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Serrano-Mercado v. United States

Petition for certiorari denied on January 17, 2017
Docket No. Op. Below Argument Opinion Vote Author Term
16-237 1st Cir. N/A N/A N/A N/A OT 16

Issue: (1) Whether a district court commits plain error by enhancing a sentence based on a divisible statute without requiring the government to meet its burden of proving that the conviction arose under a qualifying prong of that statute, as five circuits have held, or whether on plain-error review the burden instead shifts to the defendant to affirmatively show that the alleged predicate offense did not arise under a qualifying prong of the statute, as four circuits have held; and (2) whether the district court's additional enhancement of the petitioner's sentence based on a second predicate offense under the crime-of-violence residual clause was error in this case because that clause is unconstitutionally vague.

SCOTUSblog Coverage

DateProceedings and Orders (key to color coding)
Aug 22 2016Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due September 23, 2016)
Sep 22 2016Order extending time to file response to petition to and including October 24, 2016.
Sep 23 2016Brief amicus curiae of National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers filed.
Sep 23 2016Brief amicus curiae of National Association for Public Defense filed.
Oct 19 2016Order further extending time to file response to petition to and including November 22, 2016.
Nov 22 2016Brief of respondent United States in opposition filed.
Dec 5 2016Reply of petitioner Wilson Serrano-Mercado filed.
Dec 7 2016DISTRIBUTED for Conference of January 6, 2017.
Jan 9 2017DISTRIBUTED for Conference of January 13, 2017.
Jan 17 2017Petition DENIED.