10-3132 U.S. v. Taylor

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SORNA
Sentencing; tiers

When classifying a defendant sentenced in violation of SORNA, a district court may examine the charging document to determine the defendant’s tier.

“Taylor was convicted under 10 U.S.C. § 925, a statute that prohibits sodomy in all its forms. It is therefore impossible to determine from the face of the statute whether Taylor pleaded guilty to forcible sodomy, consensual sodomy, or sodomy of a child. Consequently, under the categorical approach, forcible sodomy convictions under 10 U.S.C. § 925 would always be a Tier I offense. We need not confine ourselves to the categorical approach in this case, however, because the statute at issue here prohibits multiple types of conduct, including ‘forcible sodomy,’ which is considered to be an offense with different elements than ‘sodomy’ alone. See supra Part A; United States v. Woods, 576 F.3d 400, 403-07 (7th Cir. 2009). We therefore affirm the district court’s use of the modified categorical approach and hold that a judge may examine a limited set of additional materials— such as the charging instrument in this case— to determine the portion of 10 U.S.C. § 925 to which the defendant pleaded guilty.”

Affirmed.

10-3132 U.S. v. Taylor

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Illinois, Reagan, J., Bauer, J.

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