Opinion ID: 2756539
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Burnett’s Motion to Suppress and Sentencing

Text: On May 12, 2011, a grand jury in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania returned an indictment charging Burnett and Hankerson with conspiracy to commit a Hobbs Act robbery, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1951 (Count One); a Hobbs Act robbery, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1951 (Count Two); using and carrying a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 924(c)(1) (Count Three); and possession of a stolen firearm, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(j) (Count Four). The indictment also charged Burnett with one count of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1) and § 924(e) (Count Six). Hankerson pleaded guilty and cooperated with the 6 government. At Burnett’s trial, he identified Burnett as his accomplice and described both the planning and execution of the robbery. Both of the robbery victims identified Burnett as one of the robbers. The government introduced the store’s security videotape, which contained footage of Burnett’s face, as well as still photos from the tape. An expert testified that Burnett’s DNA, along with that of the store owner, was found on a latex glove recovered from the Honda. The evidence of Burnett’s guilt was overwhelming. Burnett filed a pretrial motion challenging the seizure and search of the Honda, contending that the officers lacked probable cause to seize the car and that the magistrate erred in issuing the search warrant. The District Court conducted two hearings on the motions and ordered supplemental briefing. The government argued that Burnett’s motion should be denied for lack of standing. At the suppression hearing, Burnett’s counsel conceded that there was no legal authority supporting the argument that Burnett had standing to challenge the search of the car but argued that this result seemed “fundamentally unfair.” App. 110. The District Court ultimately held that Burnett lacked standing to challenge the search, as he merely was a passenger in the car and therefore lacked a privacy interest in the vehicle. Notably, prior to trial, Burnett moved to proceed pro se. The District Court granted this motion but ordered Burnett’s counsel to act as standby counsel. At the close of the government’s case, Burnett unsuccessfully moved for a judgment of acquittal pursuant to Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 29, arguing that the Court should dismiss the robbery and Section 924(c) counts because the indictment did not allege as an element of the offenses that the firearm was used or 7 carried in the offenses “in furtherance” of crimes of violence. On August 1, 2013, the jury convicted Burnett of all the offenses charged in the indictment except for the count of possession of a stolen firearm. The Probation Office submitted a presentence report (“PSR”) that concluded that the computation of Burnett’s base offense level with the relevant enhancement, yielded an adjusted offense level of 33. Because Burnett had three prior convictions for crimes of violence – two robbery convictions and a conviction for aggravated assault – the Probation Office concluded that he was an armed career criminal pursuant to 18 U.S.C § 924(e) and a career offender under U.S.S.G. § 4B1.1 so that his guideline range was 188 to 235 months. When a mandatory consecutive period of incarceration of 84 months for the Section 924(c) offense was added to the guideline range, Burnett faced a total advisory custodial range of 272 to 319 months. Burnett raised various objections to the PSR, including a contention that he should not have been designated as an armed career criminal because a jury did not make that determination. Though he now challenges the sentence on an Eighth Amendment basis, he did not make that claim in the District Court. At the sentencing hearing, the Court concluded that Burnett was an armed career criminal and adopted a guideline calculation and range consistent with the PSR. The Court imposed a within-guideline range custodial sentence of 288 months, noting that Burnett had been a “regular participant in the criminal justice system most of his life.” App. 820. Despite stressing that Burnett’s violent actions in this robbery were “exceedingly troubling,” the Court declined to impose a sentence at the top of the guidelines range. Id. 821. Instead, the 8 Court sentenced him to a 204-month custodial term on the robbery counts, and a consecutive sentence of 84 months on the Section 924(c) count. The Court also imposed a period of supervised release of five years to follow the service of the period of incarceration, and ordered Burnett to pay a $1,000 fine, a special assessment of $400, and $300 in restitution. Burnett filed a timely appeal of his conviction and sentence.