United States v. Randall Steward
Opinion
Randall Steward pleaded guilty to sex trafficking of a child in violation of
“We review de novo a district court’s interpretation and application of the guidelines.” United States v. Rice,
In 2015, the definition of crime of violence in the ¡guidelines included the same “residual clause” as did the definition of violent felony in the Armed Career Criminal Act (ACCA): “an offense that ‘involves conduct that presents a serious potential risk of physical injury to another.’ ” Beckles v. United States, — U.S. —,
We are persuaded that Oklahoma voluntary manslaughter qualifies as a “crime of violence” under the 2015 Guidelines. Although the district court determined “without doubt” that the offense satisfied § 4B 1.2(a)(1)—the “force clause”—we need not make a force-clause determination because we conclude that Oklahoma voluntary manslaughter qualifies as a crime of violence under the residual clause. Under the 2015 Guidelines, the residual clause was accompanied by commentary that contained illustrative examples of offenses that met its “serious potential risk of physical injury to another” test. Manslaughter was one of the offenses contained in that list. See USSG § 4B1.2, cmt., n.l (Nov. 2015) (“ ‘Crime of violence’ includes ... . manslaughter ....”). The Supreme Court has explained that “commentary in the Guidelines Manual that interprets or explains a guideline is authoritative unless it violates the Constitution or a federal statute, or is inconsistent with, or a plainly erroneous reading of, that guideline.” Stinson v. United States,
Therefore, we follow the categorical approach, looking to see “whether the state statute defining” voluntary manslaughter “categorically fits within the generic federal definition of a corresponding crime of violence.” Kosmes,
Oklahoma’s criminal code defines the offense of manslaughter through the intersection of three statutory provisions. First, homicide is defined as “the killing of one human being by another.”
In Kosmes, we turned to the Model Penal Code for persuasive evidence, of what constituted “generic federal manslaughter,” because “the Model Penal Code provides the best generic, contemporary, and modern definition, [and] has been widely adopted.”
Steward’s case, on the other hand, presents a different question. This is because—unlike involuntary manslaughter, which most often occurs when the defendant lacks the requisite mental state to commit homicide, see Wayne R. LaFave, Substantive Criminal Law § 15.4(a) (discussing the lesser mens rea required to commit involuntary manslaughter)—voluntary manslaughter functions more like a partial defense to murder, describing conduct undertaken intentionally but in the “heat of passion.” See LaFave § 15.2(a) n.7 & accompanying text (citing, inter alia,
Oklahoma manslaughter also qualifies as a crime of violence under the 2016 Guidelines—which, as of August 1, 2016, made voluntary manslaughter an explicitly enumerated offense. USSG § 4B1.2(a)(2) (Aug. 2016). We have already determined that Oklahoma voluntary manslaughter satisfies the “generic federal definition” of manslaughter. Thus, because Oklahoma voluntary manslaughter qualifies as a crime of violence under both versions of the Guidelines, there is no Ex Post Facto Clause issue as to Steward’s sentence, and he was properly sentenced as a career offender.
The judgment of the district court is affirmed.
. The Honorable Timothy L. Brooks, United States District Judge for the Western District of Arkansas.
. The Oklahoma statute does not label the various types of first-degree manslaughter defined in § 711. However, it is clear from the statute that each subsection describes a separate offense with distinct, non-overlapping elements. Cf. Mathis v. United States, — U.S. -,
. “Cleaned up” is a new parenthetical used to eliminate unnecessary explanation of non-substantive prior alterations. See Jack Met-zler, Cleaning Up Quotations, J. App. Prac. &
*987
Process (forthcoming 2018), http://dx.doi.org/ 10.2139/ssrn,2935374. This parenthetical can be used when extraneous, residual, non-substantive information has been removed, in this case, internal quotation marks, brackets, additional quoting parentheticals and an ellipsis. See also United States v. Reyes,
. Because they only serve to narrow the scope of the offense, both of the listed alternatives— “in a cruel and unusual manner” and "by means of a. dangerous weapon"—do not need to be analyzed under Mathis,
. Oklahoma’s statute does contain the additional requirement that the defendant have acted "without a design to effect death.”
Reference
- Full Case Name
- UNITED STATES of America Plaintiff-Appellee v. Randall Tyrell STEWARD, Also Known as Randall Stewart, Also Known as Trouble Defendant-Appellant
- Cited By
- 34 cases
- Status
- Published