Federal Circuits, 11th Cir. (March 30, 2006)
Docket number: 03-00134
04-13297
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IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT FILED U.S. COURT OF APPEALS ELEVENTH CIRCUIT MAR 30, 2006 No. 04-13297 THOMAS K. KAHN CLERK D. C. Docket No. 03-00134 CR-FTM-29SPCUNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff-Appellee, versusAARON DESHON SPEARS, Defendant-Appellant. Appeal from the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida (March 30, 2006)Before EDMONDSON, Chief Judge, ANDERSON and FAY, Circuit Judges.PER CURIAM: Defendant Aaron Deshon Spears appeals his 200-month sentence forpossession of a firearm by a convicted felon, in violation of 18U.S.C. §§922(g)(1) and 924(e). The district court enhanced Defendant's sentence under section 924(e), the Armed Career Criminal Act ("ACCA"), because it found that Defendant had three qualifying prior convictions: two felony convictions for robbery with a deadly weapon and one felony conviction for sale or delivery of cocaine. Defendant argues on appeal that the district court improperly enhanced Defendant's sentence under section 924(e) because (1) the two robberies were actually one single robbery, (2) one of the robberies does not count for ACCA enhancement because adjudication was withheld initially, (3) Defendant was a juvenile when he committed this robbery and his conviction does not meet the ACCA's requirements for juvenile convictions, and (4) under Apprendi v. New Jersey, 120 S.Ct. 2348 (2000), and its progeny, a jury should have determined whether Defendant's robbery convictions were for separate offenses, or alternatively, the government should have proven this fact to the district court beyond a reasonable doubt. In addition, Defendant argues that the district court violated Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 32(i)(3)(C) by not attaching to the presentence report ("PSI") its resolutions to Defendant's objections to the PSI. No reversible error has been shown; therefore, we affirm Defendant's sentence. We remand for the district court to attach a copy of the sentencing hearing transcript to the PSI. Sentencing Enhancement Claims The ACCA provides that a person who violates section 922(g) of this title and has three previous convictions . . . for a violent felony or a serious drug offense, or both, committed on occasions different from one another . . . shall be fined under this title and imprisoned not less than fifteen years . . . the term "violent felony" means any crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year, or any act of juvenile delinquency involving the use or carrying of a firearm, knife, or destructive device that would be punishable by imprisonment for such term if committed by an adult. 18U.S.C. 924(e). We review de novo a district court's determination of whether two crimes constitute a single criminal episode or two separate felonies for purposes of section 924(e). United States v. Richardson, 230 F.3d 1297, 1298 (11th Cir. 2000). Defendant's robbery convictions stemmed from incidents that occurred on the night of 26 December 1991. At the sentencing hearing for his 922(g) conviction, Defendant testified that he went to a local park that night to steal money. Defendant spotted two people in the parking lot, parked and exited his car, and robbed these two people. Then, Defendant began to return to his car. Defendant saw another person while he was returning to his car, and robbed this person. Defendant testified that, at most, two minutes and twenty-five to thirty feet separated the two incidents.1 Defendant's acts constitute two separate robberies. In United States v. Pope, this Court determined that "the `successful' completion of one crime plus a subsequent conscious decision to commit another crime makes that second crime distinct from the first for the purposes of the ACCA." 132 F.3d 684, 692 (11th Cir. 1998). Defendant's assertion that the temporal and physical proximity of the crimes makes them a single criminal episode is incorrect. Defendant initiated and successfully completed the first robbery. Then, Defendant started to return to his car. Defendant then saw the second victim, made a decision to commit the second robbery, and committed and completed that robbery. Defendant could have ceased his criminal activity after the completion of the first robbery; he admitted this fact at the sentencing hearing for the 922(g) conviction. Instead, Defendant found and decided to engage in a new criminal opportunity. This conduct is sufficient to make the crimes two separate criminal episodes for ACCA enhancement. 1 The district court admitted and considered police reports about these incidents in concluding that they constituted separate robberies rather than a single robbery. The police reports contradicted Defendant's testimony about the distance and time between the robberies. Defendant claims the court's consideration of the police reports violated Shepard v. United States, 125 S.Ct. 1254, 1263 (2005) (determining a sentencing court may not look to police reports in determining whether a "plea of guilty to burglary defined by a nongeneric statute necessarily admitted elements of the generic offense"). Because Defendant's own testimony sufficiently supports the district court's conclusion that Defendant committed two different robberies, we do not reach this argument. Defendant's claim that one of his robbery convictions does not count for ACCA enhancement because adjudication was initially withheld is meritless. Adjudication of guilt was ultimately imposed for the robbery after Defendant violated his probation. Therefore, the robbery is a predicate conviction for ACCA enhancement. See United States v. Drayton,Try vLex for FREE for 3 days
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