United States v. Orona

The Ninth Circuit affirmed the district court's grant of defendant's 28 U.S.C. 2255 motion for habeas relief in connection with a 2012 conviction for which he received an enhanced sentence under the Armed Career Criminal Act (ACCA). The panel held that Voisine v. United States,136 S. Ct. 2272 (2016), which held that a misdemeanor conviction for recklessly assaulting a domestic relation disqualifies an individual from possessing a firearm under 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(9), did not expressly overrule Fernandez-Ruiz v. Gonzales, 466 F.3d 1121 (9th Cir. 2006)(en banc), which held that Arizona Revised Statute 13-1203(A)(1) does not have as an element "the use, attempted use or threatened use of physical force against the person . . . of another" because it encompasses reckless conduct. The panel held that Voisine expressly left open the question that Fernandez-Ruiz answered. View "United States v. Orona" on Justia Law