Aiding and Abetting Carjacking Remains a Crime of Violence

US v. Draven: Draven and his paramour hired a hitman to kill her husband. As a result, he was convicted of (among other things) murder with a firearm in relation to a crime of violence, said crimes being a conspiracy to commit murder and aiding and abetting carjacking resulting in death. While Draven’s post-Johnson motions were winding through the courts, the Fourth Circuit held, in the appeal of his codefendant Runyon (the shooter) that carjacking remains a crime of violence. Ultimately, Draven conceded that carjacking remained a crime of violence, but because the verdict on the firearm count was a general one it was unclear which predicate the jury relied upon, particularly whether it had relied on an aiding and abetting theory.

The Fourth Circuit concluded Draven’s firearm conviction should be affirmed. It rejected his argument that the Supreme Court’s recent decision in Taylor rendered aiding and abetting no longer a basis for an offense being a crime of violence, similar to attempt. The court relied upon Ali, in which it held that the aiding and abetting statute “does not set forth an essential element of the offense” meaning that “aiding and abetting a crime has the exact same elements as the principle offense.” As such, “aiding and abetting and attempt are not comparable offenses.”