United States v. Miller, No. 11-3788 (7th Cir. 2013)
Annotate this CaseIn 2011 Miller pleaded guilty as a felon in possession of a firearm. The prosecution contended that a mandatory minimum 15-year sentence under the Armed Career Criminal Act (ACCA), 18 U.S.C. 924(e)(1), was required because three of his prior convictions qualified as “violent felonies.” Miller did not dispute that his two burglary convictions qualified, but objected to inclusion of a Wisconsin conviction for possession of a short-barreled shotgun. Construing ACCA’s “residual clause,” the district court denied the objection. The Seventh Circuit vacated, stating that the approach for evaluating prior convictions under the residual clause has changed. Mere possession of a sawed-off shotgun is not a violent felony under ACCA because mere possession does not fit with the more active crimes included in the statute; and not all instances of possession pose a risk of violence.
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