Gordon: No SOS relief for 924(c) conviction based on substantive Hobbs Act robbery

In In Re: Darren Demeatrie Gordon, No. 16-13681 (July 8, 2016), the Court denied leave to file a second or success post-Johnson motion under § 2255. Gordon was convicted under 18 U.S.C. § 924(c) of using a firearm during and in relation to crime of violence: a Hobbs Act robbery. Post-Johnson, Gordon claimed that the “crime of violence” definition in the residual clause of § 924(c) was unconstitutionally vague. The Court ruled, however, that the substantive offense of Hobbs Act robbery – unlike a conspiracy to commit a Hobbs Act robbery – qualified as a “crime of violence” under the use-of-force clause, without regard to the residual clause of § 924(c). This means Gordon’s § 924(c) sentence would be valid even if Johnson makes the § 924(c) residual clause unconstitutional.