United States v. Sanchez Molinar

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The Ninth Circuit affirmed the district court's imposition of a sentencing enhancement based on defendant's prior Arizona conviction for attempted armed robbery, which the court treated as a "crime of violence" under the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines Manual. The panel reexamined its previous decision in United States v. Taylor, 529 F.3d 1232 (9th Cir. 2008), that Arizona attempted armed robbery should be considered a crime of violence under the relevant Guidelines provision, in light of the Supreme Court's decision in Johnson v. United States, 559 U.S. 133 (2010), which construed a similarly worded crime-of-violence provision in the Armed Career Criminal Act (ACCA). The panel held that, although Johnson did not require the panel to depart from some of its analysis in Taylor, Arizona attempted armed robbery nonetheless qualifies as a crime of violence for reasons other than those relied upon in Taylor. The panel held that Arizona robbery (and thus armed robbery) was a categorical match to generic robbery, and that Arizona attempt was equivalent to generic attempt, so defendant's conviction did constitute a crime of violence for purposes of USSG 4B1.2. View "United States v. Sanchez Molinar" on Justia Law