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813 F.3d 981

Docket Nos. 13-11537, 13-15012.

United States v. Nelson

Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals

Decided Dec. 30, 2015.

Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals · decided 2015-12-30

Cited by 1 later decisions — most recently September 2016

3 counsel of record

Applies 18 U.S.C. § 924

Applies AL 13A § 13A-7-7

Relies on 135 S. Ct. 2551 - Johnson v. United States · United States v. Howard

Good law ✅— No negative treatment on recordhow we know

Decided 2015-12-30

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¶1Christopher B. Brinson, Steven E. Butler, Adam W. Overstreet, Kenyen Ray Brown, Donna Barrow Dobbins, George F. May, U.S. Attorney’s Office, Mobile, AL, for Plaintiff-Appellee.

¶2Kristen Gartman Rogers, Carlos Alfredo Williams, Federal Defender’s Office, Mobile, AL, for Defendant-Appellant.

¶3Jeremy Christian Nelson, Yazoo City, MS, pro se.

¶4Before MARTIN, JULIE CARNES and BLACK, Circuit Judges.

¶5MARTIN, Circuit Judge:

¶6Jeremy Christian Nelson and Ted McCall Snow appeal sentences imposed under the Armed Career Criminal Act, 18 U.S.C. § 924(e)(1), after they each pleaded guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm, id.§ 922(g)(1). In general, that crime carries a maximum sentence of 10-years imprisonment. § 924(a)(2). But if a defendant has at least three prior “serious drug offense” or “violent felony” convictions, he instead faces a minimum of 15-years imprisonment under the ACCA. § 924(e)(1).

¶7Defendants were sentenced under the ACCA after their sentencing courts concluded they each had at least three prior violent felony convictions.1 Both Defen*982dants have prior convictions for third-degree burglary under Alabama law, Ala. Code § 13A-7-7(a). They argued at sentencing, as they do on appeal, that these convictions are not violent felonies under the ACCA. Together, our decision in United States v. Howard, 742 F.3d 1334 (11th Cir.2014), and the United States Supreme Court’s decision in Johnson v. United States, 576 U.S.-, 135 S.Ct. 2551, 192 L.Ed.2d 569 (2015), compel the conclusion that Defendants are correct.2

¶8A “violent felony” is “any crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year” that meets one (or more) of three definitions:

1. It “has as an element the use, attempted use, or threatened use of physical force against the person of another.” § 924(e)(2)(B)(i) [elements-based definition].
2. It “is burglary, arson, or extortion, or involves use of explosives.” § 924(e)(2)(B)(ii) [enumerated-offenses definition],
3. It “otherwise involves conduct that presents a serious potential risk of physical injury to another.” Id.[residual clause].

¶9Defendants’ third-degree 'burglary convictions do not qualify under any of the three definitions.

¶10First, Defendants’ third-degree burglary convictions do not qualify under the elements-based definition. The Alabama statute of conviction criminalizes “knowingly entering] or remaining] unlawfully in a building with intent to commit a crime therein.” § 13A-7-7(a). The definitions of terms used in that statute are found in § 13A-7-1 (1983). Based on these definitions, read together with § 13A-7-7(a), the crime does not “ha[ve] as an element the use, attempted use, or threatened use of physical force against the person of another.” § 924(e)(2)(B)(i). Second, we have already held that convictions under the same Alabama statute do not qualify under the enumerated-offenses definition. See Howard, 742 F.3d at 1342,1349.

¶11Third and finally, in Johnson the Supreme Court declared the residual clause of the ACCA to be unconstitutionally vague. 135 S.Ct. at 2557. The Court wrote: “imposing an increased sentence under the residual clause of the Armed Career Criminal Act violates the Constitution’s guarantee of due process.” Id. at 2563. Without the residual clause of the ACCA, there is no longer any basis for characterizing the Alabama third degree burglary statute as a violent felony under the ACCA.

¶12We therefore vacate Defendants’ sentences and remand for resentencing.3

¶13VACATED and REMANDED.

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