Pleas & Sentencing

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Criminal

7^th Circuit Court of Appeals

Officials: POSNER, MANION, and HAMILTON, Circuit Judges

Pleas & Sentencing 

No. 14-3688 United States of America v. Ker Yang

Appellant sentence was appropriate as Min. Stat. §609.224 can be violated in multiple ways, including the conduct of the appellant.

“The issue is “whether the elements of the offense are of the type” that makes the offense a violent felony, and the court must answer this question “without inquiring into the specific conduct of this particular offender.” United States v. Woods, 576 F.3d 400, 403 (7th Cir. 2009), quoting James v. United States, 550 U.S. 192, 202 (2007); see also id. at 405 (sentencing under ACCA “precludes deciding on a case-by-case basis whether a particular prior violation of a general statute posed the kind of risk of violence that would justify the recidivism enhancements provided by the ACCA”). The sentencing judge need not and may not consult any of the facts underlying the prior conviction. It does not matter if the defendant violated the statute of conviction in a particularly violent or non-violent way. The inquiry looks only at the statutory elements of the prior conviction to determine whether it qualifies as a violent felony. See Descamps, 133 S. Ct. at 2285–86; Shepard v. United States, 544 U.S. 13, 16 (2005); Taylor v. United States, 495 U.S. 575, 600 (1990); United States v. Misleveck, 735 F.3d 983, 984 (7th Cir. 2013).”

Affirmed.

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Attorney Derek A. Hawkins is the managing partner at Hawkins Law Offices LLC, where he heads up the firm’s startup law practice. He specializes in business formation, corporate governance, intellectual property protection, private equity and venture capital funding and mergers & acquisitions. Check out the website at www.hawkins-lawoffices.com or contact them at 262-737-8825.