Armed Career Criminal Act


 The Fourth Circuit rendered a decision in U.S. v. Pettiford on June 3, 2010 in which conditions for granting the 28 U.S.C. Sec. 2255 for post-conviction relief are addressed. Pettiford had several convictions on his record prior to his arrest for being a felon in possession of a firearm. Under the Armed Career Criminal Act (ACCA), if individual has three or more prior convictions for violent crimes or serious drug offenses, then they are subject to an enhancement. During sentencing, Pettiford had a total of five (5) state court convictions that were applied pursuant to this act. After he was sentenced, two of those convictions were actually vacated and Pettiford brought forth a petition for post-conviction relief; otherwise known as a 2255 petition. The district court granted this motion reasoning that Pettiford was entitled to relief as he proved that two of the charges used against him were, in fact, vacated. He was resentenced from a term of 188 months imprisonment to 100 months after the court found that another conviction did not apply under ACCA either.

However, the government filed an appeal alleging that the district court erred in granting Pettiford a Sec. 2255 petition. The Fourth Circuit agreed with the government and found that Pettiford was not entitled to this relief because he did not prove that his sentence was unlawful because he would have been subject to the same sentencing enhancement until the district court determined that one of his prior convictions did not apply during resentencing. https://askcompetentlawyer.com/ He did not address these issues in his petition or in his direct appeal, so the Court determined that vacatur alone is not enough. It only entitles a petitioner to seek review. As such, Pettiford's original sentence was reinstated.

This is an interesting decision by the court since it clarifies the requirements under Sec. 2255 more thoroughly and provides specifics on the types of issues involved with the ACCA. These are the reasons that it is most important to hire an experienced South Carolina appellate lawyer to address every issue applicable in the appeal. The Court of Appeals can only look to the record below to decide if something has been violated and, therefore, some controversial issues may not be considered. A federal appellate attorney would be able to assist you in determining what are the most important circumstances involved in your case and the best way to present them before the court. Our firm handles a variety of federal appeals within the Fourth Circuit and is widely knowledgeable about the requirements in filing these types of briefs.

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