Opinion ID: 216826
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Violent Felony Under the ACCA and Law of the Case

Text: `[W]hen a case is appealed and remanded, the decision of the appellate court establishes the law of the case and ordinarily will be followed by both the trial court on remand and the appellate court in any subsequent appeal.' Roth v. Green, 466 F.3d 1179, 1187 (10th Cir.2006) (quoting Rohrbaugh v. Celotex Corp., 53 F.3d 1181, 1183 (10th Cir.1995)). Under this doctrine, we are bound by our determination in West I that Mr. West's prior felony conviction for failure to stop constitutes a violent felony under the ACCA. The law of the case doctrine precludes relitigation of a ruling of law in a case once it has been decided. McIlravy v. Kerr-McGee Coal Corp., 204 F.3d 1031, 1034-35 (10th Cir. 2000). The doctrine `posits that when a court decides upon a rule of law, that decision should continue to govern the same issues in subsequent stages in the same case.' Christianson v. Colt Indus. Operating Corp., 486 U.S. 800, 816, 108 S.Ct. 2166, 100 L.Ed.2d 811 (1988) (quoting Arizona v. California, 460 U.S. 605, 618, 103 S.Ct. 1382, 75 L.Ed.2d 318 (1983)). The law of the case doctrine is a rule of practice, Pittsburg Cnty. Rural Water Dist. No. 7 v. City of McAlester, 358 F.3d 694, 711 (10th Cir.2004), and, therefore, may be excused by circumstances such as intervening contrary decisions by the Supreme Court, United States v. Platero, 72 F.3d 806, 811 (10th Cir.1995). In West I, we addressed Mr. West's argument under the ACCA and determined that his prior conviction for failure to stop constitutes a violent felony under the ACCA. 550 F.3d at 960. That determination is the law of the case unless the Supreme Court issues an intervening contrary decision. Mr. West now argues that a case recently argued before the Supreme Court, United States v. Sykes, 598 F.3d 334 (7th Cir.2010), cert. granted, ___ U.S. ___, 131 S.Ct. 63, 177 L.Ed.2d 1152 (2010) (No. 09-11311), may provide such authority. We recognize that Sykes presents the Supreme Court with the question this court answered in West I. However, as a disposition in Sykes has not yet been reached, the law of the case for this appeal remains unchanged. If the Supreme Court issues an opinion in Sykes favorable to Mr. West, it will probably be within the ninety-day window in which West can file a petition for certiorari to the Supreme Court. Sup.Ct. R. 13. Or, alternatively, Mr. West can seek a precautionary petition for certiorari arguing the Sykes issue. But for now, we must affirm our prior ruling that West's prior felony conviction for failure to stop constitutes a violent felony under the ACCA.