Case: 11-10531 Date Filed: 06/14/2013 Page: 1 of 8
[DO NOT PUBLISH]
IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT
________________________
No. 11-10531
________________________
D.C. Docket Nos. 9:10-cv-80231-KLR; 0:98-cr-06137-KLR-1
JOHN EDWARD GORDON,
Petitioner-Appellant,
versus
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Respondent-Appellee.
________________________
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Southern District of Florida
________________________
(June 14, 2013)
Before MARCUS, HILL, and SILER, * Circuit Judges.
SILER, Circuit Judge:
*
Honorable Eugene E. Siler, Jr., United States Circuit Judge for the Sixth Circuit, sitting by
designation.
Case: 11-10531 Date Filed: 06/14/2013 Page: 2 of 8
Gordon, a federal prisoner, appeals the district court’s denial of his motion
to vacate, set aside, or correct sentence under 28 U.S.C. § 2255. For the following
reasons, we affirm.
I.
In 2000, Gordon pled guilty to charges including assault on a federal officer,
theft of government property, bank robbery, and felony firearm possession. The
presentence investigation report (“PSR”) produced a United States Sentencing
Guidelines (“USSG”) range of 140-175 months but recommended that Gordon be
subject to an enhanced sentence under the Armed Career Criminal Act (“ACCA”),
18 U.S.C. § 924(e). The PSR read, in pertinent part:
Chapter Four Enhancements: Pursuant to USSG § 4B1.4(a), a
defendant who is subject to an enhanced sentence under the provisions
of 18 U.S.C. § 924(e) is an armed career criminal. In this case, the
defendant possessed a Sig Sauer 9 millimeter semi automatic pistol.
The defendant was convicted on July 22, 1992 of Possession with
Intent to Distribute Cocaine . . . and September 7, 1993 of Robbery
and Kidnaping. Pursuant to USSG § 4B1.4(b)(3)(A), the offense level
for an armed career criminal shall be 34, if the defendant possessed
the firearm in connection with a violent offense.
The ACCA’s enhanced penalty increased Gordon’s Guidelines range to 188-235
months and exposed him to a mandatory minimum prison sentence of 15 years.
See 18 U.S.C. § 924(e)(1). He was also subject to a minimum term of five years
imprisonment to run consecutive to any other term imposed, under § 924(c). In
2
Case: 11-10531 Date Filed: 06/14/2013 Page: 3 of 8
2002, Gordon was sentenced to 248 months imprisonment, followed by a five-year
term of supervised release. He did not object to the PSR or the application of the
ACCA, and he did not appeal his sentence.
In 2010, Gordon filed a motion to vacate sentence under § 2255, arguing that
he is actually innocent of being an armed career offender under the ACCA. He
argues that, at the time of his sentencing, he did not meet the ACCA’s requirement
of three prior convictions for serious drug offenses or crimes of violence
committed on occasions different from one another. Specifically, he contends that
his 1993 robbery and kidnaping offenses occurred simultaneously and, therefore,
should not have counted separately for purposes of the ACCA. Additionally, he
attempts to rely on the “actual innocence exception” to overcome both the one-year
statute of limitations for § 2255 motions and his procedural default in failing to file
a direct appeal.
The government concedes that a mistake was made in Gordon’s PSR and
that the robbery and kidnaping counts were, indeed, committed on a single
occasion. The government maintains, however, that Gordon is still an armed
career offender based on an unscored conviction for an attempted robbery that
occurred on the same day as the scored robbery and kidnaping. Although the
attempted robbery was not included in the original PSR, Gordon to admitted the
3
Case: 11-10531 Date Filed: 06/14/2013 Page: 4 of 8
conviction during his plea colloquy. In response to Gordon’s § 2255 motion, the
government submitted a revised PSR that included the attempted robbery
conviction. Gordon objected to the district court’s consideration of the revised
PSR in light of United States v. Canty, 570 F.3d 1251, 1256 (11th Cir. 2009). He
also argues that the attempted robbery was part of the same criminal episode as the
scored robbery and kidnaping and, therefore, should not be counted separately.
The magistrate judge issued a report and recommendation recognizing that
the PSR under which Gordon was sentenced did not contain the requisite three
predicate convictions to support an ACCA enhancement. The magistrate judge
determined, however, that Canty did not preclude the court’s consideration of the
revised PSR. The magistrate judge also found that Gordon’s claim of actual
innocence was meritless based on the attempted robbery conviction. In other
words, the government proved that Gordon had three prior convictions that made
him eligible for sentencing under the ACCA. The district court adopted the
magistrate judge’s report and recommendation in its entirety. We granted
Gordon’s application for a certificate of appealability on the questions of:
(1) Whether the district court erred in denying the actual innocence
exception in this case, and
(2) Whether the district court erred in allowing consideration of
new evidence to show that Gordon had the requisite prior
convictions under the ACCA.
4
Case: 11-10531 Date Filed: 06/14/2013 Page: 5 of 8
II.
When considering a district court’s denial of a § 2255 motion, we review
questions of law de novo and findings of fact for clear error. Varela v. United
States, 400 F.3d 864, 867 n. 3 (11th Cir. 2005).
Gordon argues that our decision in Canty, 570 F.3d at 1256, bars the
government from introducing the revised PSR in response to his § 2255 motion.
Canty involved a defendant who pled guilty to various charges and received an
ACCA-enhanced sentence. The PSR listed all of Canty’s prior convictions, but did
not state which of them were serious drug crimes or violent felonies for purposes
of the ACCA. While the government did not object to the PSR, Canty did,
alleging that documents included to prove his prior convictions were improper
under Shepard v. United States, 544 U.S. 13, 26 (2005). The government
disclaimed reliance on the facts stated in the PSR and offered certified copies of
four state convictions to prove the ACCA predicates. The district court overruled
Canty’s objections and sentenced him under the ACCA.
On appeal, we determined that, in light of United States v. Archer, 531 F.3d
1347 (11th Cir. 2008), Canty’s two convictions for carrying a concealed weapon
were not crimes of violence for purposes of the ACCA. The government argued
that Canty’s PSR listed other prior convictions that were ACCA predicates and,
5
Case: 11-10531 Date Filed: 06/14/2013 Page: 6 of 8
thus, Canty should still be sentenced pursuant to the ACCA. We held, however,
that the record did not support the sentencing enhancement, as the district court
failed to make findings on the number of violent felonies or serious drug
convictions, or whether the underlying crimes were committed on separate
occasions. Canty, 570 F.3d at 1255-57. Because the government disclaimed
reliance on the PSR, we declined to consider it in determining whether Canty had
other predicates to trigger application of the ACCA. We also rejected the
government’s argument that the case should be remanded for resentencing to
provide it a second chance to prove Canty’s predicate convictions. Id. at 1257. In
reaching that decision, we relied heavily on the fact that the government had
expressly disclaimed any reliance on the facts in the PSR. The government made
no such waiver in the case at bar.
After Canty, we decided United States v. Martinez, 606 F.3d 1303 (11th Cir.
2010). In Martinez, we limited Canty to its facts, noting that we had not held “that
an appellate panel was barred from fashioning an appropriate mandate, including
allowing the government to present additional evidence on remand for
resentencing.” Martinez, 606 F.3d at 1305. Here, as in Martinez, strong reasons
exist for allowing the government to present the additional evidence. Gordon did
not object to the PSR or his sentence under the ACCA. Additionally, Gordon
6
Case: 11-10531 Date Filed: 06/14/2013 Page: 7 of 8
admitted to the unscored conviction during his plea colloquy, so the government’s
introduction of the conviction is not new evidence that was previously unknown to
the parties and the court.
Because Gordon did not carry his burden of proof of actual innocence with
respect to the ACCA enhancement, we need not consider whether actual innocence
can be a gateway to relief from a noncapital sentence. Additionally, Gordon’s
argument that the attempted robbery was part of the same occurrence as his other
ACCA predicates is meritless on its face. While the police reports contained in the
PSR reveal that the attempted robbery involved a separate victim at a different
time, we need not consider that information. Firmly established principles of law
hold that Gordon could not have been convicted of both attempted robbery and the
completed crime of robbery with respect to the same specific incident. See, e.g.,
Blockburger v. United States, 284 U.S. 299, 304 (1932). Accordingly, Gordon’s
petition was properly denied.
AFFIRMED.
7
Case: 11-10531 Date Filed: 06/14/2013 Page: 8 of 8
HILL, Circuit Judge, Concurring:
I concur in the judgment.
8