Denson v. United States, No. 14-10211 (11th Cir. 2015)
Annotate this CaseAppellant Tony Denson, a pro se federal prisoner, appealed the district court’s denial of his 28 U.S.C. 2255 motion to vacate, set aside, or correct his sentence. The district court granted a certificate of appealability (“COA”) on the issue of whether Denson’s attorney rendered ineffective assistance at sentencing by failing to object to treating Denson’s Florida conviction for possession of a short-barreled shotgun, in violation of Florida Statute § 790.221(1), as a “crime of violence” for career offender guidelines calculations under U.S.S.G. sections 4B1.1 and 4B1.2. After review, the Eleventh Circuit affirmed the district court’s denial of Denson’s section 2255 motion. On August 3, 2015, the United States Supreme Court entered an order granting Appellant's petition for a writ of certiorari and vacated the Eleventh Circuit's prior decision, issued in 2014, and remanded this case for further decision in light of "Johnson v. United States," (135 S. Ct. 2551 (2015)). The Eleventh Circuit Court requested supplemental briefs by the parties addressing the impact, if any, of "Johnson" on this appeal. Having concluded that Johnson has no impact on the issues in this appeal, the Court reinstated its prior decision.
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