United States v. Hamilton
Opinion
This appeal grew out of the sentencing of Mr. Raymond Hamilton for possession of a firearm after a felony conviction.
See
18 U.S.C. 922(g)(1). Mr. Hamilton was sentenced to 190 months' imprisonment under the Armed Career Criminal Act (ACCA) based in part on three Oklahoma convictions for second-degree burglary. Mr. Hamilton moved to vacate his sentence under
I. Mr. Hamilton's Prior Convictions
If a defendant has three prior convictions for violent felonies, the ACCA creates a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years' imprisonment.
*691 Mr. Hamilton had seven prior felony convictions:
1. a 1975 Louisiana conviction for burglary,
2. a 1975 Oklahoma conviction for second-degree burglary,
3. a second Oklahoma conviction for second-degree burglary in 1975,
4. a 1978 Oklahoma conviction for robbery with firearms,
5. a 1991 California conviction for assault with a deadly weapon,
6. a 1993 California conviction for driving under the influence, and
7. a third Oklahoma conviction for second-degree burglary in 2005.
The resulting issue is whether three or more of these convictions involved violent felonies.
Mr. Hamilton does not dispute that two of his prior convictions involved violent felonies: (1) his 1978 Oklahoma conviction for robbery with firearms and (2) his 1991 California conviction for assault with a deadly weapon. One more prior conviction for a violent felony would trigger the ACCA's mandatory minimum.
The government does not argue that a third violent felony could be based on (1) his 1975 Louisiana conviction for burglary 1 or (2) his 1993 California conviction for driving under the influence. Thus, the applicability of the ACCA's mandatory minimum turned on the three remaining convictions in Oklahoma for second-degree burglary.
II. Classification as a Violent Felony Under the Enumerated-Offense Clause
To count as a violent felony under the ACCA, a prior conviction must involve a violent felony under the Elements Clause, the Enumerated-Offense Clause, or the Residual Clause. These clauses provide alternative definitions of a violent felony:
1. Elements Clause: An element of the offense includes the use, attempted use, or threatened use of physical force against another person.18 U.S.C. § 924 (e)(2)(B)(i).
2. Enumerated-Offense Clause: The offense is burglary, arson, extortion, or a crime involving the use of explosives .18 U.S.C. § 924 (e)(2)(B)(ii).
3. Residual Clause: The crime otherwise creates "a serious potential risk of physical injury to another."Id.
The Residual Clause is unconstitutionally vague, 2 and the government does not invoke the Elements Clause. Instead, the government argues that the Oklahoma offense of second-degree burglary fits the Enumerated-Offense Clause.
The Enumerated-Offense Clause would fit only if the Oklahoma version of second-degree burglary had met the definition of generic burglary.
Taylor v. United States
,
*692 A. The Categorical Approach
To determine whether a crime constitutes generic burglary, we use the categorical approach.
Id
. at 600,
Oklahoma's statute for second-degree burglary provides:
Every person who breaks and enters any building or any part of any building, room, booth, tent, railroad car, automobile, truck, trailer, vessel or other structure or erection, in which any property is kept, or breaks into or forcibly opens, any coin operated or vending machine or device with intent to steal any property therein or to commit any felony, is guilty of burglary in the second degree.
B. The Modified Categorical Approach
For this argument, the government relies on the modified categorical approach. Under this approach, we consider a limited class of charging documents to determine whether Mr. Hamilton necessarily admitted the elements of an offense that would constitute a generic burglary.
See
Shepard v. United States
,
To be divisible, a statute must "comprise[ ] multiple, alternative versions of the crime."
To distinguish between the two, we may consider three sources:
1. state-court opinions,
2. the text of the statute, and
3. the record of conviction.
See
• require us to treat the locational alternatives as means, rendering the Oklahoma statute indivisible, and
• preclude use of the Oklahoma convictions to trigger the ACCA's mandatory minimum under the Enumerated-Offense Clause.
See
United States v. Degeare
,
III. Indivisibility
After considering the state-court opinions, the text of the statute, and the record of conviction, we remain uncertain *693 on whether the locational alternatives constitute elements or means. In light of this uncertainty, we must regard the locational alternatives in Oklahoma's statute for second-degree burglary as means rather than elements. As a result, Mr. Hamilton's sentence was not subject to the mandatory minimum under the ACCA's Enumerated-Offense Clause. 3
A. Standard of Review
We review de novo whether Mr. Hamilton's prior convictions qualify as violent felonies.
United States v. Cartwright
,
B. Oklahoma Opinions
The government argues that
• Oklahoma's case law classifies location as an element of second-degree burglary and
• Oklahoma's uniform jury instructions demonstrate that location constitutes an element of the offense. 4
Like Oklahoma case law, the Oklahoma uniform jury instructions provide useful guidance on the content of state law.
See
United States v. Titties
,
The Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals has referred to the locational alternatives as different ways of satisfying a single element.
See
Maines v. State
,
But Oklahoma law requires charging documents to allege not only the elements but also enough facts for a defendant to prepare for trial and to defend against double jeopardy.
See
id.
at 799 (noting that an indictment must enable a defendant " 'to prepare for his trial' " and
*694
" 'to defend himself against any subsequent prosecution for the same offense' " (quoting
Sparkman v. State
,
The government also relies on Oklahoma opinions referring to the type of burgled property as an element of the offense.
E.g.
,
Williams v. State
,
First, these opinions were not addressing the distinction between elements and means. Thus, these opinions are not "binding precedent on [that] point."
United States v. L.A. Tucker Truck Lines
,
Second, in these cases, the prosecutors charged just one of the locational alternatives and the jury found guilt on that alternative. Because only one statutory alternative was charged, "it [did] not matter for that particular case whether the State, as a general matter, would categorize that fact ... as an 'element' or as a 'means.' "
Mathis v. United States
, --- U.S. ----,
For both reasons, the references to the type of burgled property are not definitive. But the government also points to Oklahoma's uniform jury instructions. For second-degree burglary, the uniform jury instructions list the following elements:
First, breaking;
Second, entering;
Third , a/an building/room/booth/tent/(railroad car)/automobile/truck/trailer/vessel/structure/erection ;
Fourth , of another;
Fifth , in which property is kept;
Sixth , with the intent to steal/(commit any felony) .
Okla. Unif. Jury Instr. CR 5-13 (emphases in original).
An introductory provision states that "[s]lashes are used to indicate that the judge should select all alternatives that are supported by the evidence." Okla. Unif. Jury Instr. CR Cross Reference. The provision adds that "[i]n some cases, there may have been evidence offered for more than one alternative, and if so, the trial judge should include them in the disjunctive." Id .
The locational alternatives in the uniform jury instructions are separated by slashes. Thus, when supported by the evidence, the judge can instruct the jury on more than one location. The ability to instruct jurors in the alternative suggests that the listed locations may constitute means rather than elements.
See
Mathis v. United States
, --- U.S. ----,
*695 The government questions whether locations can be charged in the alternative, pointing to Instruction 5-11. This instruction states that a defendant is charged with burglary "of [Description of Premises], located at [Address or Location], [Name of County] County, Oklahoma ... on [Date]." Okla. Unif. Jury Instr. CR 5-11 (emphases omitted). The committee comments explain that "[t]he time, place, date, and description of the premises ... must be proved by the State to sustain the conviction." Id . According to the government, this instruction shows that a judge can instruct the jury on only one location.
But even if the government must prove the location being burgled, the court can still instruct the jury on alternative locations. For example, when the burgled location fits two of the listed locations, such as a "booth" and "tent," the State could charge the defendant with burgling "a booth or a tent." The State would still need to prove the place burgled. But the jury would not need to decide whether the location being burgled was a "booth" or a "tent." 6
By bunching the locational alternatives into a single element, the uniform jury instructions suggest that location may involve only a means of satisfying an element. We addressed a similar issue in
United States v. Titties
,
"Fifth, (for the purpose of threatening)/(with the intention of discharging the firearm)/(with any malice)/(for any purpose of injuring, either through physical injury or mental or emotional intimidation)/(for purposes of whimsy/humor/[a prank] )/(in anger or otherwise)."
Id
. (emphasis omitted) (quoting Okla. Unif. Jury Instr. CR 6-42 (alterations in original)). Because the uniform jury instruction bunches the statutory alternatives into a single element, we concluded that the jury would likely not need to agree on a particular alternative to satisfy the element.
Similarly, Oklahoma's uniform jury instruction for second-degree burglary bunches the locational alternatives into a single element. Okla. Unif. Jury Instr. CR 5-13 (identifying the third element as "a/an building/room/booth/tent/(railroad car)/automobile/truck/trailer/vessel/ structure/erection" (emphasis omitted)). The bunching of the locational alternatives may suggest that the jury would not need to agree on a particular location to satisfy this element. The uniform jury instructions therefore do not definitively require us to treat the locational alternatives in Oklahoma's statute for second-degree burglary as elements rather than means.
* * *
*696
Because Oklahoma's case law and uniform jury instructions do not show with certainty whether the locational alternatives constitute elements or means, we must look elsewhere.
See
Mathis v. United States
, --- U.S. ----,
C. The Text of the Statute
We therefore turn to the text of the Oklahoma statute. The government makes two textual arguments for classifying the locational alternatives as elements:
1. The statute does not contain an umbrella term encompassing all of the listed alternatives.
2. The Oklahoma burglary statute does not resemble the burglary statute at issue in Mathis .
Both arguments fail.
1. Omission of an Umbrella Term
An "umbrella term" is a broad term, like "premises," that encompasses the other terms in a series.
See
The district court concluded that the Oklahoma statute for second-degree burglary does not contain an umbrella term. The absence of an umbrella term, according to the government, implies that the locational alternatives are distinct elements. This implication is unclear and weak when applied to Oklahoma's statute for second-degree burglary.
Cf.
United States v. Titties
,
This statute criminalizes breaking and entering a set of listed locations, followed by the phrase "other structure or erection."
In light of the broad phrase ("structure or erection"), the locational alternatives might simply reflect different means of committing a second-degree burglary.
*697 2. Comparison to the Law Involved in Mathis
In
Mathis v. United States
, --- U.S. ----,
Focusing on the similarities, Mr. Hamilton points out that
• a disjunctive list appears in both the Iowa statute and the Oklahoma statute and
• Iowa's statute contains a catch-all term ("occupied structure"), resembling the Oklahoma catch-all term ("other structure or erection").
But differences exist as well. For example, Iowa's statute contains a separate statutory definition of the broad term; Oklahoma's statute does not. Id . at 2259 (Breyer, J., dissenting).
The government persuasively argues that the similarities tell us little. For example, though the Iowa statute contains a broad term ("occupied structure"), the
Mathis
majority never referred to that term.
See
But Mr. Hamilton also points out that the differences between the Iowa and Oklahoma statutes may tell us little, for
Mathis
did not suggest that the format of Iowa's statute was the only way to list alternatives as means.
See
United States v. Lobaton-Andrade
,
* * *
The statutory differences leave room to distinguish Mathis . But differences alone do not compel a difference in result. Thus, we cannot determine whether the Oklahoma statute is divisible by comparing and contrasting the Iowa and Oklahoma statutes. 9 In these circumstances, we remain uncertain over whether Oklahoma's locational alternatives constitute elements or means.
D. The Record of Conviction
We have one more place to look: "the record of a prior conviction itself."
Mathis v. United States
, --- U.S. ----,
The charging documents in the two 1975 Oklahoma burglaries alleged a break-in into a "certain building." Appellant's App'x at 45, 48. The charging document for the 2005 burglary alleged a break-in into a "residence." Id. at 51. According to the government, specification of the locations in the charging documents must mean that location constitutes an element of the offense.
But as previously discussed, charging documents often allege additional facts that are not elements of the crime.
See
United States v. Edwards
,
In addition, the charging document for the 2005 burglary alleged the burglary of a "residence." But Oklahoma's statute for second-degree burglary does not use the term "residence." And a residence can consist of a fixed building (like a conventional house) or a vehicle (like a trailer). Indeed, Oklahoma courts have referred to the burglary of a trailer as a residential burglary.
See
Chambers v. State
,
The government downplays use of the term "residence," contending that other allegations in the charging document establish that the "residence" was a "building." Appellant's Reply Br. at 16. But the nature of the residence does not remove the uncertainty on classification as an element or means: If location were an element, why would the charging document use a term ("residence") absent from the statutory list of locations?
See
United States v. Ritchey
,
* * *
Neither Oklahoma case law, the text of the Oklahoma statute, nor the record of conviction establishes with certainty whether the locational alternatives constitute elements or means. In light of the *699 uncertainty, we must treat the Oklahoma statute as indivisible.
Because the statute is indivisible, we cannot use the modified categorical approach to determine whether Mr. Hamilton committed an offense satisfying the generic definition of burglary.
See
Mathis v. United States
, --- U.S. ----,
• Mr. Hamilton's sentence was not subject to the ACCA's mandatory minimum under the Enumerated-Offense Clause and
• application of the ACCA's mandatory minimum must have been based on the constitutionally infirm Residual Clause.
IV. Conclusion
Mr. Hamilton's three Oklahoma convictions for second-degree burglary could have been based on conduct falling outside the generic definition of burglary. Thus, the district court could apply the ACCA's mandatory minimum only if the court concludes with certainty that Oklahoma's statute for second-degree burglary is divisible. We lack such certainty.
We must therefore regard the Oklahoma statute as indivisible, precluding use of the modified categorical approach. Without that approach, we conclude that the Oklahoma offense of second-degree burglary does not fit the Enumerated-Offense Clause. As a result, the ACCA's mandatory minimum could have been based only on the Residual Clause. Because the Residual Clause is unconstitutionally vague, we affirm the grant of Mr. Hamilton's § 2255 motion.
BRISCOE, Circuit Judge, concurring in the result.
I agree with the majority that we should affirm the district court. However, I reach that result after concluding that
I
To determine whether a predicate offense qualifies as a violent felony under § 924(e)(2)(B)(ii)'s enumerated offenses clause, we begin by addressing whether the statute is broader than the generic version of the crime.
See
Mathis v. United States
, --- U.S. ----,
There are three ways to discern whether a statute is divisible.
See
Mathis
,
"If these tools-statutory text, state law authority, and record documents-do not answer the means/elements question, then a court 'will not be able to satisfy
Taylor
's demand for certainty' that the offense qualifies as an ACCA conviction."
Titties
,
In this case, we apply the principles set out in
Mathis
to
Every person who breaks and enters any building or any part of any building, room, booth, tent, railroad car, automobile, truck, trailer, vessel or other structure or erection, in which any property is kept, or breaks into or forcibly opens, any coin-operated or vending machine or device with intent to steal any property therein or to commit any felony, is guilty of burglary in the second degree.
II
In the absence of any on-point ruling from the Oklahoma courts (or a prior decision from this court deciding the question), we must analyze whether § 1435 is divisible. After conducting that analysis, I agree with the majority and the district court that § 1435 is indivisible, though I reach that result by a somewhat different route.
At the outset, I conclude the text of § 1435 points in favor of indivisibility, though it is not alone determinative. Like the Iowa burglary statute at issue in
Mathis
-
Yet, there is a distinction between § 1435 and the statute at issue in
Mathis
. And the distinction prevents the text of § 1435 from being determinative. The text of
Further,
Mathis
provided another hypothetical example of an umbrella term in an indivisible statute.
Mathis
,
Section 1435 does not fit that rule. Instead, it lists ten locations, 2 and this listing is not preceded or succeeded by an all-encompassing umbrella term. Hamilton argues that one of the locations-"structure or erection"-is broad enough to also describe other locations in the list. But because some of the terms in the list, such as "automobile" or "vessel," are not structures or erections, there is no umbrella term here as is described in Mathis .
Therefore, an examination of the statutory text of § 1435 points in favor of indivisibility, but does not definitively answer the question because of distinctions between the phraseology in § 1435 and the statute at issue in Mathis .
However, when we consider the text of § 1435 in conjunction with state law sources, it becomes clear that the locational alternatives in § 1435 are means of the same element in an indivisible statute. Most critically, the Oklahoma Uniform Jury Instructions point us in this direction.
Titties
,
No person may be convicted of burglary in the second degree unless the State has proved beyond a reasonable doubt each element of the crime. These elements are:
First, breaking;
*702 Second, entering;
Third, a/an building/room/booth/tent/(railroad car)/automobile/truck/trailer/ vessel/structure/erection ;
Fourth, of another;
Fifth, in which property is kept;
Sixth, with the intent to steal/(commit any felony) .
Okla. Unif. Jury Instrs.-Crim. 5-13 (emphasis in original) (citing § 1435 ).
As the majority notes, Op. at 694, an introductory provision explains that "[s]lashes are used in an instruction to indicate that the judge should select all the alternatives that are supported by the evidence." Okla. Unif. Jury Instrs. Crim. Cross Reference;
see also
Titties
,
In
Mathis
, the Court concluded "[t]he listed premises in Iowa's burglary [statute] ... are 'alternative method[s]' of committing one offense, so that a jury need not agree whether the burgled location was a building, other structure, or vehicle."
Mathis
,
Nothing in Oklahoma case law undermines this conclusion. The government points out that the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals (OCCA)
4
has noted that "an indictment or information for burglary ... must allege every fact and circumstance necessary to constitute the offense, including the time, place, ownership, and a description of the premises."
Ross v. State
,
Yet, for two reasons,
Ross
and
Simpson
do not preclude the conclusion that § 1435 is indivisible. First, the facts and circumstances described in
Ross
and
Simpson
are required "to inform the accused of the particular crime of which he is charged."
Simpson
,
*703
Second,
Ross
and
Simpson
do not undermine the conclusion that the locational alternatives in § 1435 are means because they leave open the possibility of charging multiple locational alternatives in the same case. And if a prosecutor can charge multiple alternatives in the same case, that "is as clear an indication as any that each alternative is only a possible means of commission, not an element that the prosecutor must prove to a jury beyond a reasonable doubt."
Mathis
,
The possibility of charging multiple alternatives from § 1435's locational list is best seen by example. For instance, say a perpetrator broke into a Chevrolet El Camino and stole items. An Oklahoma prosecutor could charge that person with burglarizing an "automobile," or with burglarizing a "truck," at a particular location on a certain date, and could specifically identify the vehicle by listing the license plate information and owner.
Ross
and
Simpson
tell us the "indictment or information for burglary ... must allege every fact and circumstance necessary to constitute the offense, including the time, place, ownership, and a description of the premises."
Ross
,
An indictment charging the defendant with burglarizing a Chevrolet El Camino by breaking and entering a "truck or automobile" at 11 p.m. on January 1, 2018, with the license plate of ABC123 with intent to steal items inside sufficiently alleges "every fact and circumstance" of the burglary and describes the premises in detail. And there is nothing in Ross or Simpson that indicates the jury must agree on the location burglarized. That is, the conviction in the hypothetical case just described would be valid even if six jurors found the Chevrolet El Camino was a truck, and six found it to be an automobile. 5
The government points out that there is no evidence that an Oklahoma prosecutor has ever charged multiple locations in the same burglary prosecution. Gov't Reply Br. at 8-9;
but cf.
Titties
,
Aside from its arguments based on
Ross
and
Simpson
, the government argues that before the Supreme Court began to speak of a distinction between means and elements in criminal statutes, the OCCA stated that the "
[e]lements
of the crime of second degree burglary are (1) breaking; (2) entering; (3) a building; (4) of another; (5) in which property is kept; (6) with intent to steal."
Willard v. State
,
Therefore, there is nothing in the OCCA case law to undermine the conclusion that § 1435 is an indivisible statute. 6
III
Since § 1435 is indivisible, we must apply the categorical approach and ask whether § 1435" 'sweeps more broadly' than the ACCA definition-that is, if some conduct would garner a 'conviction but would not satisfy the [enumerated offenses clause] definition.' "
Titties
,
Therefore, Hamilton's three predicate offenses under § 1435 should not have counted as violent felonies for an ACCA enhancement. I would affirm the district court.
In district court, the government argued that the ACCA's mandatory minimum could be based on the 1975 Louisiana conviction. But the government waived this argument on appeal.
Johnson v. United States
, --- U.S. ----,
We addressed this issue in
United States v. Taylor
, stating that the modified categorical approach could not be used for Oklahoma's crime of second-degree burglary.
United States v. Taylor
,
The government contends that the uniform jury instructions should be considered as part of the inquiry into the record of conviction. But in Oklahoma, the trial judge can independently determine whether the uniform jury instructions accurately state the law.
The government admits that "[t]hese preliminary instructions, standing alone, may suggest that the locations in § 1435 are merely different means of satisfying the same element." Appellant's Opening Br. at 24.
The government points out that Mr. Hamilton has not cited any Oklahoma burglary cases where the charging document alleged multiple alternative locations. The absence of such a citation could support classification of location as an element. But the absence of such a citation could also reflect only the charging practices among Oklahoma prosecutors.
See
United States v. Diaz
,
In Oklahoma, Black's Law Dictionary supplies an accepted reference for definitions of statutory terms.
See, e.g.
,
Virgin v. State
,
The government concedes that the term "other structure or erection" "can embrace some of the other locations." Appellant's Opening Br. at 19; see also Appellant's Reply Br. at 1-2 (stating that a "structure or erection" "embraces some, but not all, of the other locational alternatives"); id. at 9 ("[T]he term 'structure or erection' can embrace some of the other listed locations.").
The government analogizes the Oklahoma statute to the Georgia burglary statute in
United States v. Gundy
,
In
Ritchey
, the burglary statute listed pieces of property that could be burgled: " 'a tent, hotel, office, store, shop, warehouse, barn, granary, factory or other building, structure, boat, ship, shipping container, or railroad car.' "
United States v. Ritchey
,
Mathis included the discussion of an "umbrella term" within its peek at the state court record, and left it unclear whether umbrella term analysis was limited to merely that part of the divisibility analysis. I believe it is not so limited.
Those terms being (1) "building," (2) "room," (3) "booth," (4) "tent," (5) "railroad car," (6) "automobile," (7) "truck," (8) "trailer," (9) "vessel," and (10) "other structure or erection."
There is some confusion about where the uniform jury instructions fit within
Mathis
' three prongs.
See
Titties
,
Prior to 1959, this court was the Oklahoma Criminal Court of Appeals. I use OCCA for all references to this court.
Courts have used both "automobile" and "truck" to refer to a Chevrolet El Camino.
See, e.g.
,
State v. Vandouris
,
Because a review of the text of § 1435 and the corresponding state law sources provides a "clear answer[ ]" on the divisibility question, there is no need to turn to a "peek" at the record.
See
Mathis
,
In
Green
, we applied the modified categorical approach without first considering whether § 1435 is divisible.
Green
,
Reference
- Full Case Name
- UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Raymond Mark HAMILTON, Defendant-Appellee.
- Cited By
- 20 cases
- Status
- Published