Renard Cortez Murray v. USA

[DO NOT PUBLISH]

IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT
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No. 19-14759
Non-Argument Calendar
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D.C. Docket Nos. 2:16-cv-00506-MHT-SRW,
2:02-cr-00201-MHT-SRW-1

RENARD CORTEZ MURRAY,

Petitioner-Appellant,

versus

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,

Respondent-Appellee.
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Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Middle District of Alabama
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(May 1, 2020)
Before WILSON, WILLIAM PRYOR and LAGOA, Circuit Judges.

PER CURIAM:
Renard Murray appeals the denial of his motion to vacate his sentence, 28
U.S.C. § 2255, for aiding and abetting another to possess a firearm during a bank
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robbery, 18 U.S.C. § 924(c). The district court granted a certificate of appealability
for whether Murray’s conviction based on a guilty plea is constitutional in the light
of the decisions in United States v. Davis, 139 S. Ct. 2319 (2019), and Johnson v.
United States, 135 S. Ct. 2551 (2015). Murray contends that the predicate offense
to which he pleaded guilty, aiding and abetting an armed bank robbery, is not a
“crime of violence” under § 924(c)(3). Our precedents hold otherwise. We affirm.
In an appeal of a denial of a motion to vacate, we review questions of law de
novo and factual findings for clear error. Lynn v. United States, 365 F.3d 1225,
1232 (11th Cir. 2004). We may affirm for any reason supported by the record.
Castillo v. United States, 816 F.3d 1300, 1303 (11th Cir. 2016).
As Murray concedes, our precedents control this appeal. Although in Davis
the Supreme Court held that the residual clause of section 924(c)(3)(B) is
unconstitutionally vague, 139 S. Ct. at 2323, 2336, our precedents establish that
aiding and abetting a Hobbs Act robbery is categorically a crime of violence under
the elements clause of section 924(c)(3)(A). In re Sams, 830 F.3d 1234, 1239 (11th
Cir. 2016); In re Colon, 826 F.3d 1301, 1305 (11th Cir. 2016). So we affirm the
denial of Murray’s motion to vacate.
AFFIRMED.

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