United States v. Dixon, No. 14-10318 (9th Cir. 2015)
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Defendant appealed his sentence after pleading guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm. The district court found that defendant had three prior convictions for violent felonies pursuant to the Armed Career Criminal Act (ACCA), 18 U.S.C. 924(e)(2)(B); two robbery convictions under California Penal Code (CPC) 211, and one assault-with-a-deadly-weapon conviction under Nevada Revised Statutes (NRS) 200.471. Defendant challenged the district court’s imposition of the mandatory minimum sentence, contending that his prior convictions are not “violent felony” convictions as defined by the ACCA. The court held that a violation of CPC 211 is not a “violent felony” under the ACCA because it criminalizes conduct not included within the ACCA’s definition of “violent felony." Therefore, the district court incorrectly
determined that it was required to apply the mandatory minimum sentence. Accordingly, the court vacated the sentence and remanded for resentencing.
Court Description: Criminal Law. The panel vacated a sentence and remanded for resentencing in a case in which the district court found that the defendant had three prior convictions for “violent felonies,” as defined by the Armed Career Criminal Act. The panel held that Calif. Penal Code § 211 (robbery) is not a categorical match to the ACCA’s definition of “violent felony” because § 211 criminalizes conduct not included within the ACCA’s definition. The panel also held that § 211 contains only alternative means and is not divisible. The panel therefore concluded that a conviction for violating § 211 cannot serve as a predicate “violent felony” conviction for the application of a mandatory minimum sentence under the ACCA.
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