No. 18-6370

Charles Harper v. United States

Lower Court: Eleventh Circuit
Docketed: 2018-10-18
Status: Denied
Type: IFP
Response WaivedIFP Experienced Counsel
Tags: 28-usc-2255 armed-career-criminal-act burden-of-proof collateral-review due-process elements-clause enumerated-crimes-clause johnson-rule johnson-v-united-states residual-clause retroactivity sentencing-enhancement welch-v-united-states
Key Terms:
HabeasCorpus JusticiabilityDoctri
Latest Conference: 2018-11-16
Question Presented (AI Summary)

May a § 2255 defendant prove that his ACCA-enhanced sentence was based upon the residual clause through a process of elimination?

Question Presented (OCR Extract)

QUESTION PRESENTED In Johnson v. United States, this Court held that the residual clause of the Armed Career Criminal Act is unconstitutional. In Welch v. United States, this Court applied the Johnson rule retroactively to cases on collateral review. Under 28 U.S.C. § 2255, when a defendant collaterally attacks his sentence under Johnson, he bears the burden of proving that the sentence was based upon the now-forbidden residual clause. But how may he meet that burden? May a § 2255 defendant, faced with a silent record below, prove that his ACCA-enhanced sentence was indeed based upon the residual clause through a process of elimination or, put another way, that a predicate offense does not fit within the statute’s alternative sources: the elements and enumerated crimes clauses? And may he prove his case by surveying post-sentencing case law, including this Court’s decisions clarifying the meaning of those alternative clauses?

Docket Entries

2018-11-19
Petition DENIED.
2018-11-01
DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 11/16/2018.
2018-10-24
Waiver of right of respondent United States to respond filed.
2018-10-15
Petition for a writ of certiorari and motion for leave to proceed in forma pauperis filed. (Response due November 19, 2018)

Attorneys

Charles Harper
Whitman Matthew DodgeFederal Defender Program Inc., Petitioner
Whitman Matthew DodgeFederal Defender Program Inc., Petitioner
United States
Noel J. FranciscoSolicitor General, Respondent
Noel J. FranciscoSolicitor General, Respondent