In re: James Allen Irby, III

Movant sought authorization to file a successive 28 U.S.C. 2255 motion, arguing that under Johnson v. United States, 135 S.Ct. 2551 (2015), he should be allowed to challenge his 18 U.S.C. 924(c) conviction. Section 924(c) is a penalty provision that mandates an enhanced sentence for a defendant who uses or carries a firearm during, as relevant here, a "crime of violence." Movant was also convicted of 18 U.S.C. 924(j), causing the death of a person through the use of a firearm in the course of committing a section 924(c) offense. The Fourth Circuit held that second-degree retaliatory murder is a crime of violence under the force clause of section 924(c); Johnson's holding, which is limited to the residual clause, was inapplicable to movant's section 924(c) conviction; and thus the court denied the request for authorization. View "In re: James Allen Irby, III" on Justia Law