From Casetext: Smarter Legal Research

U.S. v. Menteer

United States Court of Appeals, Eighth Circuit
May 17, 2005
408 F.3d 445 (8th Cir. 2005)

Summary

holding that there is no Sixth Amendment problem when the district court's ACCA determination is based on the defendant's admissions of fact by failing to dispute them in the PSR

Summary of this case from United States v. Stowell

Opinion

No. 03-1162.

Submitted: September 9, 2003.

Filed: May 17, 2005.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri, Scott O. Wright, Senior District Judge.

Benicia Baker-Livorsi, argued, St. Charles, Missouri, for appellant.

Bruce E. Clark, Assistant U.S. Attorney, argued, Kansas City, Missouri (Todd P. Graves, on the brief), for appellee.

Before MORRIS SHEPPARD ARNOLD, BEAM, and BYE, Circuit Judges.


This case is before us on remand from the United States Supreme Court for further consideration because of its recent decision in Shepard v. United States, ___ U.S. ___, 125 S.Ct. 1254, 161 L.Ed.2d 205 (2005). Shepard held a sentencing court cannot consider police reports to determine whether a plea of guilty to a "non-generic" burglary statute qualifies as a violent felony under the Armed Career Criminal Act (ACCA), 18 U.S.C. § 924(e), but is limited to considering "the terms of the charging document, the terms of a plea agreement or transcript of colloquy between judge and defendant in which the factual basis for the plea was confirmed by the defendant, or to some comparable judicial record of this information." 125 S.Ct. at 1263.

In this case, we affirmed the district court's determination Junior Menteer was an armed career criminal based on admitted facts set forth in the presentence report (PSR) which established Menteer's guilty plea to a non-generic burglary statute satisfied the generic definition of burglary. United States v. Menteer, 350 F.3d 767, 771-72 (8th Cir. 2003). Specifically, the PSR stated "Menteer forcibly entered a residence, armed with a deadly weapon, with the intent of robbing the victim." Id. at 771. We held "Menteer's failure to object to that portion of the PSR constitutes an admission of those facts." Id. (citing United States v. Moser, 168 F.3d 1130, 1132 (8th Cir. 1999)).

The concern in Shepard was the Sixth Amendment implication of having a sentencing judge "make a disputed finding of fact about what the defendant . . . must have understood as the factual basis for the prior plea." Shepard, 125 S.Ct. at 1262. This concern is not implicated when the "certainty of a generic finding lies in . . . the defendant's own admissions or accepted findings of fact confirming the factual basis for a valid plea." Id.

Since the ACCA determination in Menteer's case was based on his own admissions, we conclude our earlier resolution of this issue is unaffected by Shepard. Thus, we reinstate our prior opinion and again affirm Menteer's judgment of conviction and sentence in all respects.


Summaries of

U.S. v. Menteer

United States Court of Appeals, Eighth Circuit
May 17, 2005
408 F.3d 445 (8th Cir. 2005)

holding that there is no Sixth Amendment problem when the district court's ACCA determination is based on the defendant's admissions of fact by failing to dispute them in the PSR

Summary of this case from United States v. Stowell

holding failure to object to facts in PSR constitutes admission of those facts

Summary of this case from United States v. Farias

holding admitted facts in the PSR may establish that a prior conviction is an ACCA predicate offense

Summary of this case from United States v. Montgomery
Case details for

U.S. v. Menteer

Case Details

Full title:UNITED STATES of America, Appellee, v. Junior C. MENTEER, Appellant

Court:United States Court of Appeals, Eighth Circuit

Date published: May 17, 2005

Citations

408 F.3d 445 (8th Cir. 2005)

Citing Cases

United States v. Francis

See USSG § 3B1.1(a); United States v. Razo Guerra, 534 F.3d 970, 976-77 (8th Cir. 2008); United States…

U.S. v. Reliford

In these circumstances, if the defendant fails to object to fact statements in the presentence investigation…