{"ID":63189,"name":"Walker v. United States","href":"https:\/\/api.oyez.org\/cases\/2019\/19-373","view_count":0,"docket_number":"19-373","additional_docket_numbers":null,"manner_of_jurisdiction":"Writ of \u003Ci\u003Ecertiorari\u003C\/i\u003E","first_party":"James Walker","second_party":"United States of America","timeline":[{"event":"Granted","dates":[1573797600],"href":"https:\/\/api.oyez.org\/case_timeline\/case_timeline\/54607"},{"event":"Dismissed","dates":[1580104800],"href":"https:\/\/api.oyez.org\/case_timeline\/case_timeline\/54697"}],"lower_court":{"ID":11,"name":"United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit","href":"https:\/\/api.oyez.org\/taxonomy\/term\/11"},"facts_of_the_case":"\u003Cp\u003EA jury found James Walker guilty of being a felon in possession of ammunition, in violation of 18 U.S.C. \u00a7 922(g)(1). Because Walker had previously been convicted of three violent felonies, he was subject to a mandatory sentence of at least 15 years\u2019 imprisonment under the Armed Career Criminal Act (ACCA). After the U.S. Supreme Court\u2019s decision in \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.oyez.org\/cases\/2014\/13-7120\u0022\u003E\u003Cem\u003EJohnson v. United States\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u2014in which the Court ruled unconstitutionally vague the residual clause of the ACCA\u2014Walker filed a habeas petition arguing that his prior convictions no longer qualify as violent felonies under the Act.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe district court held that only two of Walker\u0027s prior convictions constituted violent felonies; the third, robbery under Texas Penal Code \u00a7 29.02(a)(1) was not a violent felony within the ACCA. The district court reasoned that robbery under \u00a7 29.02(a)(1) was not a violent felony because someone could be convicted under that subsection for recklessly causing physical injury, and in the Sixth Circuit, the \u201cuse of physical force\u201d clause of the ACCA requires more than reckless conduct.\u201d Accordingly, the district court vacated his sentence and resentenced him to 88 months\u2019 imprisonment.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit reversed, finding that Texas Penal Code \u00a7 29.02(a)(1) is a violent felony under the ACCA\u2019s force clause, and thus that Walker had been convicted of three violent felonies under the ACCA.\u003C\/p\u003E\n","question":"\u003Cp\u003ECan a criminal offense that can be committed with a mens rea of recklessness qualify as a \u201cviolent felony\u201d under the Armed Career Criminal Act?\u003C\/p\u003E\n","conclusion":"\u003Cp\u003EAs the petitioner died on January 22, 2020, the petition for a writ of certiorari was dismissed.\u003C\/p\u003E\n","advocates":null,"oral_argument_audio":null,"citation":{"volume":null,"page":null,"year":null,"href":"https:\/\/api.oyez.org\/case_citation\/case_citation\/27721"},"decisions":null,"first_party_label":"Petitioner","second_party_label":"Respondent","heard_by":[null],"decided_by":null,"term":"2019","location":null,"opinion_announcement":null,"description":"A case in which the Court was asked to decide whether a criminal offense that can be committed with a mens rea of recklessness can qualify as a \u201cviolent felony\u201d under the Armed Career Criminal Act.","written_opinion":null,"related_cases":null,"justia_url":"https:\/\/supreme.justia.com\/cases\/federal\/us\/2019\/19-373\/","argument2_url":null}