In re: Leslie A. Parker

Petitioner filed an application seeking an order authorizing the district court to consider a second or successive motion to vacate, set aside, or correct his federal sentence, 28 U.S.C. 2255. Petitioner argued that his claim is based on the rule announced in Johnson v. United States and made retroactive in Welch v. United States. Specifically, petitioner argued that his sentence under the Armed Career Criminal Act (ACCA), 18 U.S.C. 924(e), is invalid under Johnson because the sentence arose under the residual clause. The court's decision in In re Rogers held that when the record does not make clear that the sentencing court relied solely on the ACCA’s still-valid provisions to classify each predicate offense and binding precedent does not otherwise demonstrate that only valid ACCA clauses are implicated, the court applies Descamps v. United States. In this case, petitioner was sentenced under the ACCA based on two 1982 Florida convictions for aggravated assault and a 1983 Florida conviction for burglary of a dwelling. Under Rogers, petitioner has shown that his burglary conviction may be a residual-clause predicate. Because petitioner has made a prima facie showing that he has raised a claim that meets the statutory criteria set forth in section 2255, the court granted his application for leave to file a second or successive section 2255 motion. View "In re: Leslie A. Parker" on Justia Law