Opinion ID: 3006257
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: career offender guidelines

Text: Denson’s ineffective assistance claim hinges on his counsel’s failure to object to the district court’s designating him a career offender under U.S.S.G. §§ 4B1.1 and 4B1.2. Under § 4B1.1, a defendant qualifies as a career offender if he “has at least two prior felony convictions of either a crime of violence or a 1 Denson also argues the underlying substantive issue that the sentencing court wrongly applied U.S.S.G. § 4B1.1’s career offender enhancement. Because this issue is outside the scope of the COA, we do not address it. See Murray v. United States, 145 F.3d 1249, 1250 (11th 1998). 3 Case: 14-10211 Date Filed: 09/30/2015 Page: 4 of 10 controlled substance offense.” U.S.S.G. § 4B1.1(a). A “crime of violence” means an offense punishable by one year in prison that either “has as an element the use, attempted use, or threatened use of physical force against the person of another,” or “is a burglary of a dwelling, arson, or extortion, involves use of explosives, or otherwise involves conduct that presents a serious potential risk for physical injury to another.” Id. § 4B1.2(a). The commentary to § 4B1.2 explicitly states that “unlawfully possessing a firearm described in 26 U.S.C. § 5845(a),” such as a “sawed-off shotgun” is a crime of violence. Id. § 4B1.2, cmt. n.1. Because this guidelines commentary is authoritative and binding, possession of such a firearm qualifies as a “crime of violence” without resort to the “categorical approach” traditionally used to determine whether an offense falls within the residual clause of U.S.S.G. § 4B1.2(a)(2). United States v. Hall, 714 F.3d 1270, 1274 (11th Cir. 2013) (concluding that possession of an unregistered sawed-off shotgun, in violation of 26 U.S.C. § 5861(d), qualifies as a “crime of violence” under U.S.S.G. § 4B1.2(a)(2) based on the binding guidelines commentary). At the time of Denson’s predicate offense, Florida’s definition of “shortbarreled shotgun” was virtually identical to the federal definition of “sawed-off shotgun” in 26 U.S.C. § 5845(a), referenced in the guidelines commentary. Compare 26 U.S.C. § 5845(a)(1)-(2), with Fla. Stat. Ann. § 790.001(10) (1992). In 4 Case: 14-10211 Date Filed: 09/30/2015 Page: 5 of 10 other words, a “short-barreled shotgun” under the Florida law was, for the purposes of § 4B1.2, a “firearm described in 26 U.S.C. § 5845(a),” and, according to the binding commentary, unlawful possession of such a firearm qualifies as a crime of violence.