## Facts

- Robert William Green, a convicted felon, was charged with possessing a firearm or ammunition in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1).
- In early 2013, while on state pretrial release, Green wore a court-ordered GPS ankle monitor that reported to the Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office.
- On April 3, 2013, the sheriff’s office learned Green was no longer wearing the GPS monitor.
- Officers went to Jodi Simmons’s trailer to arrest Green; Simmons initially denied he was inside but consented to officers entering and searching the trailer.
- In the master bedroom, officers saw a man’s camouflage jacket on a bedpost and, upon moving it, found a loaded firearm under bedding.
- At trial, to prove Green’s felon status, the government introduced evidence of a prior conviction for the same firearm offense; Green objected because the conviction resulted from a nolo contendere plea.
- A jury convicted Green, and the district court sentenced him to 262 months’ imprisonment and three years of supervised release under the Armed Career Criminal Act (ACCA), 18 U.S.C. § 924(e), based on prior qualifying convictions, including Florida felony battery.

## Issues

1. Whether Federal Rule of Evidence 410 barred admission of a prior conviction because it resulted from a nolo contendere plea.
2. Whether the evidence was sufficient to prove Green knowingly possessed the firearm or ammunition (including constructive possession).
3. Whether Green’s prior Florida felony battery conviction qualified as an ACCA “violent felony,” supporting the ACCA enhancement.

## Decision

- The Eleventh Circuit affirmed Green’s conviction under 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1).
- The court held the district court did not err in admitting evidence of Green’s prior conviction despite its nolo contendere origin.
- The court held the trial evidence permitted a rational jury to find Green knowingly possessed the firearm or ammunition.
- The Eleventh Circuit affirmed the ACCA-enhanced sentence, concluding Green had at least three qualifying ACCA predicates, including Florida felony battery.

## Legal Principles

- Federal Rule of Evidence 410 bars use of a nolo contendere plea (and specified plea-related statements) against a defendant, but does not categorically bar proof of the existence of a resulting judgment of conviction when offered for a permissible purpose such as proving felon status under § 922(g)(1).
- A § 922(g)(1) conviction may rest on constructive possession shown by circumstantial evidence that the defendant knowingly had the power and intent to exercise dominion and control over the firearm or ammunition.
- Under ACCA’s elements clause, an offense qualifies as a “violent felony” if it has as an element the use, attempted use, or threatened use of physical force against another person.
- Florida felony battery qualifies as an ACCA violent felony under the elements clause because it requires intentional conduct causing serious bodily injury, which necessarily entails the use of force capable of causing physical pain or injury.

## Conclusion

The Eleventh Circuit upheld Green’s felon-in-possession conviction and ACCA-enhanced sentence, ruling that a conviction following a nolo contendere plea could be admitted to prove felon status, the evidence supported constructive possession of the firearm, and Florida felony battery counted as an ACCA violent felony.


United States v. Green, 842 F.3d 1299 (11th Cir. 2016)