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202067P.pdf 07/05/2022 Christopher Jones v. United States
U.S. Court of Appeals Case No: 20-2067
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas - Central
[PUBLISHED] [Colloton, Author, with Loken and Benton, Circuit Judges]
Prisoner case - Habeas. In 2005 Jones pleaded guilty to conspiracy to
commit Hobbs Act robbery and brandishing a firearm during a crime of
violence. After his conviction was final, he moved for relief under
Section 2255, arguing his firearm conviction should be vacated in light of
U.S. v. Davis, 139 S. Ct. 2319. The district court denied the motion and
Jones appeals. Given the intervening decision in Davis, Jones has overcome
the procedural default of his challenge to the firearm conviction and is
entitled to relief; with respect to procedural default, Jones has
established cause for failing to raise the claim on direct review because
the state of the law at the time of his appeal did not offer a reasonable
basis upon which to challenge the guilty plea; since neither conspiracy to
commit a Hobbs Act robbery nor possession of a firearm by a felon qualify
as crimes of violence, Davis does not have a predicate offense to support
the charge of brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence, and it
would be a miscarriage of justice to leave in place his 84-month
consecutive sentence on that count; Davis applies retroactively to cases
on collateral review; the conviction for brandishing a firearm during a
crime of violence is vacated and the matter remanded for further
proceedings.