No. 25-6454

Derek Capozzi v. United States

Lower Court: First Circuit
Docketed: 2025-12-30
Status: Pending
Type: IFP
Response WaivedIFP
Tags: armed-career-criminal-act collateral-review johnson-retroactivity residual-clause section-2255 sentence-enhancement
Key Terms:
HabeasCorpus
Latest Conference: 2026-02-20
Question Presented (from Petition)

1. Whether, to qualify under 18 U.S.C. § 2255 for relief from a sentence enhancement imposed by operation of the now abrogated residual clause of 18 U.S.C. § 924(e)(2)(B)(ii), a criminal defendant must prove that the sentencing court relied "solely" on the residual clause to impose the enhancement or whether it is sufficient to establish that that the sentencing court "may have" relied on the residual clause.

2. Whether retroactive relief from a sentence enhancement based solely on the now-abrogated residual clause of 18 U.S.C. § 924(e)(2)(B)(ii) is available under Welch v. United States, 578 U.S. 120, 134-135 (2016), to a criminal defendant who did not challenge the enhancement until after this Court abrogated the enhancement in Johnson v. United States, 576 U.S. 591 (2015).

Question Presented (AI Summary)

Whether a criminal defendant must prove the sentencing court relied 'solely' on the abrogated residual clause to qualify for sentence enhancement relief under 18 U.S.C. § 2255, or if it is sufficient to show the court 'may have' relied on the residual clause

Docket Entries

2026-01-15
DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 2/20/2026.
2026-01-13
Waiver of right of respondent United States to respond filed.
2025-12-22
Petition for a writ of certiorari and motion for leave to proceed in forma pauperis filed. (Response due January 29, 2026)

Attorneys

Derek Capozzi
Dana GoldblattLaw Office of Dana Goldblatt, Petitioner
United States
D. John SauerSolicitor General, Respondent