Kirkland v. U.S.

Dist. Ct. erred in sentencing defendant to mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years incarceration on illegal possession of firearm charge after finding that defendant qualified as armed career criminal under Armed Career Criminal Act (ACCA) based on existence of 1984 burglary and 1985 convictions for burglary and aggravated robbery that were committed on same day. While defendant conceded that all three convictions qualified as violent felonies, govt. failed in its burden to show under instant sparse and ambiguous record that 1985 convictions were committed on occasions different from each other so as to establish instant enhancement under ACCA. Ct. overruled burden shifting scheme contained in Hudspeth, 42 F.3d 1015, that had previously placed burden on defendant to show that prior convictions were simultaneous incidents.