Court Opinion

ID: 1000165
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2013-07-04 17:36:09.806524+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:12:48.995798
License: Public Domain

UNPUBLISHED

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff-Appellee,

v.                                                                    No. 97-4953

ROBERT LEONARD STEELE,
Defendant-Appellant.

Appeal from the United States District Court
for the District of Maryland, at Baltimore.
Marvin J. Garbis, District Judge.
(CR-97-161-MJG)

Submitted: August 24, 1999

Decided: November 2, 1999

Before WILKINS and TRAXLER, Circuit Judges,
and PHILLIPS, Senior Circuit Judge.

_________________________________________________________________

Vacated and remanded by unpublished per curiam opinion.

_________________________________________________________________

COUNSEL

James Wyda, Federal Public Defender, Jeffrey E. Risberg, Assistant
Federal Public Defender, Baltimore, Maryland, for Appellant. Lynne
A. Battaglia, United States Attorney, P. Michael Cunningham, Assis-
tant United States Attorney, Baltimore, Maryland, for Appellee.

_________________________________________________________________
Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit. See
Local Rule 36(c).

_________________________________________________________________

OPINION

PER CURIAM:

Robert L. Steele appeals the sentence imposed by the district court
following his guilty plea to one count of possession of an unregistered
firearm in violation of 26 U.S.C. § 5861(d) (1994). Steele claims that
the district court used his 1987 Maryland conviction for common law
battery as a predicate offense for application of the heightened sen-
tencing provisions without determining whether the conviction actu-
ally stemmed from a crime of violence. See United States Sentencing
Guidelines Manual, §§ 2K2.1(a)(2), 4B1.2(1) (1995). Indeed, the pro-
bation officer's presentence report discloses none of the factual cir-
cumstances of Steele's conviction for battery. Because common law
battery in Maryland can include offenses that would not be considered
crimes of violence under the federal sentencing guidelines, we vacate
Steele's sentence and remand to the district court with instructions to
investigate the factual circumstances underlying Steele's 1987
conviction.1 See United States v. Kirksey, 138 F.3d 120, 125 (4th
Cir.), cert. denied, 119 S.Ct. 122 (1998). 2 We also grant Steele's
motion to submit the case without oral argument because the facts and
legal contentions are adequately presented in the materials before the
court.

VACATED AND REMANDED
_________________________________________________________________
1 The United States concedes that remand is appropriate.
2 We note that because the sentencing hearing preceded Kirksey by four
months, the district court did not have the benefit of our decision prior
to entering judgment.

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