Hawkins v. United States, No. 11-1245 (7th Cir. 2013)
Annotate this CaseHawkins has a long history of violent crimes, gun offenses, escapes, drug use, and violations of supervised release. In 2003 he assaulted U.S. marshals and pleaded guilty to violent assault with a weapon that inflicted bodily injury, 18 U.S.C. 111(a)(1), (b), 1114. The guidelines range would have been under 30 months, but with two prior felony convictions for “walkaway” escape, 18 U.S.C. 751(a), the range was 151 to 188 months. At the time, the guidelines were mandatory; two years later the Supreme Court declared them advisory. On remand the judge reimposed the 151-month sentence. The Seventh Circuit affirmed. Three years later the Supreme Court held that walkaway “escape” is not a “violent felony” under the Armed Career Criminal Act, 18 U.S.C. 924(e). The district court denied a motion to set aside the sentence reasoning that the legal error committed in deeming such an escape a violent felony was not the kind of error that can be corrected after a criminal judgment has become final. The Seventh Circuit affirmed, noting that Hawkins’ history would justify reimposing the sentence again. The court found that rehearing was not warranted by the Supreme Court’s subsequent decision in Peugh v. United States, (2013), reasoning that, unlike this case, Peugh involved constitutional error: violation of the ex post facto clause.
This opinion or order relates to an opinion or order originally issued on February 7, 2013.
Some case metadata and case summaries were written with the help of AI, which can produce inaccuracies. You should read the full case before relying on it for legal research purposes.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.