01-4241 U.S. v. Morris

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“[T]he two offenses committed by Morris, although close in time and location, involved distinct criminal aggressions from which he had an opportunity to cease and withdraw. The facts underlying the offenses are not in dispute. Morris shot at victim Derek Kye from his automobile at the corner of 17th and Pine, and then drove away. Kye then ran to his aunt’s home and told his aunt and cousin what had happened. His cousin, Lebaron Pettis, left the home to seek help presumably because they did not have a phone at the house. Pettis ran to 1501 Martin Luther King Drive and was knocking on the door when Morris drove up and fired three shots at Pettis. Pettis escaped injury. Those shooting incidents were similar in nature, but involved different victims at different locations and times. Although they were close in time and proximity, they involved distinct criminal aggressions. Morris had left the scene of the first incident, and that was a complete criminal act at that time. He certainly had the opportunity at that time to drive away from the scene and cease his criminal actions. Instead, he chose to drive back and to initiate an additional criminal aggression, this time shooting at Pettis. That is the type of criminal action that, although ‘hard on the heels of the earlier offense,’ nevertheless constitutes an offense on an ‘occasion different from the other’ under the ACCA. It is legally indistinguishable from the type of conduct we reviewed in Hudspeth, Schieman, and Cardenas, and therefore the district court appropriately applied the enhancement under the ACCA.”

Affirmed.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Central District of Illinois, Scott, J., Rovner, J.