UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Reginald Jerome WRAY, a/k/a Raymond Anderson, Defendant-Appellant.
No. 14-1086.
United States Court of Appeals, Tenth Circuit.
Jan. 27, 2015.
IV. CONCLUSION
The Americold entities have failed to carry their burden of demonstrating the existence of diversity jurisdiction. Full Life Hospice, LLC v. Sebelius, 709 F.3d 1012, 1016 (10th Cir.2013) (“[B]ecause the jurisdiction of federal courts is limited, there is a presumption against [federal] jurisdiction, and the party invoking federal jurisdiction bears the burden of proof.” (quotation omitted)).4 In response to this court‘s request for supplemental briefing, the Americold entities declined to offer any evidence as to the citizenship of the beneficiaries of Americold Realty Trust, instead choosing to rely exclusively on their assertion that the trust‘s citizenship was derived solely from the citizenship of its trustees. Thus, the record fails to establish Americold Realty Trust is not a citizen of Delaware, Nebraska, or Illinois, the states of which ConAgra and Swift-Eckrich are citizens. See
Paul Farley, Assistant United States Attorney, (and John F. Walsh, United States Attorney, on the brief), Denver, CO, for Plaintiff-Appellee.
Before KELLY, HARTZ, and MATHESON, Circuit Judges.
KELLY, Circuit Judge.
Defendant-Appellant Reginald Jerome Wray pleaded guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm,
Background
Mr. Wray‘s presentence investigation report (PSR) concluded that he had two prior felony convictions for “crime[s] of violence,”
(1) Any actor who knowingly inflicts sexual intrusion or sexual penetration on a victim commits sexual assault if:
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(e) At the time of the commission of the act, the victim is at least fifteen years of age but less than seventeen years of age and the actor is at least ten years older than the victim and is not the spouse of the victim.
Mr. Wray objected to the use of this conviction as a predicate for increasing his base offense level from 20 to 24. He argued that a violation of the statute did not constitute a “crime of violence” in light of the Supreme Court‘s decision in Begay v. United States, 553 U.S. 137, 128 S.Ct. 1581, 170 L.Ed.2d 490 (2008).
The district court acknowledged that the Supreme Court‘s decisions in Begay and Sykes v. United States, — U.S. —, 131 S.Ct. 2267, 180 L.Ed.2d 60 (2011), made application of Tenth Circuit precedent to Mr. Wray‘s case less than straightforward. Nevertheless, the district judge concluded that this circuit‘s prior decisions required him to find that the sexual assault conviction constituted a “crime of violence.”
Discussion
Our review of whether a defendant‘s prior conviction constitutes a crime of violence under
Under
[a] [A]ny offense under federal or state law, punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year, that—
(1) has as an element the use, attempted use, or threatened use of physical force against the person of another, or
(2) is burglary of a dwelling, arson, or extortion, involves use of explosives, or otherwise involves conduct that presents a serious potential risk of physical injury to another.
Both Mr. Wray and the government agree that the sexual assault conviction does not constitute a “crime of violence” under the elements approach of
A. The Categorical Approach and the Residual Clause
The “crime of violence” definition set forth in the career-offender guideline,
To determine whether a prior conviction constitutes a crime of violence, we employ a categorical approach. United States v. Perez-Jiminez, 654 F.3d 1136, 1140 (10th Cir.2011). That is, “we look only to the fact of conviction and the statutory definition of the prior offense, and do not generally consider the particular facts disclosed by the record of conviction.” James, 550 U.S. at 202; Begay, 553 U.S. at 141. With regard to
Employing the categorical approach in James, the Court considered whether the defendant‘s prior conviction for attempted burglary “otherwise involv[ed] conduct that presents a serious potential risk of physical injury to another.”2 James, 550 U.S. at 201. Turning to the statutory language for guidance, the Court noted that the enumerated offenses preceding the residual clause “provide one baseline from which to measure” whether certain offenses properly fall within the scope of that clause. Id. at 203. The Court employed a risk-comparison approach, comparing the risk posed by attempted burglary to the risk posed by the offense‘s closest analog among the enumerated offenses. Id. The Court concluded that attempted burglary is a “violent felony” under the residual clause because attempted burglary poses the “same kind of risk” as completed burglary—namely, the potential risk of “violent confrontation” between an attempted burglar and innocent bystander. Id. at 204-05. The Court emphasized that the focus of the inquiry is on potential, rather than actual or factual, risk. Id. at 207-08.
The following year, the Supreme Court decided Begay, where it considered whether the defendant‘s felony driving under the influence (DUI) convictions were violent felonies under the ACCA‘s residual clause. 553 U.S. at 140-41. While conceding that drunk driving indeed poses
With this interpretation in hand, the Begay Court concluded that the risk posed by drunk driving is not the same kind of risk posed by the enumerated offenses. The enumerated crimes “all typically involve purposeful, violent, and aggressive conduct.” Id. at 144-45 (internal quotations omitted). That type of conduct “makes more likely that an offender, later possessing a gun, will use that gun deliberately to harm a victim.” Id. at 145. DUI statutes, on the other hand, do not target purposeful, violent, and aggressive conduct. Rather, those crimes are more analogous to “crimes that impose strict liability, criminalizing conduct in respect to which the offender need not have any criminal intent at all.” Id. A prior conviction for one of these crimes, then, sheds no light on the likelihood that such person will engage in the kind of deliberate behavior “associated with violent criminal use of firearms.” Id. at 147.
The most recent authority on the scope of the ACCA‘s residual clause is Sykes. Mr. Sykes contended that his prior conviction for vehicle flight from law enforcement was not a “violent felony” for ACCA purposes. Citing Begay, Mr. Sykes asserted that vehicle flight was outside the scope of the residual clause because it did not involve the same kind of risk posed by the offenses enumerated in
The Court began its analysis with the risk-comparison approach of James. Analogizing vehicle flight to arson and burglary, the Court concluded that, like those crimes, “[r]isk of violence is inherent to vehicle flight.” Id. at 2274. And, central to this case, the Court found Mr. Sykes’ reliance on Begay misplaced. Distinguishing Begay‘s qualitative risk analysis, the Court noted that, “[i]n general, levels of risk divide crimes that qualify from those that do not.” Id. at 2275 (emphasis added). The Court explained:
The Begay phrase is an addition to the statutory text. In many cases the purposeful, violent, and aggressive inquiry will be redundant with the inquiry into risk.... As between the two inquiries, risk levels provide a categorical and manageable standard that suffices to resolve the case before us.
Begay involved a crime akin to strict liability, negligence, and recklessness crimes; and the purposeful, violent, and aggressive formulation was used in that case to explain the result.
Before applying the law to this case, we note the significance of the concurring and dissenting opinions in Sykes. Each of these opinions—a concurrence by Justice Thomas and dissents from Justice Scalia and Justice Kagan—acknowledges that the Court‘s opinion did not entirely abrogate Begay‘s purposeful, violent, and aggressive formulation. Id. at 2277 (Thomas, J., concurring); id. at 2289 n. 1 (Kagan, J., dissenting). Rather, a proper reading of the Court‘s opinion “suggests [that the Begay test] applies only ‘to strict liability, negligence, and recklessness crimes.‘” Id. at 2285 (Scalia, J., dissenting).
B. “Crime of Violence” Analysis— “Forcible Sex Offense” and the Residual Clause
Whether Wray was properly sentenced turns on whether his sexual assault conviction is a “crime of violence.”
1. Is the Sexual Assault Conviction a “Forcible Sex Offense“?
We begin with the government‘s position that a violation of
Because the “crime of violence” definition given by
[A]ny of the following offenses under federal, state, or local law: Murder, manslaughter, kidnapping, aggravated assault, forcible sex offenses (including where consent to the conduct is not given or is not legally valid, such as where consent to the conduct is involuntary, incompetent, or coerced), statutory rape, sexual abuse of a minor,....
We are not persuaded that Mr. Wray‘s prior offense was a “forcible sex offense” because the victim was not capable of giving legal consent. We do not quarrel with the assertion that the Colorado statute “presupposes the inability of a female between the ages of 15 and 17 to consent.” We disagree, however, with the broad proposition that statutes withdrawing the possibility of legal consent are per se “forcible sex offenses” for purposes of Note 1 to
The text of Note 1 indicates that the phrase “forcible sex offenses” does not necessarily include all sex offenses where there is no legal consent. We find the Fourth Circuit‘s reasoning in United States v. Leshen persuasive:
[T]he very inclusion of the modifier ‘forcible’ demonstrates that the Sentencing Commission contemplates some sex offenses as nonforcible... We also find significant that in all other respects the commentary, text, and the ACCA have identical coverage. All other offenses listed in the commentary (1) plainly have as elements the use of physical force (e.g., murder, kidnapping, aggravated assault), (2) are repetitions of offenses enumerated in the Guideline text (e.g., burglary of a dwelling, arson, extortion),
or (3) by their terms present a serious potential risk of physical injury that is similar in kind and degree to listed offenses (e.g., manslaughter, robbery).
Leshen, 453 Fed.Appx. 408, 415 (4th Cir.2011) (unpublished). The absence of legal consent does not preclude the possibility, in the context of statutory rape, of factual consent. And in light of “forcible” as a modifying term, we respect the distinction in Colorado‘s sexual assault statute between forcible and non-forcible sexual assaults. See id. at 413; compare
The government also argues that because
None of our prior decisions are inconsistent with our holding that a conviction under a sexual assault statute withdrawing the possibility of legal consent is not, per se, a “forcible sex offense.” The cases cited by the government in support of its argument, namely United States v. De La Cruz-Garcia, 590 F.3d 1157 (10th Cir.2010), United States v. Austin, 426 F.3d 1266 (10th Cir.2005), and United States v. Vigil, 334 F.3d 1215 (10th Cir.2003), are not controlling. See Aplee. Br. at 8-10. In essence, the government cites these cases for the proposition that “the impossibility of legal consent under child sex-abuse statutes is directly analogous to the kind of non-consensual sexual touching that constitutes rape.” Vigil, 334 F.3d at 1221; see Austin, 426 F.3d at 1279 (“[W]e must reject Mr. Austin‘s assertion the act was consensual, given Colorado has determined a person under the age of eighteen is incapable of such consent.“). We question the government‘s reliance on De La Cruz-Garcia, however, because that case considered whether the defendant‘s touching of a minor without her factual consent was “sexual abuse of a minor” under
In contrast to these decisions, our decision in United States v. Dennis, 551 F.3d 986 (10th Cir.2008), supports our conclusion. In Dennis, we held that defendant‘s prior conviction for violating Wyoming‘s indecent liberties with a minor statute was not a “crime of violence” under
Accordingly, we conclude that the text and structure of the relevant Guidelines provisions do not require a per se rule that all violations of age-based sexual contact statutes are “forcible sex offenses” under Application Note 1 to
2. Is the Sexual Assault Conviction Within the Residual Clause?
We next consider whether the conviction falls within the residual clause of
As noted above, we are not painting on a blank canvas. Much of the disagreement in this case concerns whether our pre- Begay cases holding that sex offenses involving minors present a serious potential risk of physical injury are outcome determinative. We think it clear, however, that our cases interpreting Begay and Sykes establish that Begay survived Sykes, albeit in a limited manner. The commission of a strict liability offense, while potentially posing a serious risk of physical injury, does not involve purposeful, violent, or aggressive conduct. In other words, the commission of such an offense does not involve a risk that is “roughly similar, in kind as well as in degree of risk posed,” to the enumerated offenses. Begay, 553 U.S. at 143. Accordingly, where a defendant‘s prior conviction is for a strict liability offense, the Begay exception applies and the conviction is outside the scope of the residual clause.
Following Begay, this court employed a two-part analysis to determine whether a defendant‘s prior conviction was included under the residual clause of either
We read our post- Sykes cases as unequivocally establishing a Begay “exception” to Sykes’ general rule that levels of risk distinguish qualifying offenses from non-qualifying offenses. Sykes, 131 S.Ct. at 2275. “Where the felony at issue is ‘not a strict liability, negligence, or recklessness crime’ the test is not whether the crime was ‘purposeful, violent, and aggressive’ but whether it is ‘similar in risk to the listed crimes.‘” United States v. Smith, 652 F.3d 1244, 1248 (10th Cir.2011) (citing Sykes, 131 S.Ct. at 2276); see also Sandoval, 696 F.3d at 1016 (“After Sykes, it is not necessary to reach Begay‘s ‘purposeful’ inquiry when the mens rea of the offense requires intentional conduct.“); United States v. Perez-Jiminez, 654 F.3d 1136, 1141 n. 4 (10th Cir.2011) (” Sykes limited Begay‘s ‘purposeful, violent, and aggressive’ test to strict liability, negligence, and recklessness crimes.“); United States v. Armijo, 651 F.3d 1226, 1237 n. 14 (10th Cir.2011). Thus, our threshold inquiry is whether
The statute at issue here,
The government contends, however, that this conclusion is irrelevant. According to the government, “[t]he sexual act requires a mens rea, and the absence of a mens rea with respect to the victim‘s age does not result in a strict liability offense akin to the DUI in Begay.” Aplee. Br. at 24. On this point, we disagree.
Consider the following. Consensual sex is generally lawful. In the context of statutory rape, the only thing that makes it unlawful is the age of the (younger) participant. In order to violate the Colorado statute at issue here, a defendant need not know the age of the younger participant. Thus, the only element of the offense that distinguishes it from lawful conduct is the element without a mens rea requirement. See United States v. McDonald, 592 F.3d 808, 814 (7th Cir.2010) (“The act of sexual intercourse or contact, of course, must be volitional, but there is no mens rea requirement with respect to the statutory element that makes that conduct illegal—the age of the victim.“). On this basis alone, we can conclude that
This conclusion is further supported by Colorado law on the subject. In People v. Salazar, 920 P.2d 893, 895 (Colo.App.1996), the Colorado Court of Appeals held that a similar statute, Colorado‘s sexual assault of a child statute, provided for strict liability despite the statutory inclusion of the word “knowingly.” Id. at 895; see
The government‘s reliance on the Colorado Supreme Court‘s decision in Ferguson v. People, 824 P.2d 803 (Colo.1992), is unavailing. There, the court rejected the defendant‘s argument that a sexual assault statute prohibiting a psychotherapist from “knowingly” inflicting sexual penetration on one of his clients was a strict liability offense. Id. at 812-13. The court‘s analysis, however, demonstrates the flaw in the government‘s argument. Under the court‘s interpretation of the psychotherapist statute:
A psychotherapist, therefore, acts ‘knowingly’ with respect to inflicting sexual penetration on a client when the psychotherapist is aware [1] that he is inflicting sexual penetration [2] on a person who seeks or is receiving psychotherapy from him or when the psychotherapist is aware that his conduct is practically certain to cause submission of the client to an act of sexual penetration.
Ferguson, 824 P.2d at 812 (emphasis added) (interpreting
Having concluded that the narrow Begay exception applies in this case, we need not address whether a conviction under the statute at issue presents a serious potential risk of physical injury to another. Indeed, we acknowledge that our precedents firmly establish that many sex offenses involving adult-minor sexual contact present a serious potential risk of physical injury. However, because
Because we agree with Mr. Wray that his prior conviction under
REMANDED for resentencing consistent with this opinion.
Kathy A. RISER, an individual, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. QEP ENERGY, a Texas corporation, Defendant-Appellee.
No. 14-4025.
United States Court of Appeals, Tenth Circuit.
Jan. 27, 2015.
