United States v. Lonnie Anthony Jones
Opinion
At issue today is whether second-degree murder in Florida is a "violent felony" within the meaning of the elements clause of the Armed Career Criminal Act (ACCA).
I.
Jones was arrested after a search of his residence turned up seven unlawfully possessed firearms and a variety of illegal controlled substances. He was charged in five counts for possessing cocaine base with intent to distribute, in violation of
Jones pled guilty to one federal drug count and the one federal weapons count-being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm or ammunition. For the gun count, he was subject to a 15-year mandatory minimum sentence under the ACCA because he had three prior qualifying convictions. The three prior convictions qualifying Jones as an armed career criminal were: (1) a 1988 Florida robbery with a firearm; (2) a 1992 Florida second-degree murder conviction with a firearm; and (3) a 1994 Florida conviction for resisting an officer with violence.
At his sentencing, Jones objected to the classification of his Florida second-degree murder conviction as a "violent felony" for purposes of the ACCA. He did not challenge the felony convictions for resisting an officer with violence and robbery with a firearm. He argued, however, that Florida's second-degree murder charge was not a violent felony for purposes of the ACCA because the statute does not require the use of physical force. As an example of a second-degree murder conviction that could be overbroad for purposes of the categorical approach, he posited murder by providing a lethal amount of cocaine or surreptitious poisoning, although that was not the basis of his underlying conviction. The sentencing court overruled the objection and found that Jones had three prior felony convictions, qualifying him as an armed career criminal. Jones was sentenced to concurrent 15-year sentences on both the drug and gun counts.
This timely appeal ensued.
II.
We review
de novo
whether a prior conviction qualifies as a "violent felony" under the ACCA.
See, e.g.
,
United States v. Howard
,
The ACCA provides that a defendant convicted of being a felon in possession of a firearm or ammunition must be sentenced to a mandatory 15-year minimum sentence where the defendant has "three previous convictions ... for a violent felony or a serious drug offense."
When determining whether a crime qualifies as a "violent felony" for
*1328
purposes of the ACCA, we use the so-called categorical approach.
See, e.g.
,
This case turns on the meaning of the phrase "physical force" in the ACCA definition of "violent felony." The Supreme Court has determined that the phrase "physical force" in the violent felony definition means "
violent
force-that is, force capable of causing physical pain or injury to another person."
Curtis Johnson v. United States
,
Jones argues that in Florida, second-degree murder can be committed without use of physical force. Florida defines second-degree murder to mean "[t]he unlawful killing of a human being, when perpetrated by any act imminently dangerous to another and evincing a depraved mind regardless of human life, although without any premeditated design to effect the death of any particular individual."
However, this argument is now foreclosed by our recent precedent in
Hylor v. United States
,
The only meaningful difference between first- and second-degree murder in Florida is that first-degree murder requires the element of premeditation, while second-degree murder does not.
See
Accordingly, we hold that under Florida law, second-degree murder categorically qualifies as a "violent felony" under the ACCA, and we affirm. 2
AFFIRMED.
Alternatively, first-degree murder includes unlawful killings in the perpetration of, or in the attempt to perpetrate, certain enumerated crimes; or unlawful killings resulting from the unlawful distribution of enumerated illicit or controlled substances.
Jones also argues that the district court incorrectly determined that Florida second-degree murder is a "crime of violence" under the career offender provisions of the Sentencing Guidelines. U.S.S.G. § 4B1.1(a). Jones's plea agreement included a sentence-appeal waiver that would otherwise bar his appeal of that question, and he does not contest the validity of that waiver. Instead, he says the district court could revisit that issue on remand because of the "sentence package" doctrine. In the relevant cases, we have allowed that, where part of a sentence is vacated on appeal, a district court is able to reconsider all of the parts of an "interdependent" sentence together on remand.
See, e.g.
,
United States v. Watkins
,
Reference
- Full Case Name
- UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Lonnie Anthony JONES, Defendant-Appellant.
- Cited By
- 14 cases
- Status
- Published