United States v. Doyle, 2012 U.S. App. LEXIS 9128

Doyle, a Tennessee resident, was found in a running vehicle with firearms behind a church after a call of a suspicious vehicle (May 1, 2007).
Police recovered a nine millimeter pistol and a short-barreled shotgun from the vehicle; Doyle and a woman were arrested on various charges.
Doyle pled guilty to federal charges of felon in possession of a firearm, unregistered firearm, and related offenses; the district court treated him as an Armed Career Criminal (ACCA) offender.
The district court’s ACCA determination rested on three prior convictions: aggravated assault (violent felony), burglary (violent felony), and a Class E felony evading arrest.
The offense at issue is whether Tennessee’s Class E felony evading arrest is a “violent felony” under 18 U.S.C. § 924(e) and the ACCA, after the Supreme Court’s Sykes decision reexamined related precedent.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether Tennessee Class E evading arrest is a violent felony under ACCA residual clause	Rogers supports that evading arrest is a violent felony	Doyle argues Sykes undermines Rogers; E-felonies may be non-violent	Yes; Class E evading arrest is a violent felony under ACCA

Rogers v. United States, 594 F.3d 517 (6th Cir. 2010) (Vehicle flight can satisfy ACCA residual-clause risk post-Young; affirmed violent-felony status for TN Class E evading arrest before Sykes remand)
Young v. United States, 580 F.3d 373 (6th Cir. 2009) (Vehicular flight can be violent; parallels to burglary/arson/ Explosives; used to justify Rogers" stability)
James v. United States, 550 U.S. 192 (2007) (Categorical approach to evaluating whether an offense falls within residual clause)
Sykes v. United States, 131 S. Ct. 2267 (2011) (Declared open question on vehicular-flight statutes; narrowed residual-clause analysis)
Begay v. United States, 553 U.S. 137 (2008) (Helped define “purposeful, violent, and aggressive” offenses for ACCA)