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Does a Florida False Imprisonment Conviction Count Under the ACCA?
Not automatically: the Eleventh Circuit held that Florida false imprisonment can be committed without force, so it does not always count under the ACCA.
Written by Brandon Sample · Updated · Filed under Sentencing articles
A Florida false imprisonment conviction does not automatically count toward the 15-year minimum under the Armed Career Criminal Act (ACCA). The Eleventh Circuit so held in United States v. Driver, No. 14-11555 (11th Cir. Jan. 27, 2017) (unpublished), because the crime can be committed without using force.
The ACCA requires at least a 15-year sentence for someone convicted of having a gun after three prior convictions for a "violent felony" or serious drug offense (18 U.S.C. § 924(e)). One way a crime counts as a violent felony is under the "elements clause." To qualify that way, the crime must involve using, attempting, or threatening physical force against another person.
Why false imprisonment did not qualify
Florida law defines false imprisonment as "forcibly, by threat, or secretly" confining or restraining someone against their will (Fla. Stat. § 787.02).
The court focused on the word "secretly." Because a person can commit the crime secretly, without force, the statute does not "categorically" meet the elements clause. In other words, not every violation of the statute involves force.
As the court put it, "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."
What happened to Mr. Driver's sentence
Mr. Driver had been sentenced to 180 months under the ACCA. At sentencing, the government did not file any Shepard documents. These are court records, like the charging papers or plea agreement, that can show which version of a crime a person was convicted of.
Without those records, the court did not decide whether the statute was "divisible" (could be split into separate crimes) or "indivisible." It vacated (threw out) the ACCA sentence and sent the case back for resentencing.
If you are facing an ACCA enhancement, ask your lawyer to pull the actual state court records for each prior conviction. Whether a prior counts often turns on the exact statute and the documents in that file.
Facing a federal sentence? Book a consultation to talk it through with Brandon Sample.