United States Fourth Circuit

In defendant's petition for post-conviction relief from an enhanced sentence of 188 months' imprisonment for his felonious firearm possession conviction, district court's grant of the petition on the ground that two of the five convictions used to support his sentence were later vacated, is reversed and remanded where: 1) the district court erred in granting the relief because the court failed to hold defendant to his burden of showing that the vacated sentences rendered his federal sentence unlawful on one of the specified grounds; 2) defendant procedurally defaulted on his claim that the district court improperly enhanced his sentence under the ACCA because he failed to challenge his remaining predicate sentences at sentencing or on direct appeal; and 3) actual innocence applies in the context of habitual offender provisions only where the challenge to eligibility stems from actual innocence of the predicate crimes.

Appellate Information

• Argued 03/24/2010
• Decided 06/03/2010
• Published 06/03/2010

Judges

• Before TRAXLER, Chief Judge, and WILKINSON and DUNCAN, Circuit Judges.

Court

• United States Fourth Circuit

Counsel

• For Appellees:
  
• ARGUED:Sujit Raman, Office of the United States Attorney, Baltimore, Maryland, for Appellant. Paresh S. Patel, Office of the Federal Public Defender, Greenbelt, Maryland, for Appellee. ON BRIEF:Rod J. Rosenstein, United States Attorney, Michael J. Leotta, Assistant United States Attorney, Office of the United States Attorney, Baltimore, Maryland, for Appellant. James Wyda, Federal Public Defender, Baltimore, Maryland, for Appellee.