Court Opinion

ID: 9928921
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2024-02-01 17:00:52.62676+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T10:05:45.715296
License: Public Domain

NOT FOR PUBLICATION                           FILED
                    UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS                        FEB 1 2024
                                                                      MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK
                                                                       U.S. COURT OF APPEALS
                           FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,                       No.    18-35931

                Plaintiff-Appellee,             D.C. Nos.    1:16-cv-00099-SPW
                                                             1:04-cr-00126-SPW-1
 v.

ORVILLE MORRISON, AKA Orville                   MEMORANDUM*
David Morrison,

                Defendant-Appellant.

                   Appeal from the United States District Court
                           for the District of Montana
                    Susan P. Watters, District Judge, Presiding

                     Argued and Submitted December 6, 2022
                    Submission Withdrawn December 12, 2022
                         Resubmitted February 1, 2024
                              Seattle, Washington

Before: McKEOWN, CHRISTEN, and MILLER, Circuit Judges.

      Orville Morrison appeals from the district court’s order denying his motion

under 28 U.S.C. § 2255. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291, and we

affirm.

      *
             This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent
except as provided by Ninth Circuit Rule 36-3.
      In 2004, Morrison shot and killed William Wick. Following a jury trial,

Morrison was convicted of voluntary manslaughter, in violation of 18 U.S.C.

§ 1112(a), and of using a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence, in

violation of 18 U.S.C. § 924(c). In 2016, Morrison filed a section 2255 motion

seeking relief on the theory that voluntary manslaughter does not constitute a crime

of violence under section 924(c). The district court denied relief, concluding that

the motion was untimely. “We review de novo the district court’s denial of a

§ 2255 motion.” United States v. Fultz, 923 F.3d 1192, 1194 (9th Cir. 2019).

      On appeal, the United States expressly waived any argument that Morrison’s

motion was untimely, instead arguing that his claim fails on the merits. After

hearing oral argument, we withdrew submission pending the issuance of the

mandate in United States v. Draper, 84 F.4th 797 (9th Cir. 2023). The mandate has

now issued. In Draper, the court held that voluntary manslaughter under section

1112(a) is a crime of violence under section 924(c). Id. at 807. That holding

resolves this case. Because voluntary manslaughter is a crime of violence, the

district court did not err in denying Morrison’s section 2255 motion.

      AFFIRMED.

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