US v. Linney: Linney pleaded guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm. In the PSR, he was designated an Armed Career Criminal based on three prior North Carolina burglary convictions, two of which, Linney argued, occurred on the same occasion. He argued that they took place on the same night and in close proximity. Records produced by the Government showed they took place next door (or across the street) from each other on the same night, one between 8 and 10pm, the other between 7 and 10pm. At the same time Linney pleaded guilty to those two offenses he also pleaded guilty to (among other things) 17 counts of breaking and entering and two attempted breaking and entering counts. The Government argued that the two burglaries involved different victims and locations and were "distinct criminal episodes." The district court agreed and sentenced Linney to 235 months in prison.
On appeal, the Fourth Circuit affirmed Linney's sentence. Linney conceded that the offenses involved separate victims, but argued that they occurred in the same location "because the burglarized houses were only thirty feet apart" and that the objective of the burglaries was the same. The court rejected that argument, finding that separate houses mean separate geographic locations which gave Linney "a sufficient opportunity to evaluate whether to commit another crime." Nor did the Shepard documents in the record show that Linney was acting with an accomplice which would have "complicat[ed] the different occasions analysis."
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