February 28th, 2020

United States v. Williams

Docket: 19-60463
Opinion Date: February 27, 2020
Judge: Per Curiam
Areas of Law: Criminal Law

The Fifth Circuit affirmed defendant's sentence under the Armed Career Criminal Act (ACCA) imposed after he pleaded guilty to possessing a firearm after a felony conviction. Defendant argued that he could not be sentenced under the ACCA because 18 U.S.C. 924(a)(2), not 924(e), was charged in the indictment, and that his 2008 Mississippi robbery conviction does not constitute a violent felony conviction under the ACCA. Defendant conceded that his arguments are contrary to precedent but, nonetheless, wished to preserve the issues for further review. The court held that defendant's argument that the district court erred in sentencing him under the ACCA because section 924(e) was not cited in the indictment was unavailing. Furthermore, the court rejected defendant's challenges to his conviction for Mississippi robbery in light of its prior rulings and defendant's failure to cite Mississippi case law that establishes a realistic probability that Mississippi courts would apply the robbery statute to conduct that does not involve "the use, attempted use, or threatened use of physical force against the person of another."

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