Opinion ID: 4534345
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: the panel opinion misapplies beeman.

Text: Under Beeman, a Johnson petitioner must make two showings before he can receive collateral relief. First, he must show that his original ACCA sentence was imposed based solely on the residual clause. Beeman, 871 F.3d at 1221. Second, he must show he did not have at least three other prior convictions that could have qualified as a serious drug offense, or as a violent felony under either the enumerated clause or elements clause. Id. In Mr. Tribue’s case, the panel never asks the step one question and heads straight to step two. Tribue, 929 F.3d at 1331. I acknowledge that Beeman uses the word “and” between steps one and 2 I note that the Fourth Circuit has also read the line of cases I’ve discussed here to prevent the government from justifying an old ACCA sentence in new ways. See Hodge, 902 F.3d at 430–31 (discussing Bryant and Petite); see also id. at 429 (citing Canty, 570 F.3d at 1256). 15 Case: 18-10579 Date Filed: 05/14/2020 Page: 16 of 23 two, indicating a defendant must pass both. I also acknowledge that I have expressed my disagreement with Beeman’s test. See Beeman v. United States, 899 F.3d 1218, 1226–29 (11th Cir. 2018) (Martin, J., dissenting from the denial of rehearing en banc); see also Beeman, 871 F.3d at 1228–30 (Williams, J., dissenting). But this is not about that. My difference with the panel is this: I say that in order to read Beeman as a cohesive statement of the law, the “prior convictions” considered at step two must be limited to those that were considered by the sentencing court at the time it imposed the sentence. In contrast, the Tribue panel opinion interprets Beeman to allow any conviction that was listed in the PSR to be resurrected on habeas review so as to keep the harsher ACCA sentence in place. In practical application, the panel opinion’s reading of Beeman reaps absurd results and strays from this Court’s previous interpretation of Johnson. In doing so, it denies Mr. Tribue and others like him the habeas relief they deserve. Under the panel opinion’s interpretation of Beeman, the district court may in all cases skip the question of whether the defendant was sentenced under the residual clause. No matter the record at sentencing, a court reviewing a sentence in the collateral context may ask only whether the defendant had other prior offenses that could have supported that same sentence. The first problem with this approach is that it treats similarly defendants who are, for relevant purposes, not alike. For example, Mr. Tribue’s is the rare case in which a defendant can show 16 Case: 18-10579 Date Filed: 05/14/2020 Page: 17 of 23 that his ACCA sentence could only have been imposed by relying on the residual clause. See Br. of Appellee at 11. It is clear then, to me, that he is deserving of relief because he was “sentenced solely per the residual clause.” See Beeman, 871 F.3d at 1224 n.5. But the panel opinion ignores this reality by asking whether any other facts exist that could have supported his sentence. In other words, the panel opinion treats Mr. Tribue identically to a defendant whose ACCA sentence was imposed without regard to any particular prior offenses.3 This outcome does not strike me as logical or fair. In addition, we know the panel opinion’s decision to skip straight to step two strays from Beeman’s heavy focus on the habeas court’s search for the “historical fact.” See 871 F.3d at 1224 n.5. Specifically, the Beeman Court said habeas courts must ask whether the defendant was “sentenced solely per the residual clause.” Id. Again, the panel opinion ignores this crucial question. Beeman also refers to a § 2255 movant losing on his petition because of a “silent record.” Id. at 1224–25 & nn.4, 5. I have always understood this to mean, on the one hand, that if a § 2255 petitioner is penalized for a silent record, then, on the other hand, someone like Mr. Tribue (who can show how his sentence was a product of the residual clause) would fare better. Not so under the ruling of the Tribue panel. 3 Worse, the panel opinion’s approach would deny relief even to a defendant who was told by the sentencing court, “I am sentencing you based solely on the residual clause.” 17 Case: 18-10579 Date Filed: 05/14/2020 Page: 18 of 23 The panel opinion’s approach to Beeman means step one can only be used when it disqualifies someone like Mr. Tribue from getting relief but not when it qualifies him for relief. This approach is not in keeping with Beeman, which requires that we look to what happened at sentencing. Our review was meant to be limited to what the sentencing court considered at the time it imposed sentence.