US v. Sneed, No. 09-13195

In US v. Sneed, No. 09-13195, the court of appeals vacated defendant's drug and firearm possession sentence, holding that sentencing courts may not use police reports to determine whether predicate offenses under 18 U.S.C. section 924(e)(1) were committed on "occasions different from another."

As the court wrote:  "Kevin Earl Sneed appeals his 180-month sentence for possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and possession of marijuana. On appeal, Sneed argues that his sentence was improperly enhanced under the Armed Career Criminal Act, 18 U.S.C. § 924(e) ("ACCA"), because the district court used police reports to determine whether Sneed's prior drug convictions were committed on different occasions and thus qualified as predicate felonies for the § 924(e) enhancement. After review, we conclude the district court erred in relying on non-Shepard approved records and thus vacate Sneed's sentence."

Related Resources

• Full Text of US v. Sneed, No. 09-13195