Florida False Imprisonment Conviction Not Necessarily “Crime Of Violence”

Florida false imprisonment under Florida Statute 787.02 does not categorically satisfy the ACCA's elements clause,” the Eleventh Circuit recently held. United States v. Driver, No. 14-11555 (11th Cir. 2017). False imprisonment under the statute means “forcibly, by threat, or secretly confining, abducting, imprisoning, or restraining another person without lawful authority and against her or his will.” According to the court, “the statute's ‘secretly confining’ language and the interpreting Florida case law make it clear that 787.02 can be violated ‘without employing the type of ‘physical force’ contemplated’ by the elements clause.”

The court declined to resolve whether the statute was divisible or indivisible because no Shephard documents were filed in the case. Consequently, the court vacated Driver’s sentence and remanded for re-sentencing.