Montana v. Cross

Federal 7th Circuit Court
Criminal Court
Habeas Corpus
Citation
Case Number: 
No. 14-3313
Decision Date: 
July 19, 2016
Federal District: 
S.D. Ill.
Holding: 
Affirmed

Dist. Ct. did not err in denying defendant’s section 2241 habeas petition seeking to challenge his section 924(c) conviction on use of firearm in crime of violence, where relevant crime of violence was defendant’s aiding and abetting bank robbery conviction where accomplice had used firearm during robbery. Under Rosemond, 134 S.Ct. 1240 (2014), defendant could not be convicted on section 924(c) offense unless jury found that he had actual advance knowledge that accomplice would use gun during bank robbery. Moreover, although jury instructions at defendant’s trial, which predated Rosemond, did not conform with dictates set forth in Rosemond, defendant could not raise said issue in instant section 2241 petition, where: (1) defendant had filed prior section 2255 habeas petition that raised unrelated ineffective assistance of counsel issue; (2) defendant could seek relief under section 2241 only if he had no reasonable opportunity to raise said issue in his prior 2255 habeas petition; and (3) defendant could have raised instant challenge to his section 924(c) conviction in his prior section 2255 petition.