United States v. Demario Edwards
2013 U.S. App. LEXIS 16936
| 9th Cir. | 2013Background
- Defendant DeMario Edwards (age 23) pleaded guilty to possession of a firearm by a felon (18 U.S.C. §§ 922(g)(1), 924(a)(2)) and was sentenced to 46 months.
- Edwards has juvenile adjudications (robbery with a deadly weapon at 14 and 16; felony marijuana-possession-with-intent-to-sell at 17) and an adult conviction for attempted burglary (Nevada) at 19.
- The PSR counted two juvenile adjudications under U.S.S.G. § 4A1.2(d)(2)(A), adding criminal history points and increasing his Guidelines range.
- The district court also applied a § 2K2.1(a)(4)(A) enhancement (base offense level 20) after finding Edwards’s attempted burglary was a “crime of violence” under U.S.S.G. § 4B1.2(a), relying on the charging document and plea to show the apartment was occupied.
- On appeal Edwards argued (1) that using juvenile adjudications to increase an adult sentence violates the Eighth Amendment (invoking Roper/Graham/Miller), and (2) that his attempted burglary should not qualify as a “crime of violence.”
- The Ninth Circuit upheld use of juvenile convictions for criminal-history scoring but, in light of Descamps, vacated and remanded for resentencing without the “crime of violence” enhancement because the Nevada statute was not divisible and the modified categorical approach was inapplicable.
Issues
| Issue | Plaintiff's Argument | Defendant's Argument | Held |
|---|---|---|---|
| Whether using juvenile adjudications to increase an adult sentence violates the Eighth Amendment | Edwards: Roper/Graham/Miller limit punishment for juvenile conduct; juvenile adjudications should not be used to enhance adult sentences | Government/District Court: Enhancing for adult offense based on juvenile adjudications is permissible; recent juvenile Eighth Amendment cases limit only sentences for juvenile offenses | Use of juvenile convictions for adult criminal-history scoring does not violate the Eighth Amendment |
| Whether Edwards’s Nevada attempted burglary conviction is a "crime of violence" under U.S.S.G. § 4B1.2(a) | Edwards: Attempted burglary (as charged) does not categorically present the required risk of physical injury | Government/District Court: Charging document and plea show attempted burglary of occupied apartment, creating risk; thus qualifies under modified categorical approach | Descamps bars consulting judicially noticeable documents where the statute is not divisible; conviction cannot be treated as a "crime of violence" here; enhancement vacated |
Key Cases Cited
- Roper v. Simmons, 543 U.S. 551 (limitations on death penalty for juvenile offenders)
- Graham v. Florida, 560 U.S. 48 (life without parole for nonhomicide juvenile offenses unconstitutional)
- Miller v. Alabama, 567 U.S. 460 (mandatory life without parole for juveniles unconstitutional)
- Descamps v. United States, 570 U.S. 254 (limits modified categorical approach to divisible statutes)
- United States v. Mays, 466 F.3d 335 (5th Cir.) (upholding juvenile convictions’ use in federal sentencing)