United States v. Le' Ardrus Burris
United States v. Le' Ardrus Burris
Opinion of the Court
*390Federal law imposes longer prison sentences on certain violent career criminals. As relevant here, both the Armed Career Criminal Act ("ACCA") and the United States Sentencing Guidelines ("Guidelines") impose longer prison sentences on certain defendants who have a criminal record containing multiple previous violent felonies. See
The question in this case is whether convictions of Ohio felonious assault and Ohio aggravated assault qualify as violent-felony predicates under the ACCA and Guidelines elements clauses. In 2012, a panel of this court held that both Ohio felonious assault and Ohio aggravated assault qualify as violent-felony predicates under the ACCA elements clause. See United States v. Anderson ,
We granted en banc review to examine whether Anderson still binds this court. We first conclude that Ohio felonious assault and Ohio aggravated assault are too *391broad to always (or categorically) qualify as violent-felony predicates-they each criminalize more conduct than is described in the ACCA and Guidelines elements clauses. We next conclude that both Ohio's felonious-assault and aggravated-assault statutes are divisible-they each set out two separate crimes, one of which qualifies as a violent-felony predicate under the ACCA and the Guidelines and the other which does not. Because the Anderson court did not conduct an overbreadth analysis, and because subsequent Supreme Court precedent requires a divisibility analysis that Anderson lacks, we conclude that Anderson no longer binds this court. Still, based on the facts in this case and the applicable standard of review, we conclude that Burris is not eligible for relief. We AFFIRM the judgment of the district court.
I.
Le'Ardrus Burris was charged with one count of conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute heroin, in violation of
Burris had a criminal record containing two previous Ohio felony convictions: a 2005 conviction for complicity in trafficking in drugs, in violation of Ohio Revised Code §§ 2923.02, 2925.03 ; and a 2007 conviction for felonious assault, in violation of Ohio Revised Code § 2903.11(A)(2). See Burris ,
On appeal, Burris argued that neither of his Ohio felonies qualified as violent-felony predicates under the Guidelines. See id. at *1-2. The panel rejected both arguments. See id. In rejecting Burris's argument regarding his Ohio felonious-assault conviction, the panel relied on Anderson and another recent Sixth Circuit case, Williams ,
II.
This area of federal sentencing law is complicated. Members of the Supreme Court have described aspects of it as a "time-consuming legal tangle," Mathis v. United States , --- U.S. ----,
A.
The ACCA imposes a fifteen-year mandatory-minimum prison sentence on *392persons who violate
Since 1990, the Supreme Court has instructed federal sentencing courts to use the "categorical approach" to determine whether a defendant's previous state or federal felony convictions "ha[ve] as an element the use, attempted use, or threatened use of physical force against the person of another." See Descamps v. United States ,
Some state and federal criminal statutes, however, are "divisible" statutes-i.e. , ones which "set[ ] out one or more elements of the offense in the alternative," "thereby defin[ing] multiple crimes." Descamps ,
When faced with a state or federal statute in the elements-clause context, therefore, we must conduct two analyses. One is an overbreadth analysis to determine whether the statute in question is too broad to categorically qualify as a violent-felony predicate because it criminalizes more conduct than is described in the ACCA and Guidelines elements clauses. The other is a divisibility analysis to determine whether the statute in question is divisible because it sets out multiple separate crimes and if so, whether any of those separate crimes qualifies as a violent-felony predicate under the ACCA and Guidelines elements clauses.
B.
The relevant portions
The relevant portion of Ohio's felonious-assault statute is as follows:
Ohio Revised Code § 2903.11 -Felonious Assault
(A) No person shall knowingly do either of the following:
(1) Cause serious physical harm to another or to another's unborn;
(2) Cause or attempt to cause physical harm to another or to another's unborn *394by means of a deadly weapon or dangerous ordnance.
...
(E) As used in this section:
(1) "Deadly weapon" and "dangerous ordnance" have the same meanings as in section 2923.11 of the Revised Code.
The relevant portion of Ohio's aggravated-assault statute is as follows:
Ohio Revised Code § 2903.12 -Aggravated Assault
(A) No person, while under the influence of sudden passion or in a sudden fit of rage, either of which is brought on by serious provocation occasioned by the victim that is reasonably sufficient to incite the person into using deadly force, shall knowingly:
(1) Cause serious physical harm to another or to another's unborn;
(2) Cause or attempt to cause physical harm to another or to another's unborn by means of a deadly weapon or dangerous ordnance, as defined in section 2923.11 of the Revised Code.
Importantly, the Ohio Revised Code also contains statutory definitions for "physical harm" and "serious physical harm," as used in Ohio's felonious-assault and aggravated-assault statutes. These definitions are not cross-referenced from either of those statutes, though, and that has caused difficulty in some of our prior cases, including the Anderson case. These definitions are as follows:
Ohio Revised Code § 2901.01 -Definitions
(A) As used in the Revised Code:
...
(3) "Physical harm to persons" means any injury, illness, or other physiological impairment, regardless of its gravity or duration.
...
(5) "Serious physical harm to persons" means any of the following:
(a) Any mental illness or condition of such gravity as would normally require hospitalization or prolonged psychiatric treatment;
(b) Any physical harm that carries a substantial risk of death;
(c) Any physical harm that involves some permanent incapacity, whether partial or total, or that involves some temporary, substantial incapacity;
(d) Any physical harm that involves some permanent disfigurement or that involves some temporary, serious disfigurement;
(e) Any physical harm that involves acute pain of such duration as to result in substantial suffering or that involves any degree of prolonged or intractable pain.
In 2012, a divided panel of this court held that both Ohio felonious assault and Ohio aggravated assault qualify as violent-felony predicates under the ACCA elements clause. See Anderson ,
We think it clear that the Ohio aggravated assault statute, which requires proof of "serious physical harm" or "physical harm ... by means of a deadly weapon or dangerous ordnance," Ohio Rev. Code § 2903.12(A)(1)-(2), necessarily requires proof that the defendant used "force capable of causing physical pain or injury." [quoting Johnson v. United States ,559 U.S. 133 , 140 [130 S.Ct. 1265 ,176 L.Ed.2d 1 ] (2010) (" Johnson I ").] We hold that one can "knowingly ... [c]ause serious physical harm to another," Ohio Rev. Code § 2903.12(A)(1), only by knowingly using force capable of causing physical pain or injury, i.e. , violent physical force, in the context of determining what crime constitutes a "violent felony" under § 924(e)(2)(B)(i).... In sum, because the Ohio aggravated assault statute requires the state to show the defendant either knowingly caused serious physical harm to another or knowingly caused physical harm to another by means of a deadly weapon or ordnance, a conviction under that statute is a "violent felony" under § 924(e)(2)(B)(i).
Anderson ,
As we earlier noted, subsequent panels of this court have regularly applied Anderson 's holding in the Guidelines context, finding that convictions under Ohio's felonious-assault and aggravated-assault statutes qualified as crimes of violence under the Guidelines as well. See, e.g. , Hibbit ,
III.
Burris argued that Anderson is wrong and should be overruled, for two reasons. He first pointed out that even if Ohio's felonious assault and aggravated assault statutes might appear on their faces to categorically require some form of physical harm, the Ohio Revised Code in fact defines "serious physical harm" to include some forms of serious mental harm. See Ohio Rev. Code § 2901.01(A)(5)(a). In failing to discuss this statutory definition, the Anderson panel "failed to recognize that the statute is overbroad." Burris also pointed out that the Supreme Court issued Descamps and Mathis after the Anderson decision, and those two Supreme Court cases "clarified how to apply the categorical approach when determining whether a statute is divisible and how to apply the modified categorical approach if a statute *396is divisible." "Without the benefit of Descamps and Mathis ," Burris argued, "the Anderson panel did not properly analyze Ohio's felonious assault statute."
To obtain relief, Burris faces some obstacles. As the government pointed out in its supplemental briefing,
A.
We begin by determining whether at least some part of Ohio's felonious-assault and aggravated-assault statutes is too broad to categorically qualify as a crime of violence under any Guidelines career-offender clause that was in place at the time that the district court sentenced Burris.
Each of these three Guidelines clauses focuses on "crime[s] of violence"-crimes resulting in "physical" harms. The elements clause sweeps in felonies that "ha[ve] as an element the use, attempted use, or threatened use of physical force against the person of another." USSG § 4B1.2(a)(1) (2015). The enumerated offense of aggravated assault, under our precedent, is met when a person:
(a) attempts to cause serious bodily injury8 to another, or causes such injury purposely, knowingly, or recklessly under circumstances manifesting extreme indifference to the value of human life; or (b) attempts to cause or purposely or knowingly causes bodily injury9 to another with a deadly weapon.
United States v. McFalls ,
Both Ohio's felonious-assault and aggravated-assault statutes criminalize, among other things, "knowingly ... [c]aus[ing] serious physical harm to another...." See Ohio Rev. Code §§ 2903.11(A)(1), 2903.12(A)(1). But "[s]erious physical harm" includes "[a]ny mental illness or condition of such gravity as would normally require hospitalization or prolonged psychiatric treatment."
*398USSG § 4B1.2(a)(1), or without causing bodily injury or without engaging in conduct that presents a serious potential risk of physical injury to another, see McFalls ,
The Ohio Supreme Court has described the purpose of both versions of Ohio aggravated assault. They "serve the same purpose-preventing physical harm to persons." State v. Brown ,
These decisions confirm that there is such a realistic probability. Burris cites two cases that confirm this, and the government cites an additional case. The first, State v. Elliott , involved a man who was convicted of Ohio felonious assault after he killed his wife and then allowed his six-year-old son to discover her lying dead in a pool of her own blood.
The second, State v. Cooper , involved a mother who was involved in sexually abusing and/or allowing others to sexually abuse her four children.
The third, State v. Hodges , involved an Episcopal priest who counseled a parishioner, who had a history of psychiatric illnesses, about her sexually abusive husband.
These cases confirm that there is at least a "realistic probability" that a person may be convicted of Ohio felonious assault or Ohio aggravated assault
Defendants in Ohio may also be convicted of felonious assault or aggravated assault without, as is required by the Guidelines enumerated-offense clause,
Defendants in Ohio may also be convicted of felonious assault or aggravated assault without, as is required by the Guidelines residual clause, engaging in conduct that presents a serious potential risk of physical injury to another. See USSG § 4B1.2(a)(2) (2015). In Elliott and Cooper , at least, the defendants engaged in conduct that Ohio juries thought could fairly be described as presenting a serious potential risk of mental injury to another, but we do not think that that conduct could fairly be described as presenting a serious potential risk of physical injury to another, and it is clear in both that the jury punished the defendants for engaging in conduct that presented a serious risk of mental injury, not physical injury. See Elliott ,
*401The government argues that we should not allow "a few (potentially) outlier lower court decisions" to "excuse thousands of violent career criminals" from the consequences imposed by the ACCA and the Guidelines. In support of this position, the government quotes Perez v. United States ,
Anderson wrongly held that convictions under Ohio's felonious-assault and aggravated-assault statutes categorically qualify as violent-felony predicates. See Anderson ,
B.
We next determine whether Ohio's felonious-assault and aggravated-assault statutes are divisible because they set out multiple separate crimes and if so, whether either of those separate crimes qualifies as a violent-felony predicate under the ACCA and Guidelines elements clauses.
Supreme Court cases decided after Anderson make clear that, if a statute is too broad to qualify categorically as a violent-felony predicate under the ACCA and Guidelines elements clauses, we should next look at whether that statute is "divisible." "[D]ivisible" statutes, as a reminder, are statutes which "set[ ] out one or more elements of the offense in the alternative," "thereby defin[ing] multiple crimes." Descamps ,
The Supreme Court in Mathis described several ways to determine whether a state statute is divisible, each of which is based in state law. There may be "a state court decision" that "definitively answers the question." Mathis ,
Where state law is unclear on whether a state statute is divisible, we may "peek at the record documents" for "the sole and limited purpose of determining whether the listed items are elements of the offense."
Where both state law and the record documents are unclear, "a sentencing judge will not be able to satisfy ' Taylor 's demand for certainty' when determining whether a defendant was convicted of a" qualifying predicate offense.
We have not before definitively answered the question of whether Ohio's felonious-assault and aggravated-assault *403statutes are divisible. Anderson did not address this question, at least regarding subsections (A)(1) and (A)(2) of each statute. See Anderson ,
Turning to Ohio state law, then, each of the three ways Mathis describes to determine whether a statute is divisible points in the same direction: Ohio's felonious-assault and aggravated-assault statutes are both divisible, for the following reasons.
The first way Mathis describes to determine whether a statute is divisible is to look to see if "a state court decision" "definitively answers the question." Mathis ,
It is true that in Brown , the Ohio Supreme Court describes subsections (A)(1) and (A)(2) as "set[ting] forth two means of committing the same offense."
*404In so holding, however, the Ohio Supreme Court did not prohibit prosecutors from charging a defendant with violating both subsections of a statute such as Ohio's felonious-assault and aggravated-assault statutes where the defendant either committed the crimes separately or had a separate animus for each violation. See
We recognize that the stray language from the Ohio Supreme Court's opinion in Brown , taken out of context, could be viewed as indicating that Ohio's felonious-assault and aggravated-assault statutes are indivisible. But that case was about a wholly different issue, and we therefore will not permit it to outweigh the more-recent regular practice in the Ohio state courts.
The second way Mathis describes to determine whether a statute is divisible is to look to see if "the statute on its face [ ] resolve[s] the issue." Mathis ,
*405The third, albeit related, way Mathis describes to determine whether a statute is divisible is to look to see "[i]f statutory alternatives carry different punishments," because if they do, "then under Apprendi
C.
Subsection (A)(2) prohibits "[c]aus[ing] or attempt[ing] to cause physical harm to another or to another's unborn by means of a deadly weapon or dangerous ordinance." O.R.C. § 2903.11(A)(2). Ohio statutorily defines a "[d]eadly weapon" as "any instrument, device, or thing capable of inflicting death, and designed or specifically adapted for use as a weapon, or possessed, carried, or used as a weapon." O.R.C. § 2923.11(A). "Physical harm" is defined by Ohio as "any injury, illness, or other physiological impairment, regardless of its gravity or duration." O.R.C. § 2901.01(A)(3). Since the use of a "deadly weapon" or "dangerous ordinance" while "[c]aus[ing] or attempt[ing] to cause physical harm" is necessary for a conviction under subsection (A)(2), it follows logically that using a device "capable of inflicting death" satisfies the element clause's use, attempted use, or threatened use of violent physical force.
However, we need not even rely on logic and common sense because this court has already answered this question several times and come to the same conclusion. The Sixth Circuit has adopted, as have other circuits,
Tellingly, Burris does not cite (nor can we find) a single instance of Ohio courts' applying subsection (A)(2) to conduct that does not qualify under the Guidelines elements clause. Given the statutory language, Ohio case law, and our own precedents, we find that a conviction under subsection (A)(2) qualifies as a violent-felony predicate under the Guidelines.
D.
The subsection (A)(1) version of each offense is too broad to qualify categorically as a violent-felony predicate under the ACCA and Guidelines elements clauses. Therefore, sentencing courts should employ the modified categorical approach to determine whether a defendant was convicted of the (A)(1) version of the offense or the (A)(2) version of the offense. If the defendant was convicted under the (A)(1) version of either offense, that offense does not qualify as a violent-felony conviction under the ACCA or Guidelines elements clauses.
Anderson did not engage in this divisibility analysis, see Anderson ,
We now hold that, for two reasons, Anderson is no longer binding law. First , Anderson was wrongly decided because it failed to recognize that Ohio's statutory definition of "serious physical harm" includes certain serious mental harms, and because state courts in fact do apply Ohio's felonious-assault and aggravated-assault statutes to conduct that does not involve the use, attempted use, or threatened use of physical force against the person of another. Second , in the post- Anderson cases of Descamps and Mathis the Supreme Court has made it clear that federal sentencing courts must conduct a divisibility analysis, and the Anderson majority-albeit understandably-did not do so. With those mistakes now obvious, it is untenable to allow Anderson to continue both to require *407the district courts in this circuit to enhance defendants' prison sentences based on criminal convictions that we know do not qualify under the ACCA and Guidelines elements clauses, and to require panels of this court to affirm those incorrectly enhanced sentences. Cf. Hicks v. United States , --- U.S. ----,
Having concluded that (1) Ohio's felonious-assault and aggravated-assault statutes are too broad to qualify categorically as violent-felony predicates under the ACCA and Guidelines elements clauses, (2) that both statutes are divisible, and (3) that only the (A)(2) version of each statute qualifies as a violent-felony predicate under the ACCA and Guidelines elements clauses, we conclude the analysis. The Shepard documents in this case
IV.
For the foregoing reasons, we AFFIRM the judgment of the district court.
CONCURRENCE
"[P]hysical force," as used here, means "violent force-that is, force capable of causing physical pain or injury to another person." Johnson v. United States ,
Ohio's felonious-assault statute also criminalizes certain kinds of sexual conduct by persons with AIDS, see Ohio Rev. Code § 2903.11(B), but this portion of the statute is not at issue in this case. Each reference to convictions under Ohio's felonious-assault statute in this opinion refers only to subsection (A) convictions.
The Supreme Court has since found the ACCA residual clause to be unconstitutionally vague. See Johnson v. United States , --- U.S. ----,
We note that the government failed to point out the appropriate standard of review in this case in its response to Burris's request for rehearing en banc. It would be helpful if the government pointed out vehicle problems such as these when it asks the en banc court to deny a request for rehearing en banc.
The government filed a motion asking us to take judicial notice of the Shepard documents in this case. The government argues that it had no reason to produce these documents earlier in the case, since Anderson and its progeny made clear that both (A)(1) and (A)(2) of Ohio's felonious-assault and aggravated-assault statutes satisfied the Guidelines elements clause. Now that Anderson 's holding is in jeopardy, the government argues that the Shepard documents are necessary to resolve this case. We may take judicial notice "at any stage of the proceeding" of "fact[s] that [are] not subject to reasonable dispute because [they] ... can be accurately and readily determined from sources whose accuracy cannot reasonably be questioned." Fed. R. Evid. 201(d), (b)(2). We have taken judicial notice of Shepard documents in similar circumstances before. See United States v. Adkins ,
We express no opinion as to the order in which these two issues should be addressed in other cases, noting only that in this case, addressing overbreadth first is the more useful approach.
"[A]ggravated assault" is now listed in the main text of the Guidelines enumerated-offense clause. See USSG § 4B1.2(a)(2). In the version of the Guidelines under which Burris was sentenced, however, "aggravated assault" was listed only in Application Note 1. See United States v. Rodriguez ,
Serious bodily injury means "bodily injury which creates a substantial risk of death or which causes serious, permanent disfigurement, or protracted loss or impairment of any bodily member or organ." Model Penal Code § 210.0(3).
Bodily injury means "physical pain, illness or any impairment of physical condition." Model Penal Code § 210.0(2)
Although the Supreme Court struck down the identically worded ACCA residual clause as unconstitutionally void in Johnson II ,
Although each of these was a felonious assault case, because the relevant elements are the same in both statutes, we assume the Ohio courts would interpret them in the same way.
The ACCA enumerated-offense clause does not contain "aggravated assault." See
The Model Penal Code defines "bodily injury" as "physical pain, illness or any impairment of physical condition," and "serious bodily injury" as "bodily injury which creates a substantial risk of death or which causes serious, permanent disfigurement, or protracted loss or impairment of the function of any bodily member or organ." Model Penal Code § 210.0.
The defendant in Hodges was at least a but-for cause of "bodily injury," whether or not his conduct met the rest of elements of the generic aggravated-assault offense. See Hodges ,
The Rodriguez panel held that Ohio's aggravated-assault statute "qualifies as a 'crime of violence' " under the enumerated-offense clause. See
Judge White thought in Anderson , and another panel held shortly thereafter, that Ohio's felonious-assault and aggravated-assault statutes categorically qualified as violent-felony predicates under the identically worded ACCA residual clause. See Anderson ,
True, these are Ohio intermediate appellate court decisions and not decisions from the Ohio Supreme Court. But "Moncrieffe only looked to state intermediate appellate decisions,"Southers ,
Along the way, the Ohio Supreme Court used some additional language that, taken out of context, could seem to indicate that Ohio's felonious-assault and aggravated-assault statutes are indivisible. See id. at 155 ("these two alternate theories of aggravated assault"); id. ("these two forms of aggravated assault"); id. at 156 ("subdivisions (1) and (2) set forth two means of committing the offense"); id. ("[t]hese subdivisions set forth two different forms of the same offense"). But read in context, the Ohio Supreme Court is referring to occasions such as the one in Brown where a prosecutor charges a defendant with committing aggravated assault under both subsections despite only one instance of conduct that might constitute aggravated assault.
Apprendi v. New Jersey ,
See e.g. , United States v. Whindleton ,
And, as discussed above, that offense does not qualify under either the Guidelines enumerated-offense clause or the Guidelines residual clause, for those persons sentenced while the Guidelines still had a residual clause.
We have held that Ohio state-court journal entries, such as the ones the government has submitted here, constitute valid Shepard documents. See United States v. Adkins ,
Concurring Opinion
After leading police on a high-speed chase, Le'Ardrus Burris rammed his vehicle into a police officer, "throwing him backwards for 15 feet." R. 496, Pg. ID 3684. As a result of this action, an Ohio jury convicted Burris of felonious assault. A casual reader of today's decision might struggle to understand why we are even debating if ramming a vehicle into a police officer is a crime of violence. The reader's struggle would be understandable. The time has come to dispose of the long-baffling categorical approach. My colleagues have repeatedly said as much, and I urge any frustrated readers of today's decision-particularly Congress or the Sentencing Commission-to read and heed their words. See, e.g. , Mathis v. United States , --- U.S. ----,
As the jurists before me have explained, there are two big problems with the categorical approach. First, the categorical approach is an elements lottery that leads to arbitrary results. Second, it is very difficult to administer. Both problems are on display here.
*408The elements lottery. Under the categorical approach, whether a prior state conviction qualifies as a crime of violence is a matter of chance that depends on how a state legislature and its judiciary have defined and interpreted the crime. This leads to some absurd results. For example, a North Carolina conviction for "knowingly discharging a firearm into an occupied building" or for raping a "mentally disabled person" is not a crime of violence. Doctor ,
The absurd results are even more apparent in our circuit. As the majority opinion correctly notes, if you are in Cincinnati, Ohio, and you "cause serious physical harm to another," it is not a crime of violence. But if you drive one mile across the Ohio River and commit the very same crime in Kentucky, it is a crime of violence-all because the analogous statute in Kentucky defined serious physical harm a little differently. See
But the arbitrariness does not stop there. Each circuit decides for itself whether a crime qualifies as a crime of violence. For example, subsection (A)(1) of the Ohio felonious assault statute is no longer a crime of violence in this circuit, but it may still be a crime of violence in other circuits. United States v. Clark ,
And yet arbitrariness abounds even within single states. In Ohio, subsection (A)(1) of the felonious and aggravated assault statutes is no longer a crime of violence, but subsection (A)(2) is. As the majority opinion properly explains, these subsections set forth separate but similar crimes. Each prohibits knowingly causing physical harm to another. The difference is that subsection (A)(1) applies when the defendant caused serious physical harm, and subsection (A)(2), requiring only physical harm, applies when the defendant used a deadly weapon or dangerous ordnance. Compare
Administrative problems. The arbitrariness of the categorical approach ties in with its second flaw: the costs of administering the approach outweigh its benefits. Some initially thought that avoiding an inquiry into the facts of a prior conviction would be easier for judges. Taylor v. United States ,
In light of these problems, I join others in proposing an alternative approach. That approach would permit judges to deem a prior conviction a crime of violence if the underlying criminal conduct was actually violent. If the government can prove that the state court record establishes violent conduct, end the inquiry there. See Mathis ,
I recognize that a fact-based approach is not without its own potential problems. Any difficulty in proving the facts underlying a past conviction would inure to the benefit of the defendant, meaning a defendant's career-offender status could turn not on the violence of his conduct, but on record-keeping. But it is incumbent on the government to keep good records whenever the government asks a court to put a defendant in prison, and it should be no *410different here. United States v. Dupree ,
I respectfully concur.
CONCURRING IN PART AND IN THE JUDGMENT
ROGERS, Circuit Judge.
I concur in the result, and in the following parts of the lead opinion: Parts I and II, all but the last sentence of Part III.B, and Part III.C. For the reasons given by Judge Kethledge, we ought not address in this case whether United States v. Anderson ,
CONCURRING IN THE JUDGMENT
KETHLEDGE, Circuit Judge, concurring in the judgment.
The idea of judicial restraint encompasses not only the content of our decisions, but also whether we should make them in the first place. Advisory opinions, everyone agrees, are out of bounds. See, e.g. , Steel Co. v. Citizens for a Better Env't ,
But here, respectfully, dictum is the raison d'être for the plurality's opinion. We reheard this case en banc to revisit our decision in United States v. Anderson ,
I therefore concur only in the judgment.
CONCURRING IN PART AND DISSENTING IN PART
COLE, Chief Judge, concurring in part, dissenting in part.
Despite growing concerns regarding mass incarceration, federal law imposes longer prison sentences on certain individuals deemed "career criminals." Although a seemingly simple concept, courts across the country have struggled to determine which crimes qualify as violent offenses under both the ACCA and the Guidelines. This is one such case.
Here, the court asks whether a conviction under Ohio's felonious assault statute qualifies as a violent-felony predicate under the Guidelines and the ACCA. As the lead opinion notes, in 2012, a panel of this court held that both Ohio felonious assault and aggravated assault qualify as violent-felony predicates under the ACCA. See United States v. Anderson ,
I.
The lead opinion states that two analyses must be done in this case: "One is an overbreadth analysis to determine whether the statute in question is too broad to categorically qualify as a violent-felony predicate because it criminalizes more conduct than is described in the ACCA and Guidelines.... The other is a divisibility analysis...." Lead Op. 393. In a footnote, the lead opinion notes that it expresses "no opinion as to the order in which these two issues should be addressed in other cases, noting only that in this case, addressing overbreadth first is the more useful approach." Lead Op. 396, n.6. I disagree. The Supreme Court has explicitly stated that the divisibility analysis should be conducted first. See Mathis ,
A.
The Guidelines' career-offender provision applies a sentencing enhancement if, as relevant here, the defendant has at least two prior felony convictions of either a "crime of violence or a controlled substance offense." U.S.S.G. § 4B1.1(a). At the time of Burris's sentencing, the Guidelines defined a "crime of violence" as any crime punishable by over one-year imprisonment that:
(1) Has as an element the use, attempted use, or threatened use of physical force against the person of another ["the elements clause"]; or
(2) is burglary of a dwelling, arson, or extortion, involves use of explosives [the "enumerated clause"], or otherwise involves conduct that presents a serious potential risk of physical injury to another ["the residual clause"].
U.S.S.G. § 4B1.2(a)(2015). Two weeks after Burris was sentenced, the Guidelines were amended and the residual clause was removed. See U.S.S.G. § 4B1.2(a) ; see also United States v. Smith ,
In reviewing potential predicate crimes, courts apply "a 'categorical' approach to determine the nature of a prior conviction," and whether it qualifies as a crime of violence. United States v. Denson ,
*413Cradler v. United States ,
The comparison of elements under the categorical approach involves a straightforward analysis "when a statute sets out a single (or 'indivisible') set of elements to define a single crime."
Mindful of such situations, the Supreme Court has "suggested that courts may need to 'go beyond the mere fact of conviction' and look to the facts underlying a conviction in order to determine which element or set of elements was the basis of the defendant's conviction." Id. (citing Taylor v. United States ,
This court recently explained the interplay of the modified categorical approach and the categorical approach:
When we speak of the "modified approach," we simply refer to this additional analytical step in cases involving divisible statutes. After utilizing this additional step to determine which elements in the statute formed the basis of the defendant's prior conviction, courts resume their application of the categorical approach as they would in any other case. "[T]he modified approach merely helps implement the categorical approach when a defendant was convicted of violating a divisible statute. The modified approach thus acts not as an exception, but instead as a tool. It retains the categorical approach's central feature: a focus on the elements, rather than the *414facts, of a crime." [ Descamps , 570 U.S.] at 263,133 S.Ct. 2276 .
Cradler , 891 F.3d at 668. Put simply, the modified categorical approach is to be used only when a statute is deemed divisible. See id.
Thus, despite the lead opinion's contention to the contrary, whether a statute is divisible or indivisible is a threshold issue. Id. (quoting Descamps ,
B.
As the lead opinion recognizes, this court has never held definitively in a published opinion whether Ohio's felonious assault statute is divisible or indivisible. Lead Op. 402-03. I agree with the lead opinion that the time has come to provide a clear answer. Regrettably, I disagree with the answer provided.
To determine a statute's divisibility, we look first to state law, and then to the statute itself-namely the structure and whether statutory alternatives carry different punishments. United States v. Ritchey ,
The lead opinion claims that each factor supports a finding of divisibility. I disagree. The lead opinion acknowledges only the factors supporting divisibility, while conveniently ignoring other relevant considerations. Importantly, after performing a divisibility analysis, if a court "still cannot discern whether a statute presents elements or means, the statute is indivisible ." United States v. Stitt ,
The first consideration under Mathis is seemingly dispositive: whether "a state court decision definitively answers the question."
But the ultimate holding of the Ohio Supreme Court was as follows: "the General Assembly did not intend violations of [O.]R.C. 2903.11(A)(1) and (A)(2) to be separately punishable when the offenses result *415from a single act undertaken with a single animus. Thus, aggravated assault in violation of [O.]R.C. 2903.12(A)(1) and (A)(2) are allied offenses of similar import."
A survey of recent Ohio appellate cases similarly fails to provide certainty. It is true that one could cite-as the lead opinion does-numerous Ohio appellate court decisions that show that defendants are regularly charged under only one of the two felonious assault subsections, or, alternatively, under both subsections of the statute separately. See Lead Op. 404. And these cases certainly lend support to divisibility. But it is equally true that just as many recent Ohio appellate court cases charge felonious assault as a single crime, without differentiating between subsections, therefore supporting indivisibility. See, e.g. , State v. Perry , No. 17CO0009, --- N.E.3d ----, ----,
Because I believe no conclusive state court decisions exist, I would next look to the additional factors as directed by Mathis . One such factor is the punishment delineated in the statute: "[i]f statutory alternatives carry different punishments, then under Apprendi [v. New Jersey ,
Yet the two subsections of Ohio felonious assault do not carry different punishments. It is true that felonious assault on a peace officer carries a mandatory prison term if the officer suffers "serious physical harm," but Ohio courts have treated peace-officer felonious assault as an entirely different crime than ordinary felonious assault. See, e.g. , State v. Mundy , No. 05CA0025-M,
Mathis also suggests that "a statute may itself identify which things must be charged (and so are elements) and which need not be (and so are means)." Mathis ,
With no definitive answer, courts are permitted to "peek at the record documents," such as an indictment and correlative jury instructions, for "the sole and limited purpose of determining whether the listed items are elements of the offense." Mathis ,
As a final aside, I note the parties' own inconsistencies. The government argued before the original panel that Ohio's felonious assault statute was indivisible . (See Gov't Br. 38-39 (noting that Anderson treated section 2903.11(A) as indivisible and arguing that "Ohio law confirms that doing so was correct"); id. at 39 (arguing that "under Ohio law, subsections (A)(1) and (A)(2) of Ohio's felonious assault statute provide two different means for committing one crime"); id. at 41 (arguing that "even if Section 2903.11(A) were divisible (which it is not)[,]" Burris's claims would still fail).) In its en banc brief, however, the government changed its tune: "Having conducted a more thorough review of this sentencing concept, the structure of Ohio's statute, and the other factors identified in Mathis , the government now agrees with Burris's original position that subsection (A)(1) and (A)(2) require proof of different elements and are divisible." (Gov't Supp. Br. 25.)
Burris's position on divisibility has also evolved. In his opening brief before the original panel he argued that "[b]ecause there are multiple ways to commit felonious assault, this is a divisible statute." (Pl. Br. 37.) Then, in his supplemental brief before the en banc court, Burris stated that his "conviction does not qualify as a crime of violence whether the statute is indivisible or divisible." (Pl. Supp. Br. 23.) The parties' inconsistent positions further demonstrate that the divisibility analysis is far from clear.
According to Mathis , employing the above tools should make answering the divisibility question "easy." Mathis ,
II.
Having analyzed divisibility, I would then look to whether Burris's statute of conviction qualifies as a "crime of violence" under the elements, enumerated, or residual clauses of the Guidelines. As mentioned, *418the lead opinion performs this analysis first. For the reasons articulated, that approach makes little sense, but I agree that Ohio felonious assault criminalizes more conduct than is described in both the elements and enumerated clauses of the Guidelines.
The residual clause states that crimes of violence encompass those state convictions that "otherwise involve[ ] conduct that presents a serious potential risk of physical injury to another." U.S.S.G. § 4B1.2 (2015). The government relies on this court's precedent in United States v. Perry , which held that Ohio's aggravated assault statute was a crime of violence under the residual clause of the ACCA.
When analyzing a statute under the residual clause, our inquiry differs from that of the elements and enumerated clause analyses. The inquiry is not-as the lead opinion assumes without citation, Lead Op. ----- whether it is possible for a defendant to commit a crime in any way that would not be a violent felony. See United States v. Smith ,
Of course, we are still left with the essential question: how do we define the "ordinary" case? The Supreme Court has articulated previously the difficulty of this analysis, albeit in the context of the ACCA:
[T]he residual clause leaves grave uncertainty about how to estimate the risk posed by a crime. It ties the judicial assessment of risk to a judicially imagined "ordinary case" of a crime, not to real-world facts or statutory elements. How does one go about deciding what kind of conduct the "ordinary case" of a crime involves? "A statistical analysis of the state reporter? A survey? Expert evidence? Google? Gut instinct?"
*419United States v. Mayer ,560 F.3d 948 , 952 (C.A.9 2009) (Kozinski, C.J., dissenting from denial of rehearing en banc). To take an example, does the ordinary instance of witness tampering involve offering a witness a bribe? Or threatening a witness with violence? Critically, picturing the criminal's behavior is not enough; as we have already discussed, assessing "potential risk" seemingly requires the judge to imagine how the idealized ordinary case of the crime subsequently plays out.
Johnson ,
In light of Beckles , this court has held that the ordinary-case standard articulated in James "remains good law for purposes of the Guidelines." Smith ,
Under James , "[t]he mere possibility that a person could, conceivably, commit the offense without creating a serious risk of physical injury to another is not enough to exclude the offense from the ambit of the Guidelines' residual clause." Goodson ,
III.
Everyone agrees that we review the district court's classification of Ohio felonious assault as a "crime of violence" under the Guidelines for plain error. See Lead Op. 396. But, because I believe Burris would not be subject to the career-offender enhancement in the absence of the residual clause-and his sentencing guideline would be significantly lower without the enhancement-the district court should be given an opportunity to consider Burris's case in light of the amendment that eliminated the residual clause just weeks after his sentencing. This court, as well as courts across the country, have previously exercised the discretion to remand under similarly unique circumstances. See United States v. Atkinson ,
*420United States v. Frates ,
To be clear, I would not hold that the district court erred-plainly or otherwise. See U.S. v. Taylor ,
Some might find it strange to engage in a divisibility analysis when Burris was convicted of an identified subsection of the felonious assault statute. Why not simply ask whether that subsection satisfies the elements clause? We must first ask the divisibility question because it tells us whether the identification of the specific subsection is significant. As explained in Mathis, if the aggravated assault and felonious assault statutes are divisible, Burris's conviction of subsection (A)(2) tells us that the jury necessarily found each of the elements of that subsection. But if the offenses are not divisible, Burris's conviction of a specific subsection simply tells us the "brute facts" of his offense, not the elements. Mathis , 136 S.Ct. at 2248 (internal quotation marks omitted). In the latter case, the situation is analogous to the hypotheticals discussed by the dissenting justices in Mathis -Shepard documents that unequivocally establish that the defendant was convicted of breaking into a building, not a boat or tent. Notwithstanding these arguments, the Mathis majority held that if the offense is not divisible, the facts, or means, are irrelevant. Because the divisibility analysis (see infra pp. 414-18) reveals that Ohio sometimes treats the aggravated assault and felonious assault offenses as divisible and sometimes treats them as setting forth alternative means of committing a single offense, the concerns animating the Court's decision in Mathis are applicable. Indeed, in Burris's direct appeal of his felonious assault conviction, the Ohio Court of Appeals erroneously stated, "Felonious assault under [O.]R.C. 2903.11(A)(2) provides that no person shall knowingly cause serious physical harm to another," State v. Burris , No. 24088,
Because the aggravated assault statute is nearly identical to the felonious assault statute, the reasoning and holding in cases analyzing one statute have been found to apply equally to both statutes. See Person v. Sheets ,
The jury instructions in Burris's felonious assault case are not part of the record before this Court. Consequently, we review Ohio's jury instructions generally.
One could make a strong argument that the government has forfeited, or maybe even waived, its argument that Ohio's felonious statute is divisible. See, e.g. , Miller v. Texas Tech Univ. Health Sci. Ctr. ,
In analyzing the enumerated clause, the lead opinion notes that the panel in United States v. Rodriguez ,
Reference
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