U.S.A v. Williams
Decision Date | 22 June 2010 |
Docket Number | No. 08-10185.,08-10185. |
Citation | 609 F.3d 1168 |
Parties | UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee,v.Patrick Frederick WILLIAMS, Defendant-Appellant. |
Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Eleventh Circuit |
Brenda G. Bryn, Kathleen M. Williams, Fed. Pub. Defenders, Ft. Lauderdale, FL, for Defendant-Appellant.
Laura Thomas Rivero, Anne R. Schultz, Kathleen M. Salyer, Miami, FL, for Plaintiff-Appellee.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida.
ON REMAND FROM THE SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES
Before DUBINA, Chief Judge, CARNES, Circuit Judge, and RESTANI, * Judge.
In United States v. Williams, 563 F.3d 1239 (11th Cir.2009), we affirmed Patrick Frederick Williams's life sentence as a career offender under U.S.S.G. § 4B1.1 following his conviction for possession of crack cocaine. The Supreme Court vacated our judgment Williams v. United States, ---U.S. ----, 130 S.Ct. 1734, 176 L.Ed.2d 209 (2010), and remanded the case to us for further consideration in light of its decision in Johnson v. United States, --- U.S. ----, 130 S.Ct. 1265, 176 L.Ed.2d 1 (2010). After additional review, we vacate Williams's sentence and remand for re-sentencing.
In Johnson, the Supreme Court held that the Florida felony offense of battery was not a “violent felony” under the “physical force” subdivision of the Armed Career Criminal Act (“ACCA”). 130 S.Ct. at 1274; see also 18 U.S.C. § 924(e)(2)(B)(i) (2006) ( ). The Court reasoned that “in the context of a statutory definition of ‘ violent felony,’ the phrase ‘physical force’ means violent force-that is, force capable of causing physical pain or injury to another person.” 130 S.Ct. at 1271. The Court concluded that the Florida battery offense was not a “violent felony” under the “physical force” subdivision of the ACCA because Florida courts have held that the felony battery offense requires proof of only slight, incidental physical contact. Id. at 1269, 1274; see also State v. Hearns, 961 So.2d 211, 219 (Fla.2007) ( ).
In this case, the district court apparently relied on Williams's prior conviction for battery on a law enforcement officer as a predicate for sentence enhancement under the career offender provision of the sentencing guidelines. 1See U.S.S.G. § 4B1.1(a) ( ). We hold that, in light of the Supreme Court's ruling in Johnson, the fact of a conviction for felony battery on a law enforcement officer in Florida, standing alone, no longer satisfies the “crime of violence” enhancement criteria as defined under the “physical force” subdivision of section 4B1.2(a)(1) of the sentencing guidelines. Though the statutory context here varies somewhat from that present in Johnson, we have no reason to believe that the words present in the ACCA have a different meaning than the same words used in the sentencing guidelines. See United States v. Archer, 531 F.3d 1347, 1352 (11th Cir.2008) ().
At the time of Williams's conviction, Florida law criminalizing battery on a police officer provided as follows:
Fla. Stat. § 784.03(1). We see no evidence in the record, that we may consider under Shepard v. United States, to clarify under which of these provisions Williams was convicted. See 544 U.S. 13, 26, 125 S.Ct. 1254, 1262, 161 L.Ed.2d 205 (2005) (...
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