Baugh v. United States, No. 21-5230 (6th Cir. 2023)
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Baugh coordinated a 2009 plan to use a gun to steal cocaine from a drug dealer and resell it. He was convicted of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine, conspiracy to commit
Hobbs Act robbery, and possessing a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence or a drug
trafficking crime, 18 U.S.C. 924(c). In accordance with the law at the time, the jury was instructed that either the cocaine conspiracy or the Hobbs Act robbery conspiracy could furnish the predicate offense for the section 924(c) count. The Supreme Court subsequently held that the residual clause pursuant to which Baugh’s Hobbs Act robbery conspiracy conviction qualified as a crime of violence was unconstitutionally vague.
The district court denied Baugh's motion to vacate his section 924(c) conviction, as resting on an invalid predicate. The Sixth Circuit affirmed. There is no reason to believe that the jury based Baugh’s section 924(c) conviction on only his Hobbs Act robbery conspiracy conviction and not also on his cocaine conspiracy conviction. Baugh does not explain how it would be possible to possess a firearm in furtherance of a conspiracy to “steal” cocaine without also possessing the firearm in furtherance of a conspiracy to “possess” it.
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