UNITED STATES v. YAWN (2018)

Glover Yawn, Jr. appeals his sentence for possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 922(g)(1) and 924(e), arguing that his sentence was improperly enhanced under the Armed Career Criminal Act (“ACCA”), 18 U.S.C. § 924(e), because his prior conviction for Florida felony battery under Fla. Stat. § 784.041(1) does not qualify as a violent felony. Yawn acknowledges that we ruled in United States v. Vail-Bailon, 868 F.3d 1293 (11th Cir. 2017) (en banc), cert. denied, 2018 WL 2767792, ––– U.S. ––––, ––– S.Ct. ––––, ––– L.Ed.2d –––– (U.S. June 11, 2018), and United States v. Green, 873 F.3d 846, 869 (11th Cir. 2017), cert. denied, 2018 WL 2767821, ––– U.S. ––––, ––– S.Ct. ––––, ––– L.Ed.2d –––– (U.S. June 11, 2018), that Fla. Stat. § 784.041(1) has as an element the use, attempted use, or threatened use of physical force against another, but he argues that Vail-Bailon and Green were wrongly decided.

We review de novo whether a defendant’s prior conviction qualifies as a violent felony under the ACCA. Green, 873 F.3d at 869.

In Vail-Bailon, we applied the categorical approach and held, in the context of a provision of the Sentencing Guidelines, that felony battery under Fla. Stat. § 784.041(1) has as an element the use, attempted use, or threatened use of physical force against the person of another. See Vail-Bailon, 868 F.3d at 1299, 1308. In Green, we extended the holding in Vail-Bailon to the elements clause of the ACCA, stating that,

․ having held that, for Guidelines’ purposes, felony battery under Florida Statute § 784.041 categorically constitutes a crime of violence under the elements clause of that provision, Vail-Bailon compels a conclusion that this statute likewise constitutes a violent felony under the elements clause of the ACCA.

Green, 873 F.3d at 869.

Under the prior precedent rule, we are bound by our prior decisions unless and until they are overruled by the Supreme Court or this Court en banc. United States v. Brown, 342 F.3d 1245, 1246 (11th Cir. 2003).

Yawn’s argument on appeal is foreclosed by our binding precedent. We held in Green that felony battery under Fla. Stat. § 784.041(1) constitutes a violent felony under the elements clause of the ACCA. Thus, Yawn’s contention that felony battery under Fla. Stat. § 784.041(1) does not qualify as a violent felony under § 924(e) is refuted by our binding precedent. Although Yawn argues that Vail-Bailon and Green were wrongly decided, our decisions remain binding unless and until they are overruled. Accordingly, we affirm.

AFFIRMED.

PER CURIAM: