United States v. Blain Salmons, Jr.
2017 U.S. App. LEXIS 19928
| 4th Cir. | 2017Background
- Defendant Blain Salmons Jr. pled guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm (18 U.S.C. §§ 922(g)(1), 924(a)(2)).
- Salmons had a prior West Virginia aggravated robbery conviction under W. Va. Code § 61-2-12 (1961), which the district court treated as a "crime of violence" for Guidelines purposes, increasing his base offense level.
- Aggravated robbery (1961 text) criminalized robbery by partial strangulation/suffocation, striking/beating, other violence to the person, or by threat/presenting of firearms or other deadly instrumentality.
- The Guidelines' force clause (U.S.S.G. § 4B1.2(a)(1)) defines a "crime of violence" as an offense having as an element the use, attempted use, or threatened use of physical force against another.
- The core legal question: whether West Virginia aggravated robbery categorically fits the Guidelines' force-clause definition, i.e., whether every lawful conviction under the statute necessarily involves violent force.
- District court found it did; after considering § 3553(a) factors the court imposed a downward variance sentence of 12 months + 1 day; the Fourth Circuit affirmed.
Issues
| Issue | Plaintiff's Argument | Defendant's Argument | Held |
|---|---|---|---|
| Whether West Virginia aggravated robbery is a "crime of violence" under U.S.S.G. § 4B1.2(a)(1) | Salmons: statute can be violated by de minimis or nonviolent conduct (e.g., minimal "striking" or vague "instrumentality"), so it is overbroad. | Government: statutory means (strangulation, suffocation, striking/beating, firearms, deadly instrumentality) necessarily involve actual, attempted, or threatened violent force. | The Fourth Circuit held the statute is categorically a crime of violence under the force clause and affirmed the sentence. |
Key Cases Cited
- Taylor v. United States, 495 U.S. 575 (Sup. Ct. 1990) (establishes categorical approach to comparing state offense elements to federal definition)
- Johnson v. United States, 559 U.S. 133 (Sup. Ct. 2010) (interprets "physical force" as "violent force" capable of causing pain or injury)
- Gonzales v. Duenas-Alvarez, 549 U.S. 183 (Sup. Ct. 2007) (requires realistic probability, not legal imagination, to show statute covers non-generic conduct)
- United States v. Gardner, 823 F.3d 793 (4th Cir. 2016) (state robbery was overbroad because actual convictions existed for de minimis force)
- United States v. Doctor, 842 F.3d 306 (4th Cir. 2016) (South Carolina strong-arm robbery is a crime of violence under the force clause)
- United States v. McNeal, 818 F.3d 141 (4th Cir. 2016) (federal armed bank robbery meets force-clause definition)
- United States v. Llamas, 599 F.3d 381 (4th Cir. 2010) (standard of de novo review for categorical analysis)
- United States v. Baxter, 642 F.3d 475 (4th Cir. 2011) (explains application of the categorical approach under the Guidelines)