United States v. Fogg, No. 15-3078 (8th Cir. 2016)
Annotate this CasePlaintiff was found guilty of being a felon in possession of a firearm and sentenced under the Armed Career Criminal Act (ACCA), 18 U.S.C. 924(e), based on his three prior violent felony convictions. The court concluded that the district court did not abuse its discretion in excluding evidence of prior allegations of excessive force by an officer because plaintiff was entitled to present his defense theory; the district court did not err by concluding that his prior conviction under Minnesota's drive by shooting statute, Minn. Stat. 609.66, subd. 1e, qualifies as a violent felony under the force clause of the ACCA; a review of plaintiff's guilty plea record reveals that he was convicted of firing "at or toward a person" under subdivision 1e(b); and since plaintiff's prior conviction required a mens rea of recklessness, it qualified as a violent felony. Accordingly, the court affirmed the judgment.
Court Description: Murphy, Author, with Bright and Shepherd, Circuit Judges] Criminal case - Criminal law and sentencing. The district court did not abuse its discretion by excluding evidence that an arresting officer had been accused in the past of using excessive force as the court's ruling did not prevent defendant from presenting his defense theory that the police planted a weapon to cover up their use of excessive force; defendant's prior Minnesota conviction for a drive-by shooting qualified as an Armed Career Criminal Act predicate offense as a review of his guilty plea in the case reveals he was convicted of firing at or towards a person and thus his conviction involved the use of force against the person of another; further the conviction required a mens rea of recklessness and qualified as a predicate offense. Judge Bright, concurring in part and dissenting in part.
Some case metadata and case summaries were written with the help of AI, which can produce inaccuracies. You should read the full case before relying on it for legal research purposes.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.