Opinion ID: 2641524
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Standard of Review and Statutory Framework

Text: This Court reviews the district court’s ACCA predicate offense determination de novo. United States v. Benton, 639 F.3d 723, 729 (6th Cir. 2011). Although the maximum sentence for a felon-in-possession charge under 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1) is typically ten years’ imprisonment, the ACCA provides for a mandatory minimum sentence of fifteen years where a defendant has three or 3 No. 12-4346 more prior convictions for a “violent felony” or a “serious drug offense.” Id. § 924(e)(1). The ACCA defines a “violent felony” as any crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year . . . that (i) has as an element the use, attempted use, or threatened use of physical force against the person of another; or (ii) is burglary, arson, or extortion, involves use of explosives, or otherwise involves conduct that presents a serious potential risk of physical injury to another. Id. § 924(e)(2)(B). In other words, a prior offense that is punishable by more than one year of imprisonment must fall within one of three categories to qualify as an ACCA predicate offense: crimes having an element of “physical force”—“force capable of causing physical pain or injury”— as in subsection (i), Johnson v. United States, 559 U.S. 133, 140 (2010); crimes that are one of the enumerated offenses in subsection (ii); or crimes that present a “potential risk of physical injury similar to that presented by” the enumerated offenses of subsection (ii). Sykes v. United States, 131 S. Ct. 2267, 2277 (2011). To determine whether a prior conviction qualifies as an ACCA predicate offense, we employ what is called the “categorical approach” to determine whether the crime falls under one of the above-mentioned categories. See Taylor v. United States, 495 U.S. 575, 600-02 (1990). If, however, it is possible to violate the statute in a way that would constitute a “violent felony” and in way that would not, we then apply the “modified categorical approach,” in which we consider certain judicial records—such as the indictment, jury instruction, plea agreement, and plea colloquy—to assess whether the defendant pleaded guilty to a narrowed charge that would qualify as a violent felony. See United States v. Gibbs, 626 F.3d 344, 352 (6th Cir. 2010) (citing Shepard v. United States, 544 U.S. 13, 26 (2005)). These documents are used “to determine which crime 4 No. 12-4346 within a statute the defendant committed, not how he committed the crime.” United States v. SotoSanchez, 623 F.3d 317, 320 (6th Cir. 2010) (emphasis in original, quotation marks omitted); see also Descamps v. United States, 133 S. Ct. 2276, 2283-85 (2013).