Kirkland v. United States, No. 11-2507 (7th Cir. 2012)
Annotate this CaseKirkland was convicted of unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon, and based on a finding that he had five “violent felony” convictions, including two drunk driving offenses, the district court sentenced him under the Armed Career Criminal Act, 18 U.S.C. 924(e). After the Supreme Court determined in 2008 that drunk driving is not a “violent felony” as the term is defined in the ACCA, Kirkland filed a petition for relief under 28 U.S.C. 2255. Following remand by the Seventh Circuit, the district court concluded that an enhancement of Kirkland’s sentence under the ACCA was still appropriate based on his three remaining convictions for violent felonies. The Seventh Circuit reversed. The sparse record shed little light on whether two 1985 offenses that occurred on the same day occurred “on the same occasion.” If the “Shepard-approved” documents before a district court are equivocal as to whether the offenses occurred on the same occasion, the ACCA does not apply
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