Opinion ID: 8410531
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Whether Jones’ Conviction Qualifies as a Crime of Violence Under the Residual Clause

Text: We have little difficulty concluding that the “least of the acts” of first-degree robbery satisfies the definition of the Guidelines’ residual clause. The least of the acts, both sides agree, is “forcibly stealing property” while “armed with a deadly weapon.” The residual clause provides that a crime of violence includes any offense that “involves conduct that presents a serious potential risk of physical injury to another.” U.S.S.G. § 4B1.2(a)(2). Plainly, a robber who forcibly steals property from a person or from his immediate vicinity, while armed with a deadly weapon, engages in “conduct that presents a serious potential risk of physical injury to another.” See id. If there were any misgiving on this score, it is removed by the commentary provision to the Guidelines in effect at the time of Jones’ sentencing, which specifically enumerated robbery as a crime of violence. 4 § 4B1.2 cmt. n.l. Commentary provisions must be given “controlling weight” unless- they: (1) conflict with a federal statute, (2) violate the Constitution, or (3) are plainly erroneous or inconsistent with the Guidelines provisions they purport to interpret. Stinson v. United States, 508 U.S. 36, 45, 113 S.Ct. 1913, 123 L.Ed.2d 598 (1993). Jones has not identified any such flaws nor do we discern any. Where the basis for categoriz-' ing a prior conviction as a crime of violence is that the offense is specifically enumerated as such in the Career Offender Guideline or its commentary, we undertake the categorical approach by comparing the state statute to the generic definition of. the offense. See United States v. Walker, 595 F.3d 441, 445-46 (2d Cir. 2010). That there is consensus in the criminal law as to what constitutes robbery thus further convinces us that the least of the acts constituting New York first-degree robbery, i.e., “forcibly stealing property” while “armed with a deadly weapon,” is a crime of violence under the residual clause. As we have noted, “all fifty states define robbery, essentially, as the taking ,of property from another person or from the immediate presence of another person by force or by intimidation.” Id. (emphasis in original). Indeed, it would seem that, pursuant to the commentary to the former residual clause, robbery of any degree, in New York qualifies as a crime of violence. Jones contends nonetheless that New York’s robbery statute is broader than the generic definition. He argues, specifically, that the generic definition of robbery requires the use or threat of force in the process of asserting dominion over the property that is the subject of the offense, whereas the New York statute would be violated by a robber who uses or threatens force after assuming dominion of the- property. We disagree. The specific language of the New York robbery statute that Jones points to is that “forcible stealing” consists of (1) the “use[ ] or threat[] [of] immediate use of physical force upon another person” (2) “in the course of committing a larceny” (3) for the purpose of either “preventing or overcoming resistance to the taking of the property or to the retention thereof immediately after the taking” -or “[compelling the owner of such property or another person to deliver, up the property 'or to engage-in other conduct which aids in the commission of the larceny.” N.Y.. Penal Law § 160.00 (emphasis added). The generic definition of robbery; however, is broader than Jones acknowledges. It is true that the common law definition confines' robbery to 'the use or threat of force before, or simultaneous to, the assertion of dominion over property and therefore comports with Jones’ argument. See, e.g., Wayne LaFave, 3 Substantive Criminal Law § 20.3(e) (2d ed. Supp. 2016); Charles E. Torcia, 4 Wharton’s Criminal Law § 463 (15th ed. Supp. 2016). But a majority of states have departed, from the common law definition of robbery, broadening it, either statutorily or by judicial fiat, to also prohibit the peaceful assertion of dominion followed by the use or threat of force. See, e.g., LaPave § 20.3(e); Torcía § 463; State v. Moore, 274 S.C. 468, 480-81, 265 S.E.2d 38 (S.C. 2007) (collecting state statutes and judicial decisions that have departed from the common law definition of robbery). Indeed, the Model Penal Code, which we relied upon in United States v. Walker, 595 F.3d at 446, is often cited as the authority for expanding the definition of robbery in this manner, see LaPave § 20.3(e), because it specifies that robbery- includes conduct where the initial use or threat of force occurs “in flight after the attempt or commission [of the theft],” Model Penal Code § 222.1. As a result, this broader definition has supplanted the common law meaning as the generic definition of robbery. See Taylor v. United States, 495 U.S. 575, 598, 110 S.Ct. 2143, 109 L.Ed.2d 607 (1990) (specifying that the “generic” definition of a crime is the “sense in which the term is now used in the criminal codes of most states”). Moreover, New York places two restrictions on. the temporal relationship between the underlying theft and the use or threat of force that buttress the conclusion that its definition .of robbery falls within .the generic definition of the offense:. (1) force must be “in the course of committing a larceny,” ie., a theft, and (2) force must occur during “immediate flight”, after the taking for purposes of retaining the property. See N.Y. Penal Law § 160.00. Jones does not provide, and we are not aware of, any authority that the New York statute criminalizes the use of force after the robber has successfully carried the property away and reached a place of temporary safety. For all of the foregoing reasons, we easily conclude that New York’s definition of robbery necessarily falls within .the scope of generic robbery as set forth in the commentary to U.S.S.G. § 4B1.2(a).. Because Jones’ argument that first-degree robbery is not necessarily a crime of violence within the meaning of U.S.S.G. § 4B1.2(a) under the categorical approach is without merit, the district court did not commit error, much less plain error, in sentencing Jones as a career offender.