Renard Cortez Murray v. United States

Case: 19-14759 Date Filed: 05/01/2020 Page: 1 of 2

[DO NOT PUBLISH] IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT

________________________ No. 19-14759 Non-Argument Calendar ________________________ D.C. Docket Nos. 2:16-cv-00506-MHT-SRW, 2:02-cr-00201-MHT-SRW-1

RENARD CORTEZ MURRAY,

Petitioner-Appellant, versus

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,

Respondent-Appellee.

________________________ Appeal from the United States District Court for the Middle District of Alabama ________________________ (May 1, 2020)

Before WILSON, WILLIAM PRYOR and LAGOA, Circuit Judges.

PER CURIAM:

Renard Murray appeals the denial of his motion to vacate his sentence, 28 U.S.C. § 2255, for aiding and abetting another to possess a firearm during a bank

Case: 19-14759 Date Filed: 05/01/2020 Page: 2 of 2 robbery, 18 U.S.C. § 924(c). The district court granted a certificate of appealability for whether Murray’s conviction based on a guilty plea is constitutional in the light of the decisions in United States v. Davis, 139 S. Ct. 2319 (2019), and Johnson v. United States, 135 S. Ct. 2551 (2015). Murray contends that the predicate offense to which he pleaded guilty, aiding and abetting an armed bank robbery, is not a “crime of violence” under § 924(c)(3). Our precedents hold otherwise. We affirm.

In an appeal of a denial of a motion to vacate, we review questions of law de novo and factual findings for clear error. Lynn v. United States, 365 F.3d 1225, 1232 (11th Cir. 2004). We may affirm for any reason supported by the record. Castillo v. United States, 816 F.3d 1300, 1303 (11th Cir. 2016).

As Murray concedes, our precedents control this appeal. Although in Davis the Supreme Court held that the residual clause of section 924(c)(3)(B) is unconstitutionally vague, 139 S. Ct. at 2323, 2336, our precedents establish that aiding and abetting a Hobbs Act robbery is categorically a crime of violence under the elements clause of section 924(c)(3)(A). In re Sams, 830 F.3d 1234, 1239 (11th Cir. 2016); In re Colon, 826 F.3d 1301, 1305 (11th Cir. 2016). So we affirm the denial of Murray’s motion to vacate.

AFFIRMED.