Court Opinion

ID: 993780
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2013-07-04 00:12:46.711938+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:11:25.183680
License: Public Domain

UNPUBLISHED

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff-Appellee,

v.                                                                     No. 95-5302

TODD ALPHONSO GRIFFIN,
Defendant-Appellant.

Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Western District of North Carolina, at Statesville.
Richard L. Voorhees, Chief District Judge.
(CR-93-39)

Submitted: November 18, 1997

Decided: December 16, 1997

Before HALL, LUTTIG, and MICHAEL, Circuit Judges.

_________________________________________________________________

Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion.

_________________________________________________________________

COUNSEL

James H. Wade, Charlotte, North Carolina, for Appellant. Mark T.
Calloway, United States Attorney, Brian L. Whisler, Assistant United
States Attorney, Charlotte, North Carolina, for Appellee.

_________________________________________________________________

Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.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

_________________________________________________________________
OPINION

PER CURIAM:

Todd Alphonso Griffin appeals from his sentence imposed for vio-
lation of 18 U.S.C.A. §§ 922(g)(1), 924 (West Supp. 1997). We
affirm.

Griffin's only argument on appeal is that the district court erred in
enhancing his sentence under 18 U.S.C. § 924(e)(1) (1994). Specifi-
cally, he asserts that a 1987 conviction for felonious breaking and
entering of a commercial establishment in violation of N.C. Gen. Stat.
§ 14-54 (1993), was not a violent felony under the statute, especially
where the business was closed and no one was present on the prem-
ises. We find that Griffin's argument is erroneous under Taylor v.
United States, 495 U.S. 575, 598-99 (1990), which specifically holds
that conviction of any crime having the elements of unlawful entry
into a building or structure with the intent to commit a crime consti-
tutes burglary for purposes of a § 924(e) enhancement. See United
States v. Bowden, 975 F.2d 1080, 1083 (4th Cir. 1992). Because
North Carolina's definition of felonious breaking and entering con-
tains just these elements, we find that Griffin's 1987 conviction was
a prior "violent felony." We therefore conclude that the § 924(e)
enhancement was properly applied and we affirm Griffin's sentence.*
We dispense with oral argument because the facts and legal conten-
tions are adequately presented in the materials before the court and
argument would not aid the decisional process.

AFFIRMED
_________________________________________________________________

*Griffin has also filed a petition for mandamus in relation to this
appeal which requests that this court compel the district court to rule on
his motion to correct sentence under Fed. R. Crim. P. 35(c). Because the
district court now lacks jurisdiction to consider that motion, we deny
Griffin's petition. See United States v. DeMartino, 112 F.3d 75, 81 (2d
Cir. 1997).

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