US Supreme Court Update: Wooden v. United States

In 1997, William Wooden broke into a storage facility and stole objects from 10 different storage units. He was charged with and subsequently pled guilty to 10 counts of burglary. In 2014, officers found him in possession of a rifle and charged him with being a felon in possession of a firearm and was indicted by a federal court. After trial, and during his sentencing hearing, Wooden was determined to be an Armed Career Criminal in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1) and 924(e).

The Supreme Court addressed the following question:

Are offenses committed as part of a single criminal spree but sequentially in time “committed on occasions different from one another” for purposes of a sentencing enhancement under the Armed Career Criminal Act?

In a unanimous decision drafted by Justice Kagan, the Court found that offenses committed as part of a single criminal episode did not occur on different “occasions” and thus count as only one offense for purposes of the Armed Career Criminal Act.

Source: Oyez.org.