Summary
The United States District Court for the District of Columbia considers Abdur R. Mahdi’s motion under 28 U.S.C. § 2255 challenging six firearm convictions under 18 U.S.C. § 924(c). Applying the categorical approach after Johnson, Dimaya, and Davis, the court analyzes whether the VICAR predicate offenses qualify as crimes of violence under § 924(c)’s elements clause. The court concludes that Maryland kidnapping and the relevant D.C. assault offense do not qualify and begins its analysis of D.C. first-degree murder.
Topics
Practice areas
Questions Presented
- Whether Maryland kidnapping under the version of 27 Md. Code § 337 applicable at the time of conviction categorically qualifies as a crime of violence under the elements clause of 18 U.S.C. § 924(c)(3)(A).
- Whether D.C. Code § 22-403, assault with intent to commit any other offense, categorically qualifies as a crime of violence under § 924(c)(3)(A), and whether the statute is divisible so that the modified categorical approach may be used.
- Whether D.C. first-degree murder under D.C. Code § 22-2101 categorically qualifies as a crime of violence, including whether its alternative forms of liability are elements or means and whether felony murder satisfies the elements clause.
- What remedy is appropriate under 28 U.S.C. § 2255 after the six § 924(c) convictions are invalidated, including whether a full resentencing is required under the sentencing-package doctrine.
Holdings
- The version of Maryland kidnapping applicable to Mahdi's conviction does not categorically qualify as a crime of violence under § 924(c)(3)(A) because it could be committed through fraudulent carrying without the use or attempted use of physical force.
- D.C. Code § 22-403 is indivisible and does not categorically qualify as a crime of violence under § 924(c)(3)(A).
- D.C. first-degree murder under D.C. Code § 22-2101 is indivisible and does not categorically qualify as a crime of violence under § 924(c)(3)(A), because felony murder is an alternative means of committing the single offense and does not necessarily require the use or attempted use of physical force.
- After Davis invalidated § 924(c)(3)(B)'s residual clause, a predicate offense qualifies as a § 924(c) crime of violence only if it satisfies § 924(c)(3)(A)'s elements clause.
- A full resentencing is unnecessary; the appropriate remedy is to vacate the six § 924(c) convictions and correct the sentence by vacating the consecutive 132-year term.
Key quotations
“Kidnapping under Maryland law is not a categorical crime of violence because it can be accomplished based on either “forcible” or “[f]raudulent carrying,” the latter of which does not involve the use or attempted use of force.” (at 8)
“This Court “need only follow what” the D.C. Court of Appeals has said to conclude that premeditated murder and felony murder are alternative means to prove first-degree murder under D.C. law.” (at 17)
“Because it cannot meaningfully be disputed that D.C. first-degree felony murder does not qualify as a crime of violence, D.C. first-degree murder cannot qualify as a categorical crime of violence under Section 924(c)’s elements clause.” (at 18)
“There simply is “no indicia of interdependence between the [Section] 924(c) convictions” and any other conviction.” (at 21)
Factual background
Mahdi was charged with operating a narcotics distribution enterprise in northwest Washington, D.C., and a jury convicted him on forty-eight counts involving narcotics, racketeering, firearms, assault, murder, perjury, and obstruction. Six § 924(c) convictions were predicated on VICAR kidnapping, VICAR attempted murder, and VICAR murder, based respectively on Maryland kidnapping and several District of Columbia offenses. The § 924(c) convictions resulted in mandatory consecutive terms totaling 132 years, in addition to concurrent life sentences on other counts.
Procedural history
A jury convicted Abdur R. Mahdi in 2003 on forty-eight counts, including six § 924(c) firearm counts predicated on VICAR kidnapping, VICAR attempted murder, and VICAR murder. He received ten concurrent life sentences plus 132 consecutive years for the six § 924(c) convictions. The D.C. Circuit affirmed most convictions on direct appeal, and the Supreme Court denied certiorari. Mahdi's first § 2255 motion was denied after an evidentiary hearing; later unauthorized collateral motions were dismissed or denied, and the D.C. Circuit authorized the present successive motion in March 2020. The court granted relief on all six § 924(c) counts but declined to conduct a full resentencing, instead vacating the consecutive 132-year term.