Complete Miscarriage of justice

Complete Miscarriage of Justice

Target: U.S. District Court, District of South Carolina- Columbia Division and the Assistant U.S. Attorney's (AUSA) Office

Region: Global

Petition Background(Preamble):

My name is Xiomara, and I am the wife of former Federal Inmate Gonzales Latheyze March. On April 22, 2009, my husband was wrongfully convicted as a career offender under a law that were abrogated by a Supreme Court case that made that case law no longer good law. The courts and DOJ have refused to correct their procedural error and violation of my husband Due Process Rights.

Petition:

On Jan. 5, 2009, the 4th Circuit  decided UNITED STATES v ROSEBORO 551 F.3d 226 (4th Cir. 2009). In ROSEBORO, the court applied the modified categorical approach and held that an intentional violation of South Carolina's failure to stop for blue light (FTSBL) law could still be a violent felony for ACCA purposes.

On Jan. 13, 2009, the Supreme Court decided CHAMBERS v UNITED STATES, 555 U.S. 122 (2009). In CHAMBERS, the court utilized the categorical approach to examine the generic offense of which the defendant was convicted to determine if the offense had as an element the use, attempted use, or threatened use of physical force. The Supreme Court  held that lower courts MUST apply the categorical approach to determine whether a conviction is ACCA eligible.

On April 22, 2009, my husband was convicted as a career offender when the court used ROSEBORO modified categorical approach to consider his FTSBL as a "crime of violence". My husband Attorney failed in not arguing that his violation of the S.C. 56-5-750(B)(1), did not qualify as a "crime of violence" in light of CHAMBERS.

Several months later, On February 25, 2010, in light of the Supreme Court's decision in CHAMBERS, the Fourth Circuit overruled ROSEBORO with its decision in UNITED STATES v RIVERS, 595 F.3d 558 (4th Cir. 2010). The court concluded that the modified categorical approach used in ROSEBORO could not be applied to S.C. FTSBL statute to determine whether a violation of that statute was a violent felony. RIVERS, 595 F.3d at 564. Accordingly, the court rejected use of the S.C. conviction for purposes of an ACCA sentence enhancement. Id. at 565.

The Fourth Circuit said that after the Supreme Court Decision of CHAMBERS, ROSEBORO was no longer good law and that under no circumstances that FTSBL could be a violent felony.

The district court and the AUSA ignored Supreme Court gain a enhanced conviction towards my husband, something they are not allowed to do by law. See UNITED STATES v SPENCER, 2013 U.S. App. LEXIS 7245 (4th Cir. Apr.10, 2013) (This court may not overrule or ignore Supreme Court precedent); UNITED STATES v WILLIAMS, 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 100867 (E.D. Va. Sept. 23, 2010) (This court is bound like all lower courts to apply Supreme Court precedent until the Supreme Court explicitly overrules that precedent).

The law of the land at the time of my husband sentence was CHAMBERS, and the district court ignored the Supreme Court instructions and no where in his transcripts says they applied CHAMBERS. But there is record that the court based it's decision to convict my husband as a career offender when he should have never been. My husband has never been to prison, and the only felony he had he received 7 days time served for it. But now he has been sitting in prison as a career offender for six years now for a charge that only carried five years, and he has 4 years 5 months remaining.

My husband has filed numerous appeals and even under his 2255 ineffective counsel arguement, the court still denied his claim. But the court never considered or applied CHAMBERS when my husband presented it in his claim, and the only thing the appeals court does is rubber stamp whatever the district court says. When my husband argue one thing, the district judge turns his words around and say he said something else when it's all on the record.

Please sign the petition to help my husband come home to his family and kids, how can the court commit a miscarriage of justice and turn their eyes away from fixing their wrong. He has obtained over 40 program certificates during his incarceration, and he has not been in any trouble.

Xiomara March

Sign the Petition