Opinion ID: 202877
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Duval's Challenges to the ACCA Sentence

Text: In addition to his constitutional arguments, Duval contends that he should not be subject to an ACCA sentence because he has not been convicted of three violent felonies. The ACCA imposes a mandatory minimum sentence on defendants convicted of three previous convictions by any court . . . for a violent felony. 18 U.S.C. § 924(e)(1). A violent felony is defined as any crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year . . . [that] has as an element the use, attempted use, or threatened use of physical force against the person of another . . . or otherwise involves conduct that presents a serious potential risk of physical injury to another. Id. § 924(e)(2)(B). In determining whether a conviction was for a violent felony, the trial court may look only to the fact of conviction and the statutory definition of the prior offense. Taylor v. United States, 495 U.S. 575, 602, 110 S.Ct. 2143, 109 L.Ed.2d 607 (1990). In Shepard v. United States, the Supreme Court recognized that where a defendant had plead guilty to a prior crime, a court could also examine a statement of factual basis for the charge, shown by a transcript of plea colloquy or by written plea agreement presented to the court, or by a record of comparable findings of fact adopted by the defendant upon entering the plea. 544 U.S. 13, 20, 125 S.Ct. 1254, 161 L.Ed.2d 205 (2005) (citation omitted). There appears to be no dispute among the parties that Duval had been convicted of at least two violent felonies prior to his conviction for the instant offense. Thus, the dispute centers around Duval's third conviction, a conviction for assault and battery under Me.Rev.Stat. Ann. tit. 17-A, § 207, which provides in part that it shall be a crime for a person to intentionally, knowingly or recklessly cause [] bodily injury or offensive physical contact to another person. [6] Ordinarily, simple assault and battery is punishable in Maine as a Class D offense, id., which provides for a maximum sentence of up to one year in prison, id. § 1252(2). However, because Duval had previously been convicted of two misdemeanor assaults, he was sentenced under Maine's recidivist offender statute, making Duval's conviction a Class C offense, id., which provided for a maximum sentence of five years in prison, id. § 1252(4-A). Duval offers two arguments as to why his third conviction should not qualify as a violent felony for the purposes of the ACCA.
First, Duval argues that because assault is usually punishable as a Class D felony with a maximum term of less than one year in prison, his conviction was for a misdemeanor, and thus not a felony, even though the sentence he received was five years because of Maine's recidivist sentencing statute. Thus, Duval asks us to decide whether the word crime as used in 18 U.S.C. § 924(e)(2)(B) means criminal conduct (assault) or criminal conduct in combination with certain attendant circumstances (assault plus recidivism). We ordinarily review de novo a claim that a defendant is not subject to the ACCA de novo. United States v. Mastera, 435 F.3d 56, 59 (1st Cir.2006). This question is a novel one in this circuit, but has been addressed by other courts. Duval urges us to adopt the reasoning of the Ninth Circuit in United States v. Corona-Sánchez, 291 F.3d 1201 (9th Cir.2002) (en banc). In Corona-Sánchez, the Ninth Circuit held that under Taylor 's categorical approach, the proper analysis for determining whether a crime was a felony would be to consider the sentence available for the crime itself, without considering separate recidivist sentencing enhancements. Id. at 1209. Thus, the Ninth Circuit found that a prior conviction for petty theft in California, which provides for a maximum sentence of six months, Cal.Penal Code § 490, could not be a felony conviction even though the defendant had been subject to California's repeat offender statute which increased the maximum term to one year, id. § 666. Corona-Sánchez, 291 F.3d at 1210. Also supporting Duval's position is a line of decisions which hold that the ACCA, itself a recidivist sentencing statute, does not alter the nature of the underlying offense, but simply changes the sentencing structure for it. See, e.g., United States v. McGatha, 891 F.2d 1520, 1521-25 (11th Cir.1990) (concluding that the ACCA is simply a sentencing enhancement provision); United States v. Rumney, 867 F.2d 714, 718 (1st Cir.1989) ([T]he three felonies provision is for sentence enhancement and is not an element of a heightened crime.). The Government, on the other hand, urges us to adopt the reasoning of the Fifth and Seventh Circuits. In Mutascu v. Gonzáles, the Fifth Circuit found that where a defendant had been previously convicted and sentenced under California's recidivist sentencing statute, the ultimate conviction was not merely for petty theft, but rather for petty theft with prior jail term. 444 F.3d 710, 712 (5th Cir.2006). Thus, the Fifth Circuit refused to atomize a sentence into its recidivist and predicate components, and held instead that the relevant sentence for the purposes of determining whether a crime was a felony was the sentence ordered by a court of law. Id. (quoting 8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(48)(B)). Likewise, the Seventh Circuit has held that recidivist sentencing statutes may be used to determine the maximum sentence for a prior conviction when deciding whether a prior drug conviction constituted a serious drug offense for the purposes of the ACCA. United States v. Henton, 374 F.3d 467, 469-70 (7th Cir.2004). The Fourth Circuit has suggested a similar conclusion, although it noted that the maximum sentence imposable under a recidivist sentencing statute might depend on compliance with additional safeguards codified in state law. United States v. Williams, 326 F.3d 535, 539-40 (4th Cir.2003). The parties also point to recent Supreme Court decisions on sentencing issues to support their positions. In Apprendi, the Supreme Court very explicitly stated that recidivism `does not relate to the commission of the offense' itself. 530 U.S. at 496, 120 S.Ct. 2348 (quoting Almendarez-Torres, 523 U.S. at 230, 118 S.Ct. 1219). Duval contends that this statement supports his argument that his recidivist sentence was the product of a sentencing enhancement and not a change in the underlying offense. The Government points us to Ewing v. California, in which the Court, reviewing California's recidivist sentencing statute, explained that the petitioner had not been convicted of merely `shoplifting three golf clubs.' Rather, Ewing was convicted of felony grand theft for stealing nearly $1,200 worth of merchandise after previously having been convicted of at least two `violent' or `serious' felonies. 538 U.S. 11, 28, 123 S.Ct. 1179, 155 L.Ed.2d 108 (2003). This, the Government argues, supports its argument that recidivist sentencing statutes in effect create new recidivist crimes, which might be construed as felonies even if the underlying offense was a misdemeanor. These arguments highlight two conundrums. The first is that by using state-law definitions of crimes to determine sentencing on federal offenses, Congress may have allowed states to disturb the balance struck in the ACCA: repeat offenders would be subject to higher sentences, but only if they had committed three violent felonies. For example, it appears that under Maine's recidivist sentencing statute, a person might be convicted of three violent felonies (and thus sentenced under the ACCA) even if he had only been twice convicted of certain felony offenses (robbery) and once of a misdemeanor offense (assault). This would seem to disturb Congress's determination that the ACCA should be applied only to hardened criminals, i.e., those who have committed three (rather than two) crimes whose nature is so serious that they are punishable as felonies. Second, this case highlights the ambiguous status accorded to recidivist sentencing statutes. The Government asks us to classify Duval's third offense as recidivist assault, an offense that is different than non-recidivist assault. However, in light of the Supreme Court's holding in Apprendi that a maximum sentence may not be raised based on elements of the offense not pleaded and proven to a jury, 530 U.S. at 490, 120 S.Ct. 2348, this calls into question Almendarez-Torres's holding that, in fact, prior convictions need not be proven to a jury before they are used to increase a sentence beyond the statutory maximum. 523 U.S. at 239-247, 118 S.Ct. 1219 (rejecting argument that recidivism is an element of a crime that needs to be plead and proven to a jury); see Rangel-Reyes v. United States, ___ U.S. ___, 126 S.Ct. 2873, 2874, 165 L.Ed.2d 910 (2006) (Thomas, J., dissenting from denial of certiorari) (urging the Court to overrule Almendarez-Torres for this reason). In spite of the difficult questions that the Government's position presents, we are ultimately persuaded that logic and precedent support the conclusion that Duval was convicted of recidivist assault, and thus was convicted of a felony. First, although Apprendi stated that recidivism did not necessarily relate to the commission of an offense, 530 U.S. at 496, 120 S.Ct. 2348, this does not mean that an offense could not be defined with respect to recidivism. In fact, since Apprendi was decided, Ewing construed a conviction under California's repeat offender statute as recidivist theft, 538 U.S. at 28, 123 S.Ct. 1179, and more recently, in López v. Gonzáles, the Court noted that state drug possession statutes correspond to federal drug statutes, including possession of cocaine base and recidivist possession,  ___ U.S. ___, n. 6, 127 S.Ct. 625, 630 n. 6, 166 L.Ed.2d 462 (2006) (emphasis added). We acknowledge that these holdings create some tension with Almendarez-Torres, but as Justice Thomas noted in his dissent from denial of certiorari in Rangel-Reyes, the Supreme Court is the only court authorized to overturn that decision. 126 S.Ct. at 2875. Furthermore, although there are some anomalies in having Maine's recidivist offender statute affect the operation of the ACCA's recidivist offender scheme, this is not a unique situation. A single conviction in Maine for simple assault is ordinarily not treated as a felony for ACCA purposes because it carries a penalty of less than one year, Me.Rev.Stat. Ann. tit. 17-A, §§ 207, 1252(2), whereas a conviction for the exact same conduct in Massachusetts would be treated as a felony because Massachusetts law punishes assault by up to two and a half years, Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 265, § 13A(a). Moreover, states use different characteristics to categorize the same crimes as felonies or misdemeanors. Maine makes assault a felony if it is accomplished with the use of a firearm, see State v. Gilbert, 473 A.2d 1273, 1275 n. 1 (Me.1984) (Criminal threatening is a Class D crime, which, when committed with use of a dangerous weapon, is enhanced to a Class C offense.), whereas Oregon uses the presence of a victim's minor child to turn a simple assault into a felony, see United States v. Moreno-Hernández, 419 F.3d 906, 910, 915 (9th Cir. 2005) (also noting that a conviction with such an enhancement would qualify as a felony crime of violence). It appears that Congress implicitly accepted such inconsistencies in the application of the ACCA because it was concerned about federalism and wanted to preserve the state's role in defining, enforcing, and prosecuting essentially local crimes: In enhancing this [federal firearms] offense with [ACCA]-type sanctions, if the defendant has been convicted three times of robbery or burglary, we are enhancing an existing Federal crime, which would alleviate many of the problems associated with [the ACCA] such as the issue of a local D.A. veto or the difficulties encountered by Federal courts in applying State robbery and burglary laws in Federal prosecutions. H.R.Rep. No. 1073 at 5, reprinted in 1984 U.S.C.C.A.N. 3665. We can only assume that Congress thought that these federalism concerns would outweigh whatever inconsistencies arose. In addition, as one of the dissents in Corona-Sánchez pointed out: Raising an offense from a misdemeanor to a felony has effects far beyond the extra time defendant might serve. While employers may be willing to overlook a misdemeanor in potential employees, they are much less likely to hire convicted felons, especially for positions of trust and responsibility. Suffering a felony conviction, rather than a misdemeanor, can also have serious effects on personal relationships and reputation in the community. Moreover, under [California] law, felons suffer a variety of limitations and disabilities that misdemeanants do not. Misdemeanor sentences are served in local jails, while felony time is spent in state prison. For the rest of their lives, felons (but not misdemeanants) are denied the right to vote . . . and the right to bear arms. Corona-Sánchez, 291 F.3d at 1219 (Kozinski, J., dissenting in part and concurring in part) (internal citations omitted). So too here. See, e.g., Me.Rev.Stat. Ann. tit. 17-A, § 1252(1)(A)(2) (specifying that a class C felon sentenced to more than nine months in jail are committed to the Department of Corrections); Me.Rev.Stat. Ann. tit. 8, § 275-D(5)(D)(2) (listing Class C felony conviction as a ground for denying an off-track betting facility license); 28 Me.Rev.Stat. Ann. tit. 28-A, § 653(2)(A) (listing Class C felony conviction as a ground for denying liquor license). It would be unusual if a court could not consider Duval's conviction as a felony for the ACCA when Maine law would recognize it as such for state-law purposes. If Congress finds fault in the pattern of inconsistent sentences mandated by the ACCA, it is within its power to amend it. However, as it presently stands, the ACCA defines a felony as any crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year. 18 U.S.C. § 924(e)(2)(B). Because Duval was convicted of a crime which provided for punishment of up to five years, he has been convicted of a felony for the purposes of the ACCA.
Duval also argues for the first time on appeal that even if his assault conviction was for a felony, it was not for a violent crime. Duval argues that because the charging documents and plea agreement provide no indication as to the nature of the assault that he committed, we must find that he engaged in the minimum level of culpable conduct punishable under the assault statute, i.e., recklessly causing offensive physical contact, and that this conduct would not qualify as a violent crime. Because Duval did not raise this objection to his sentence below, we review that objection for plain error. United States v. Bennett, 469 F.3d 46, 51 (1st Cir.2006). Plain error requires that the defendant show that (1) that an error occurred (2) which was clear or obvious and which not only (3) affected the defendant's substantial rights, but also (4) seriously impaired the fairness, integrity, or public reputation of judicial proceedings. Id. (quoting United States v. Duarte, 246 F.3d 56, 60 (1st Cir.2001)). We detect no plain error in the district court's determination that a conviction in Maine for simple assault constitutes a crime of violence for the purposes of the ACCA. In United States v. Nason, we explicitly stated that both variants of assault regulated under Maine's general-purpose assault statute necessarily involve the use of physical force, and concluded that a conviction in Maine for simple assault qualified as a crime of domestic violence for the purposes of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(9). 269 F.3d 10, 21 (1st Cir.2001). Nason is the only case cited by either party to have interpreted the Maine assault and battery statute, and we cannot distinguish it in any meaningful way from the circumstances of Duval's case. Until such time as we revisit Nason en banc, see United States v. Allen, 469 F.3d 11, 17 (1st Cir.2006) (noting that, absent extraordinary circumstances, three-judge panels are bound by prior circuit panel decisions), we are bound to apply its holding that even offensive contact constitutes a violent felony under Maine's assault and battery statute. [7]