United States v. Bong

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Defendant Troy Bong was convicted in 2013 of being a felon in possession of a firearm, for which he was sentenced to 293 months in prison. He appealed the district court’s denial of his motion to vacate, set aside, or correct sentence. The district court granted Bong a certificate of appealability (COA) on Bong’s claims that he was improperly sentenced under the Armed Career Criminal Act (ACCA) and that his trial and appellate counsel were ineffective for failing to challenge the ACCA sentencing. The Tenth Circuit subsequently granted Bong a COA as to two additional issues: (1) whether his trial counsel was ineffective for failing to investigate the facts of the underlying traffic stop, Bong’s resulting arrest, and Bong’s alleged possession of a firearm; and (2) whether the prosecution suppressed any available video recordings of his stop and arrest. After review, the Tenth Circuit agreed the district court erred in treating Bong's prior Kansas state convictions for robbery and aggravated robbery as “violent felonies” under the ACCA, and remanded for the district court for to consider whether Bong’s remaining prior convictions were sufficient to support his sentence under the ACCA. As for Bong’s ineffective assistance of trial counsel claims, the Court affirmed in part and reversed in part: since the trial court erred in basing's Bong's ACCA sentence on his prior Kansas robbery and aggravated robbery convictions, it was unnecessary to address ineffectiveness based on this issue. However, questions remained whether Bong's motion for post-conviction relief was timely filed based on the discovery of police recordings of his arrest, and the arresting officer's alleged false testimony on whether video recordings existed. The case was remanded for further proceedings. View "United States v. Bong" on Justia Law