divisibility

41 cases — ← All topics

Case Title Lower Court Docketed Status Flags Tags Question Presented
24-5484 Irvin Abreu v. United States First Circuit 2024-09-06 Denied Response WaivedIFP categorical-approach circuit-split divisibility modified-categorical-approach sentencing-enhancement state-law-interpretation The First Circuit affirmed application of a sentencing enhancement under 18 U.S.C. § 2251(e), based on Petitioner Irvin Abreu's prior state-court conv…
23-7818 Mark Jordan v. United States Third Circuit 2024-06-27 Denied Response WaivedIFP 18-usc-924(c)(8)(a) categorical-approach crime-of-violence divisibility general-intent mens-rea statutory-interpretation 1. Whether, in applying the categorical approach, a federal offense that incorporates by reference the commission of an underlying offense is divisibl…
23A1138 Mark Jordan v. United States Third Circuit 2024-06-21 Denied criminal-statute divisibility force-clause mens-rea section-924(c) sentencing-guidelines Question not identified.
23-7021 Darron Henderson v. United States Third Circuit 2024-03-19 Denied Response WaivedIFP categorical-approach divisibility federal-courts mathis-standard modified-categorical-approach state-law statutory-construction third-circuit-test Whether the Third Circuit's test for divisibility —which makes subsection organization dispositive, and which permits examination of facts if a statut…
23-6702 Nardino Colotti, et al. v. United States Second Circuit 2024-02-08 Denied Response RequestedResponse WaivedRelisted (2)IFP categorical-approach circuit-split crime-of-violence criminal-law divisibility modified-categorical-approach racketeering-activity rico rico-statute state-law-offenses 1. Does § 1961(1)(A) of RICO incorporate—and thereby require the Government to plead and prove beyond a reasonable doubt—the elements of specific stat…
22-7635 Deandre Hykeem Jackson v. United States Fifth Circuit 2023-05-25 Denied Response WaivedIFP categorical-approach circuit-split criminal-law divisibility federal-courts federal-law precedent precedent-interpretation statutory-interpretation Whether 18 U.S.C. §1951(a) is divisible into attempted and completed robberies for the purposes of the categorical approach?
22-7455 Vernon Lee Wheeler v. United States Fifth Circuit 2023-05-04 Denied Response WaivedIFP constitutional-claim divisibility federal-appeals-court federal-court-of-appeals juror-unanimity means-versus-elements state-law statutory-interpretation 1. When deciding whether "state law" provides "clear answers" about divisibility and juror unanimity, Mathis v. United States, 579 U.S. 500, 517-18 (2…
22-946 Martin Jay Manley v. United States Fourth Circuit 2023-03-29 Denied Response Waived borden categorical-approach circuit-split divisibility extreme-recklessness fourth-circuit mathis use-of-force vicar-statute violent-crimes-in-aid-of-racketeering 1. Whether the Fourth Circuit erred, in conflict with decisions of other circuits, in holding that for purposes of applying the categorical approach t…
22-5982 Richard Allen Jackson v. United States Fourth Circuit 2022-11-03 Denied IFP categorical-approach crime-of-violence criminal-law divisibility divisibility-analysis federal-statutes felony-murder first-degree-murder schad-v-arizona statutory-interpretation violent-crime 1. Is federal first-degree murder, 18 U.S.C. § 1(a), which includes felony murder, a crime of violence within the meaning of the force clause of 18 U.…
21-8230 David Matthews v. United States Fifth Circuit 2022-06-24 Denied Response RequestedResponse WaivedRelisted (3)IFP armed-career-criminal-act categorical-approach civil-rights criminal-law criminal-sentencing divisibility due-process physical-force sentencing statutory-interpretation 1. In Texas, a thief is guilty of robbery if he "intentionally or knowingly threatens or places another in fear of imminent bodily injury or death." T…
21-7878 Jermaine Alonzo Mitchell v. United States Ninth Circuit 2022-05-16 Denied Response WaivedIFP career-offender categorical-analysis criminal-sentencing divisibility due-process first-step-act retroactivity sentencing-enhancement When receiving a reduced sentence in 2020 for a crack-cocaine offense under the First Step Act, Petitioner Mitchell asked the district court to find h…
21-7483 Ruben Aguilera v. United States Fifth Circuit 2022-03-29 Denied Response WaivedIFP armed-career-criminal-act criminal-procedure criminal-statute-interpretation divisibility fifth-circuit-interpretation generic-burglary sentencing-enhancement texas-burglary-statute 1. Can the Texas burglary statute — which the Fifth Circuit has held to be indivisible and descriptive of generic burglary — properly be the basis for…
21-7158 Alfonso Lopez-Rodriguez v. United States Fifth Circuit 2022-02-18 Denied Response WaivedIFP categorical-approach circuit-split criminal-law divisibility elements-means elements-versus-means federal-sentencing sentencing-enhancement statutory-interpretation statutory-text I. What role does the text of a statute play in the divisibility analysis under the categorical approach? II. Is the Texas statute prohibiting the of…
21-6991 Lloyd George Kenney v. United States Ninth Circuit 2022-01-27 Denied Response WaivedIFP armed-career-criminal-act california-penal-code-207 categorical-analysis criminal-statute divisibility force-clause implicit-threat-of-arrest kidnapping violent-felony 1. When a state's highest court has interpreted a state criminal statute to allow for a conviction even if no physical force is used in certain circum…
21-6320 Devon Carl Jordan-McFeely v. United States Ninth Circuit 2021-11-17 Denied Response WaivedIFP ambiguous-statute criminal-procedure divisibility divisibility-inquiry federal-court federal-sentencing-enhancement sentencing-enhancement state-court state-law state-law-interpretation statutory-ambiguity supreme-court-precedent When a state statute is ambiguous as to its divisibility at the time of the defendant's state conviction, may a federal court certify the divisibility…
21-6231 Christopher Lee Scott v. United States Fourth Circuit 2021-11-10 Denied Response WaivedIFP categorical-approach controlled-substance controlled-substance-offenses divisibility fourth-circuit-review modified-categorical-approach precedent remand sentencing-enhancement statutory-interpretation I. Whether this case should be remanded for the Fourth Circuit to decide the issue presented below, which is whether S.C. Code §§ 44-53-370 and 44-53-…
20-8292 Pete Anthony Tyndale v. United States Sixth Circuit 2021-06-11 Denied Response WaivedIFP 5th-amendment criminal-procedure criminal-sentencing divisibility due-process federal-prosecution reckless-conduct serious-violent-felony sovereign-authority state-prosecution statutory-interpretation three-strikes-statute Whether the life sentence imposed under the Federa Does the government have the authority to dictate sovereign particular state, federal trial will be prosecuted other than the state according to the D…
20-8291 Scott Wehmhoefer v. United States Ninth Circuit 2021-06-11 Denied IFP divisibility federal-three-strikes johnson-v-united-states serious-violent-felony sessions-v-dimaya texas-aggravated-robbery Mr. Wehmhoefer is serving a life sentence under the rarely invoked Federal Three Strikes statute, 18 U.S.C. § 3559(c). The strikes alleged here were v…
20-7394 Joaquin Ramos De La Cruz v. United States Fifth Circuit 2021-03-09 Denied IFP 18-usc-922 18-usc-924 armed-career-criminal-act categorical-approach circuit-split divisibility felon-in-possession guilty-plea knowledge-requirement sentencing-enhancement statutory-interpretation structural-error I. Is it structural error when a defendant pleaded guilty to possessing a firearm as a felon, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 922(g)(1) and 924(a), witho…
20-400 James Avery, Jr. v. United States Eleventh Circuit 2020-09-29 Denied Response RequestedResponse WaivedRelisted (2) armed-career-criminal-act burglary-statute circuit-split criminal-procedure divisibility divisible-statute sentence-enhancement statutory-interpretation Whether a state burglary statute that disjunctively lists places that may be burgled under the statute is divisible for purposes of a sentence enhance…
20-5658 Martin Racioppi v. United States Third Circuit 2020-09-11 Denied Response WaivedIFP categorical-approach criminal-law criminal-procedure divisibility divisible-statute mathis-standard mathis-v-united-states robbery-statute state-law-interpretation statutory-interpretation third-circuit Whether the Third Circuit's approach, in United States v. McCants, 952 F.3d 416 (3d Cir. 2020), to determining that New Jersey's second-degree robbery…
19-8688 Richard Dale Ingram, Jr. v. United States Eighth Circuit 2020-06-12 Denied Response WaivedIFP arkansas-law categorical-approach criminal-law divisibility divisibility-analysis eighth-circuit jury-unanimity mathis-standard mathis-v-united-states statutory-interpretation terroristic-threatening Whether the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals incorrectly applied the divisibility analysis prescribed in Mathis v. United States, 136 S. Ct. 2243 (2016…
19-7665 Marvie Chapman, Jr. v. United States Eighth Circuit 2020-02-13 Denied Response WaivedIFP categorical-approach controlled-substance controlled-substance-offense criminal-statute divisibility felony-drug-offense mathis-standard mathis-v-united-states sentencing-enhancement serious-drug-offense statutory-interpretation How to determine whether a statute is indivisible for purposes of applying Mathis v. United States to "controlled substance offense", "serious drug of…
19-6939 Anthony Scott Hunt v. United States Fourth Circuit 2019-12-13 Denied Response WaivedRelisted (2)IFP base-offense-level categorical-approach controlled-substance-offense divisibility drug-statute modified-categorical-approach predicate-offense sentencing-guidelines u.s.s.g-§-4b1.2(b) u.s.s.g.-§-2k2.1(a)(4)(a) u.s.s.g.-§-4b1.2(b) WHETHER A STATE DRUG STATUTE, THAT IS EITHER COMPLETELY INDIVISIBLE OR AT MOST ONLY DIVISIBLE INTO NO MORE THAN THREE GENERALLY SEPARATE OFFENSES, ALL…
19-6720 James Dwayne Myers v. United States Eighth Circuit 2019-11-22 Denied IFP criminal-law criminal-procedure divisibility divisibility-analysis eighth-circuit jury-unanimity mathis-standard mathis-v-united-states sentencing-enhancement state-law statutory-interpretation May a court properly apply the divisibility analysis prescribed in Mathis v. United States, 136 S. Ct. 2243 (2016), without considering the question o…
19-6586 Shane Inghels v. United States Seventh Circuit 2019-11-12 Denied IFP 18-usc-924 armed-career-criminal-act categorical-approach controlled-substance criminal-statute divisibility indiana-code indiana-code-35-48-4-1.1 serious-drug-offense statutory-interpretation Whether a conviction for dealing in methamphetamine under Indiana Code § 35-48-4-1.1 is improperly considered a "serious drug offense" under the Armed…
19-6348 Billy J. Griffin v. United States Eighth Circuit 2019-10-23 Denied Response WaivedIFP career-offender controlled-substances divisibility drug-statute federal-sentencing felony-convictions missouri-law state-convictions statutory-interpretation Question 1. Is the Missouri Controlled Drug Statue indivisible such that the Defendant's two distribution of marijuana felony convictions in state cou…
19-6142 Santo Leone v. United States Fifth Circuit 2019-10-03 Denied Response WaivedIFP abuse-of-discretion amendment categorical-approach civil-procedure district-court-discretion divisibility drug-convictions due-process first-step-act marijuana-convictions motion-to-amend prior-convictions section-851 standing timeliness Whether district court abused its discretion by concluding motion to amend should be denied as untimely? Whether district court erred when failure to…
19-5491 Shed T. Woods v. United States Seventh Circuit 2019-08-07 Denied IFP armed-career-criminal-act categorical-approach controlled-substance controlled-substances criminal-conviction divisibility drug-offense indiana-code-35-48-4-1 indiana-statute serious-drug-offense statutory-interpretation Whether a conviction for dealing in cocaine or narcotic drug under Indiana Code § 35-48-4-1 is improperly considered a "serious drug offense" under th…
18-9793 Timothy Dale Gould v. United States Fifth Circuit 2019-06-27 Denied Response RequestedResponse WaivedRelisted (2)IFP 18-usc-924c categorical-approach criminal-law divisibility statutory-interpretation violent-crime Is 18 U.S.C. § 2113(a) is divisible for purposes of categorical analysis?
18-9420 Le'Ardrus Burris v. United States Sixth Circuit 2019-05-24 Denied Response WaivedIFP criminal-law criminal-statute divisibility divisibility-analysis felonious-assault mathis-precedent mathis-v-united-states ohio-law ohio-revised-code-2903a sixth-circuit state-v-harris statutory-interpretation Whether the Sixth Circuit's divisibility analysis ignores this Court's decision in Mathis v. United States, 579 U.S. __, 136 S. Ct. 2243 (2016) and Oh…
18-8110 In Re LaShawn Anderson 2019-02-22 Denied Relisted (2)IFP armed-career-criminal-act armed-career-criminal-act-18-usc-924-e categorical-approach circuit-split constitutional-review descamps-v-united-states divisibility fundamental-defect habeas-corpus johnson-v-united-states mathis-v-united-states retroactivity saving-clause sentencing-enhancement This petition presents two important issues concerning the proper interpretation of the Saving Clause, 28 U.S.C. § 2255(e); and the appropriate applic…
18-7127 Christopher French v. United States Eleventh Circuit 2018-12-19 Denied Response WaivedIFP aggravated-burglary armed-career-criminal-act categorical-approach circuit-court-review divisibility non-generic-crime sentencing sentencing-enhancement sixth-circuit statutory-interpretation tennessee-burglary-statute Can a Tennessee Aggravated Burglary conviction serve as an armed Career Criminal Act predicate? May a federal circuit court change a statutory burden…
18-7096 Reinaldo Santos v. United States Eleventh Circuit 2018-12-19 GVR Response RequestedResponse WaivedRelisted (4)IFP acca acca-violent-felony armed-career-criminal-act battery categorical-approach circuit-split descamps divisibility florida florida-battery mathis mens-rea modified-categorical-approach sixth-amendment violent-felony 1. Is the "touches or strikes' language in the Florida battery statutes divisible under Descamps v. United States, 133 S.Ct. 2276 (2013) and Mathis v.…
18-6859 James Myers v. United States Eighth Circuit 2018-11-28 GVR Response RequestedResponse WaivedRelisted (3)IFP armed-career-criminal-act criminal-law criminal-sentencing divisibility enumerated-offenses force-clause mathis-principles mathis-v-united-states statutory-divisibility statutory-interpretation violent-felony Do the principles regarding a statute's divisibility announced in Mathis v. United States, 136 S. Ct. 2243 (2016), apply both to offenses analyzed und…
18-6757 Ronald Ray Norman v. United States Fifth Circuit 2018-11-21 Denied Response WaivedIFP armed-career-criminal-act categorical-approach criminal-law descamps-v-united-states divisibility divisibility-analysis federal-sentencing means-versus-elements sentencing-enhancement statutory-interpretation statutory-text violent-felony I. What role does the text of a statute play in the divisibility analysis under the categorical approach of the Armed Career Criminal Act? II. Is the…
18-6705 Richard A. Jiles v. United States Eleventh Circuit 2018-11-14 Denied Response WaivedIFP armed-career-criminal-act burglary divisibility divisible-statute felon-in-possession georgia georgia-burglary-statute predicate-offense sentencing-enhancement Was correct to find that Mr. Jiles' prior burglary conviction under O.C.G.A. § 16-7-1 was a predicate offense under the ACCA, 18 U.S.C. §924(e)?
18-6495 Richard Anthony Trent v. United States Tenth Circuit 2018-10-30 Denied Response WaivedIFP armed-career-criminal-act circuit-split demand-for-certainty divisibility divisible-statute federal-courts federal-statute-interpretation mathis-v-united-states modified-categorical-approach state-law-materials statutory-interpretation Is the demand for certainty satisfied where, after a survey of relevant, state-law materials, the federal court can only say what is "suggestive" and …
18-5504 William Lem Posey, II v. United States Sixth Circuit 2018-08-08 Denied IFP career-offender categorical-approach circuit-split criminal-procedure criminal-sentencing descamps-approach divisibility element-analysis element-based-approach grammar-based-approach mandatory-guidelines non-generic-offense sentencing sentencing-guidelines statutory-interpretation To decide whether a non-generic offense is divisible under Descamps v. United States, 133 S. Ct. 2276 (2013), does a sentencing court need to take a g…
18-5321 Salvador Ortiz-Uresti v. United States Third Circuit 2018-07-23 Denied Response RequestedResponse WaivedRelisted (2)IFP categorical-approach circuit-split colorado-drug-statute criminal-law divisibility drug-statute federal-predicate federal-sentencing immigration-consequences nationwide-impact sentencing sentencing-enhancement statutory-interpretation When deciding whether a conviction under Colorado's primary drug statute qualifies as a federal predicate for an increased sentence, should a court tr…
18-5056 Joshua D. Bouziden v. United States Tenth Circuit 2018-06-29 Denied Response WaivedIFP 18-usc-924e armed-career-criminal-act criminal-sentencing divisibility juror-unanimity modified-categorical-approach predicate-conviction prior-conviction sentencing-enhancement statutory-interpretation Whether a predicate prior conviction under the Armed Career Criminal Act, 18 U.S.C. § 924(e), is divisible for purposes of the modified categorical ap…