LawyersUSA

Auto theft and auto tampering are not "crimes of violence" under the Armed Career Criminal Act, the 8th Circuit has ruled in remanding a case for resentencing.

The defendant pled guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm. A U.S. District Court enhanced his sentence under the federal sentencing guidelines because of two prior felonies that qualified as crimes of violence under the Armed Career Criminal Act: auto theft and auto tampering.

The defendant appealed. While his appeal was pending the U.S. Supreme Court issued a decision that discussed what constitutes a "crime of violence" under the Act. (Begay v. U.S., 128 S.Ct. 1581. See "DUI recidivists aren't 'violent criminals,'" Lawyers USA, May 5, 2008. Search terms for Lawyers USA website: Begay and Breyer).

In light of the Supreme Court's decision, the 8th Circuit reversed and remanded the case for resentencing.

Prior case law had focused "solely on the degree of risk of physical injury associated with a crime" when determining whether it was a crime of violence, but "[w]e now consider whether auto theft involves conduct that is similarly 'purposeful, violent and aggressive' when compared to the conduct involved in auto theft's closest analogue among the example crimes," the court said.

Under Missouri law, auto theft consists of three distinct offenses with different elements: auto theft without consent, auto theft by deceit and auto theft by coercion.

"[A]pplying Missouri law, we conclude that auto theft by deception, auto theft without consent, and auto tampering are not crimes of violence… We find that auto theft by coercion is closely analogous to extortion and constitutes a crime of violence," the court said.

It remanded the case for a determination of what subset of auto theft the defendant had committed.

U.S. Court of Appeals, 8th Circuit. U.S. v. Williams, No. 07-2679. Aug. 11, 2008. Lawyers USA No. 99310551. Click here for the full text of this opinion.