § 924(c) conviction. [CR Doc. 56 at ¶ 79]. As for Counts One and Three, the probation officer found the Total Offense Level to be 34 and the Criminal History Category to be I, yielding a Guideline Range calling for a term of imprisonment between 151 and 188 months, consecutive to the sentence on Count Two. [CR Doc. 56 at 10-11, 15].
The Petitioner's sentencing hearing was held on November 10, 2005, before the Honorable Lacy H. Thornburg, United States District Judge.[2] At the hearing, the Court adopted the probation officer's findings, without objection, and sentenced Petitioner to a term of imprisonment of 160 months on Count One, a term of 120 months on Count Three to be served concurrently with Count One, and 84 months on Count Two, to be served consecutively to the term imposed in Counts One and Two, for a total term of 244 months' imprisonment. [CR Doc. 46: Judgment]. The Petitioner did not appeal.
On June 16, 2016, the Petitioner filed the present motion to vacate sentence under 28 U.S.C. § 2255, arguing that his conviction under 18 U.S.C. § 924(c) is invalid under Johnson v. United States, 135 S.Ct. 2551 (2015) [CV Doc. 1]. Upon the request of the Government, this matter was stayed pending the Fourth Circuit's decision in United States v. Ali, No. 15-4433, or United States v. Simms, No. 15-4640. [CV Doc. 5]. The Fourth Circuit then ordered that Ali would be held in abeyance pending the Supreme Court's decision in United States v. Davis, No. 18-431. On the Government's request, this matter was in turn stayed pending Davis. [CV Doc. 8]. The Supreme Court decided Davis on June 24, 2019. The next day this Court lifted the stay and ordered the Government to respond to the Petitioner's motion by August 23, 2019. Petitioner subsequently filed a supplemental memorandum in support of his Section 2255 motion. [CV Doc. 9]. The Government timely filed its response, agreeing that this Court should grant Petitioner's Section 2255 motion, vacate his conviction under 18 U.S.C. § 924(c), and resentence him on the remaining counts. [CV Doc. 10].
Here, in his original Section 2255 Motion to Vacate, the Petitioner argues his § 924(c) conviction is invalid under Johnson. [Doc. 1 at 1]. Section 924(c) criminalizes the use of a firearm in furtherance of a “crime of violence.” Under § 924(c), a crime is one of violence if it either “has an element the use, attempted use, or threatened use of physical force against the person or property of another, ” (the “force clause”) or “by its nature involves a substantial risk that physical force against the person or property of another may be used in the course of committing the offense” (the “residual clause”). 18 U.S.C. § 924(c)(3)(B).
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;In short, the Petitioner argues that because &sect; 924(c)&#39;s residual clause &ldquo;is functionally indistinguishable from the ACCA&#39; residual clause, &rdquo; which was found to be unconstitutionally vague, the predicate conviction in Petitioner&#39;s criminal proceedings, federal kidnapping, can qualify as a &sect; 924(c) &ldquo;crime of violence&rdquo; only under the force clause. [Doc. 1 at 3-4]. Three years after the Petitioner filed his original Section 2255 motion, the Supreme Court decided United States v. Davis, 139 S.Ct. 2319 (2019). In Davis, the Supreme Court specifically held the residual clause of &sect; 924(c)&#39;s definition of &ldquo;crime of violence&rdquo; is &ldquo;unconstitutionally vague.&rdquo; 139 S.Ct. at 2336. As such, the Court need not extrapolate from Johnson in order to hold that Petitioner&#39;s conviction on Count Two is valid only if federal kidnapping qualifies as a &ldquo;crime of violence&rdquo; under &sect; 924(c)&#39;s force clause. The Supreme Court&#39;s decision in Davis directly yields this result. The instant case, therefore, turns on whether federal kidnapping qualifies as a crime of violence under § 924(c)'s force clause. The ...