United States v. Hill

The Ninth Circuit affirmed the district court's denial of defendant's motion to vacate his sentence under 28 U.S.C. 2255 in light of Johnson v. United States, 135 S. Ct. 2551 (2015). Defendant argued that Johnson established that he was ineligible for a sentencing enhancement under the Armed Career Criminal Act; and, but for alleged misinformation that he was eligible for such an enhancement, he might not have entered a plea agreement.The panel rejected defendant's argument and held that he failed to show that the alleged misinformation about his ACCA eligibility was "demonstrably made the basis for the sentence." In this case, the record established that defendant's potential eligibility for an ACCA enhancement was not before the sentencing court, and defendant's personal concerns and motivation for entering into the plea agreement did not suffice to establish that the district court made an error of constitutional magnitude. View "United States v. Hill" on Justia Law