UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Carl T. MILLER, Defendant-Appellant.
No. 11-3788.
United States Court of Appeals, Seventh Circuit.
June 27, 2013
721 F.3d 435
Argued May 29, 2012.
IV
For these reasons, we REVERSE the district court‘s decision granting Akzo‘s motion for summary judgment, and we AFFIRM the district court‘s decision granting Durako‘s motion for summary judgment. The case is REMANDED to the district court for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.
Matthew L. Jacobs (argued), Attorney, Jonathan H. Koenig, Attorney, Office of the United States Attorney, Milwaukee, WI, for Plaintiff-Appellee.
Patrick Kieran Cafferty (argued), Attorney, Patrick Cafferty Law Office, S.C., Racine, WI, for Defendant-Appellant.
Before WOOD, SYKES, and TINDER, Circuit Judges.
When Carl T. Miller pleaded guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm in 2011, the government contended that three of his prior convictions qualified as “violent felonies” requiring a mandatory minimum 15-year sentence under the Armed Career Criminal Act (ACCA). See
Miller and the government agree that in order for his conviction for possession of a short-barreled shotgun in violation of
The Supreme Court has addressed the residual clause four times in a recent five-year period.3 Perhaps no single statutory clause has ever received more frequent Supreme Court attention in such a short period of time or such a proliferation of lower court reaction. Although Congress has done nothing to add clarity to ACCA‘s residual clause, cases decided after Upton direct us to a different understanding of how to apply the residual clause.
We start with Begay v. United States, decided a few months after Upton, in which the Court considered whether driving under the influence of alcohol (DUI) was a violent felony under the residual clause. 553 U.S. 137, 141, 128 S.Ct. 1581, 170 L.Ed.2d 490 (2008). The Court found that the listed examples, “burglary, arson, extortion, or crimes involving the use of
Upon the issuance of Begay, we began to understand residual-clause crimes to be those that “(1) present a serious potential risk of physical injury similar in degree to the enumerated crimes of burglary, arson, extortion, or crimes involving the use of explosives; and (2) involve the same or similar kind of ‘purposeful, violent, and aggressive’ conduct as the enumerated crimes.” Fife, 624 F.3d at 447 (quoting United States v. Dismuke, 593 F.3d 582, 591 (7th Cir.2010)).
But shortly thereafter, Sykes v. United States deemed Begay‘s “purposeful, violent, and aggressive” language to be redundant of the risk inquiry required by the residual clause, concluding that these adjectives served merely as a useful way to explain that the crime in Begay was akin to strict liability, negligence, and recklessness crimes. See — U.S. —, 131 S.Ct. 2267, 2275-76, 180 L.Ed.2d 60 (2011). Instead, the predicate conviction‘s level of risk generally serves as the dispositive factor, id. at 2275, but the enumerated crimes—burglary, extortion, arson, and crimes involving use of explosives—still “provide guidance in” determining whether an offense presents a serious risk of physical injury to another, id. at 2273. The Court then determined that Indiana‘s prohibition on flight from an officer by vehicle fit within the residual clause because the inherent nature of the offense includes an indifference to the safety of property and persons; one “who takes flight and creates a risk of [a potentially violent and even lethal] dimension takes action similar in degree of danger to that involved in arson, which also entails intentional release of a destructive force dangerous to others.” Id. “Burglary is dangerous because it can end in confrontation leading to violence,” which was true “but to an even greater degree” with fleeing police by vehicle. Id. (citing in part James, 550 U.S. at 200, 127 S.Ct. 1586). As it did in Chambers v. United States, 555 U.S. 122, 129, 129 S.Ct. 687, 172 L.Ed.2d 484 (2009), decided a year after Begay, the Court in Sykes also considered statistical data (although noting that such data is not dispositive), ultimately concluding that the risks posed by fleeing police by vehicle may exceed those of burglary and arson. 131 S.Ct. at 2274-75.
So, following Sykes, the question for us in this case is whether the risk posed by the possession of a short-barreled shotgun constitutes a serious risk of injury to another, using the offenses enumerated in
We therefore turn to the risk analysis as directed by Sykes and ask whether a violation of Wisconsin‘s short-barreled shotgun possession prohibition, in the ordinary case, presents a serious potential risk of physical injury as guided by the types and degrees of risks presented by the enumerated crimes—burglary, arson, extortion, and crimes involving the use of explosives. Id. at 2273. A short-barreled shotgun can be possessed in a variety of circumstances, ranging from a situation which is patently violent, for example, when one is used in the course of a robbery, to those in which violence is at best latent, such as when a short-barreled shotgun is hidden away at a home, perhaps even unloaded or disassembled. Wisconsin also recognizes the concept of joint and constructive possession. E.g., State v. Mercer, 324 Wis.2d 506, 782 N.W.2d 125, 131 (Wis.App.2010) (citing Schmidt v. State, 77 Wis.2d 370, 253 N.W.2d 204, 208 (1977)). But what is the ordinary case of mere possession? We know that we are not simply to imagine the ways in which the statute can be violated with minimal risk of physical injury to others. See James, 550 U.S. at 208, 127 S.Ct. 1586. Nor are we to hypothesize dangerous ways in which violations could occur. See United States v. Hampton, 675 F.3d 720, 731 (7th Cir.2012); United States v. Sonnenberg, 628 F.3d 361, 365-66 (7th Cir.2010). Instead, we are to focus on the “generic crime as ordinarily committed—that is, whether most instances of the crime present the required degree of risk.” Hampton, 675 F.3d at 731 (citing Dismuke, 593 F.3d at 594).
As noted, in some cases, consideration has been given to statistical data which demonstrates the crime‘s risk of violence. For example, as explained in Sykes, the potential collateral consequences of vehicular flight from an officer placed the risk of harm to other persons above two of the enumerated offenses: for every 100 burglaries, there were 3.2 injuries, and for every 100 arsons, there were 3.3 injuries. 131 S.Ct. at 2274-75. And for every 100 police pursuits, there were just over 4 injuries. Id. at 2274. But in this case, the government pointed to no such data, either in the trial court or on appeal, and our function on appellate review is not to create a record.
Looking at the reported Wisconsin decisions, short-barreled shotgun cases often involve a passive possession in which the weapon is not exposed to others. See State v. Murdock, 155 Wis.2d 217, 455 N.W.2d 618, 620 (1990) (closed pantry drawers), overruled on other grounds by State v. Dearborn, 327 Wis.2d 252, 786 N.W.2d 97, 105 (2010); State v. Garrett, 248 Wis.2d 61, 635 N.W.2d 615, 617 (Wis.Ct.App.2001) (closet); State v. Stankus, 220 Wis.2d 232, 582 N.W.2d 468, 470-71 (Wis.Ct.App.1998) (locked in truck of a car); State v. Rardon, 185 Wis.2d 701, 518 N.W.2d 330, 332 (Wis.Ct.App.1994) (disassembled); State v. Johnson, 171 Wis.2d 175, 491 N.W.2d 110, 112 (Wis.Ct.App.1992) (missing firing pin). In these cases, the firearm poses no immediate risk to anyone but can still serve as a factual basis for a conviction. The range of conduct which could constitute knowing possession of a short-barreled shotgun can vary on a scale of risk of danger to others, but the mere possession of a weapon doesn‘t have to involve any risk. For example, brandishing the weapon, loading it, or actually pulling the trigger are all highly dangerous activities. But those separate actions go beyond the mere possession of the weapon. Something as simple as stuffing a short-barreled shotgun (regardless of whether loaded or even assembled) under a mattress, a relatively passive and not inherently violent act, is all it takes to violate Wisconsin‘s law against possessing short-barreled shotguns.
This leads us to conclude that the risk of physical injury to another presented by the mere possession of a short-barreled shotgun is not in the same league as the risks presented by the offenses of burglary, arson, extortion, or crimes involving the use of explosives. One can imagine scenarios in which the mere possession of such a weapon poses a risk of harm to others, e.g., if the possession took place in a public place and was visible to others, such as in a bank. But just as our task is not a search for a hypothetical way in which a violent crime can be committed without risky behavior, James, 550 U.S. at 208, 127 S.Ct. 1586, we are not to speculate about how a crime can be committed in a risky manner. Instead, we are to look at the conduct required by the statute, that is, the ordinary manner of violating the law. And in the ordinary case, the possession of a short-barreled shotgun does not create any potential risks of harm to another person because all that is involved is the knowing possession of a weapon. As explained in Sykes, the potential collateral consequences of vehicular flight placed the risk of harm to other persons above burglary and arsons. 131 S.Ct. at 2274-75. But the potential collateral consequences of simple possession of a short-barreled shotgun are much harder to imagine. Even though a short-barreled shotgun is quite dangerous, its real risks will almost always manifest only when used or carried in a manner causing others to react. Cf. Chambers, 555 U.S. at 128-29, 129 S.Ct. 687 (crime of “failure to report” involves the offender “doing something” but “there is no reason to believe that the something poses a serious potential risk of physical injury“); United States v. Sims, 683 F.3d 815, 817 (7th Cir.) (possession crimes are typically passive offenses), cert. denied, — U.S. —, 133 S.Ct. 802, 184 L.Ed.2d 592 (2012).
We recognize that possession of a short-barreled shotgun suggests that the possessor might take a step, if presented with the chance, toward using it with its advantages of enhanced ability to conceal and wide spread of shot. See Upton, 512 F.3d at 404; see also United States v. Vincent, 575 F.3d 820, 826 (8th Cir.2009) (citing Upton). There is also the risk that brandishing such an infamous firearm may prompt a dangerous response from others. But the crime of simple possession does not include any of this behavior as an inherent aspect of the offense. Missing is the action present in the enumerated
Mere possession of a weapon has nothing in common with the risk-creating aspects of the listed crimes. Arson involves the unleashing of a dangerous force which may be intended only to damage physical structures, but which may harm individuals, such as responders, as a result. Extortion implicates the threat of a harm to others if demands are not met, as well as the great potential for a reaction to the threat, perhaps like the potential reaction to flight from law enforcement, which can result in a tragic confrontation. And like arson, the use of explosives unleashes an uncontrollable force that poses a high risk of harming those in its path or responding to its consequences. Perhaps the use of explosives is the closest analogue to the possession of a dangerous weapon; but it isn‘t very close at all. A closer comparison would be an offense involving possession of explosives, but ACCA only lists crimes that involve the use of such dangerous materials, not the inert act of possessing them. See
The government maintains that a short-barreled shotgun is a “weapon of personal confrontation” because it is “less likely to be carried defensively” and is “possessed for offensive purposes.” But while these enhanced risks may compare to the risk levels associated with the mere possession of a hunting rifle or handgun, they do not compare to the risks posed by the conduct underlying burglary, arson, extortion, and offenses involving the use of explosives. We do not doubt that a short-barreled shotgun may inherently be a more dangerous weapon than an ordinary rifle or handgun, but until the short-barreled shotgun is exposed or revealed to others, the type of danger existing in the listed crimes is not present. It is only manifested when the weapon is brought out from under the mattress or out of the closet or trunk.
Unlike past cases, e.g., Hampton, 675 F.3d at 730 (rejecting report on assaults causing officer injury), the government does not support its position with statistics. Instead, it points to the Application Notes for the career offender provision in the Sentencing Guidelines, which includes unlawful possession of a sawed-off shotgun in its examples of crimes of violence,
Before Sykes, Upton held that possession of a sawed-off shotgun in violation of an Illinois law4 constituted a violent felony under ACCA‘s residual clause. We reached that conclusion primarily because we had already determined that such possession was a “crime of violence” for purposes of the Guidelines. 512 F.3d at 404 (citing United States v. Brazeau, 237 F.3d 842, 844 (7th Cir.2001)). In reaching that result, we noted that possession of a sawed-off shotgun poses a serious potential risk of physical injury because of the illegitimate purposes for which people use such firearms:
People do not shorten their shotguns to hunt or shoot skeet. Instead, the shortened barrel makes the guns easier to conceal and increases the spread of the shot when firing at close range—facts that spurred Congress to require the registration of all sawed-off shotguns, along with other dangerous weapons like bazookas, mortars, pipe bombs, and machine guns.
Id. This view of sawed-off shotguns is sensible and we are not changing that general view here. But given the development in the framework for evaluating whether an offense qualifies for the residual clause, this recognition of the inherent aspects of a short-barreled shotgun is no longer sufficient. Upton, unaided by prescience of the subsequent line of Supreme Court ACCA cases discussed above, did not address whether the risks posed by the mere possession of a sawed-off shotgun were comparable to the listed offenses.
Our holding is consistent with McGill‘s ultimate conclusion, 618 F.3d at 1277-79 (possession of a short-barreled shotgun is not a violent felony under ACCA because it is not “similar in kind” to the “use of explosives” or to the other crimes listed in ACCA‘s residual clause), and with United States v. Amos, 501 F.3d 524, 528-30 (6th Cir.2007) (holding that possession of a sawed-off shotgun is not a violent felony under ACCA because “possession does not fit well with the more active crimes included in the statute” and not all instances of sawed-off shotgun possession pose a risk of violence),6 which were decided without the benefit of Sykes. We note, however, our disagreement with McGill‘s assessment of the risk posed by possession of a short-barreled shotgun, see 618 F.3d at 1276 (such possession “presents a serious potential risk of physical injury to another“), and our agreement with Amos‘s conclusion regarding that risk, see 501 F.3d at 528-29 (noting a distinction between crimes that carry “future risks of violence” and crimes that carry “risk of violence“). Because we hold that the developments in this area of the law require a different
We VACATE Miller‘s sentence and REMAND for resentencing.
TINDER
CIRCUIT JUDGE
Notes
any crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year ... that—
(ii) is burglary, arson, or extortion, involves use of explosives, or otherwise involves conduct that presents a serious potential risk of physical injury to another ...
No person may sell or offer to sell, transport, purchase, possess or go armed with a short-barreled shotgun or short-barreled rifle.
