April 11th, 2019

United States v. Burris

Docket: 17-10478
Opinion Date: April 10, 2019
Judge: Jacques Loeb Wiener, Jr.
Areas of Law: Criminal Law

The Fifth Circuit withdrew its previous opinion pending the en banc court's decision in United States v. Reyes-Contreras. After the en banc court decided Reyes-Contreras, the Supreme Court decided Stokeling v. United States, which held that Florida robbery qualified as a crime of violence under the Armed Career Criminal Act. The court held that these cases applied to defendant's sentence and governed the outcome of this case. Therefore, the court held that Texas robbery under Texas Penal Code 29.02(a) requires the "use, attempted use, or threatened use of physical force" and affirmed defendant's increased sentence under the ACCA.

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