914 F.3d 1
1st Cir.2019Background
- Martínez pleaded guilty in federal court to being a felon in possession of a firearm (18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1)); no plea agreement.
- At federal sentencing the government sought a Guidelines enhancement under U.S.S.G. § 2K2.1(a)(4)(A) based on a prior Puerto Rico conviction for an Article 406 (attempt/conspiracy) offense that was reclassified from an Article 401 (possession with intent to distribute) charge.
- Puerto Rico law: Article 401 penalizes possession with intent to distribute (fixed 20-year term, adjustable to 10–30 years); Article 404 penalizes simple possession (fixed 3-year term, adjustable to 2–5 years); Article 406 punishes attempt/conspiracy to commit any CSA offense and carries the penalty of the underlying substantive offense.
- The Puerto Rico judgment showed a conviction under Article 406 with a 3‑year suspended sentence; the charging document had originally alleged an Article 401 offense.
- The district court relied on a Ramos Rivas footnote and concluded the Article 406 conviction was an attempt/conspiracy to commit an Article 401 offense (a Guidelines "controlled substance offense"), raised Martínez’s base offense level, and sentenced him to 34 months.
- The First Circuit held the government failed to prove which substantive offense Article 406 encompassed (Article 401 trafficking vs. Article 404 simple possession), vacated the sentence, and remanded for resentencing without allowing the government to introduce new evidence of the prior conviction.
Issues
| Issue | Plaintiff's Argument (Government) | Defendant's Argument (Martínez) | Held |
|---|---|---|---|
| Whether Martínez’s prior Article 406 conviction is a § 4B1.2(b) "controlled substance offense" (predicate) | Reclassified from Article 401; Ramos Rivas requires looking to the charging document, so Article 401 is the object → qualifying predicate | Record does not show what substantive offense was the object; could be simple possession (Article 404), which is not a qualifying predicate | Government failed to meet its burden; conviction not shown to be a § 4B1.2 predicate; enhancement vacated |
| Proper analytic approach for divisible statutes | Modified categorical approach can be applied using narrow documents to identify the underlying offense | Same; argues documents here insufficient to identify underlying offense | Court applied the modified categorical approach and found the supplied documents inadequate |
| Weight of Ramos Rivas and Puerto Rico appellate decisions | Ramos Rivas (and some P.R. intermediate decisions) support tying Article 406 penalty to the original Article 401 charge | Ramos Rivas is narrow and fact-specific; it does not establish a general rule that reclassification means the substantive object was Article 401 | Ramos Rivas does not compel finding Article 401 was the object here; it is inapposite given the record gaps |
| Remedy and burden at resentencing | Government urged affirmance or to permit reliance on Puerto Rico precedents | Martínez argued government waived novel arguments and failed to prove predicate at sentencing; government should not be allowed to add new proof on remand | Vacated and remanded; government may not present new evidence of the prior conviction at resentencing |
Key Cases Cited
- United States v. Dávila-Félix, 667 F.3d 47 (1st Cir. 2011) (government bears burden to prove prior conviction is a Guidelines predicate)
- United States v. Román-Huertas, 848 F.3d 72 (1st Cir. 2017) (Puerto Rico Article 404 mere-possession offenses are not § 4B1.2(b) predicates)
- Mathis v. United States, 136 S. Ct. 2243 (2016) (divisible statute and modified categorical approach framework)
- Shepard v. United States, 544 U.S. 13 (2005) (limited documents may be consulted under modified categorical approach)
- Taylor v. United States, 495 U.S. 575 (1990) (established categorical/modified categorical approach for prior convictions)
- United States v. Dávila-González, 595 F.3d 42 (1st Cir. 2010) (context on sentencing and Guidelines application)
- United States v. Bryant, 571 F.3d 147 (1st Cir. 2009) (procedural point on burden to establish prior predicate)
- United States v. Torres-Rosa, 209 F.3d 4 (1st Cir. 2000) (Puerto Rico convictions treated for § 4B1.2 purposes)