United States v. Sahm

In both cases, the defendants pleaded guilty to possessing a firearm as a felon, 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(1). The court found that each had three prior burglary convictions that were violent felonies under the Armed Career Criminal Act (ACCA), 18 U.S.C. 924(e)(1) and sentenced each to the mandatory minimum of 15 years in prison. The defendants argued that their prior convictions for burglary in Wisconsin are not violent felonies under the ACCA so their sentences could be no more than 10 years in prison. The Seventh Circuit affirmed. The Supreme Court has defined “generic burglary,” as “an unlawful or unprivileged entry into, or remaining in, a building or other structure, with intent to commit a crime.” Because the Wisconsin statute extends to several types of vehicles, it is broader than “generic burglary” but, the court reasoned, the statute is divisible--it identifies different elements and thus different crimes rather than different means for committing the same crime. The district court properly applied the “modified categorical approach,” which focuses on the elements of the statutory offense, not the particular facts of the defendant’s crime. View "United States v. Sahm" on Justia Law