Background
Quovartis Spencer was found guilty after a bench trial of possessing a firearm as a convicted felon in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1). The district court imposed a 64-month prison sentence after applying a two-level enhancement under U.S.S.G. § 3C1.2 for recklessly creating a substantial risk of death or serious bodily injury while fleeing law enforcement.
According to testimony credited by the district court and police body-camera footage, an officer saw Spencer speeding and activated his lights to make a traffic stop. Spencer accelerated, drove through a stop sign, and crashed into a tree. He then ran into oncoming traffic, disregarded commands to stop, and tried to open the driver’s door of a moving vehicle.
The Court’s Holding
The Fourth Circuit affirmed the sentencing enhancement. Applying clear-error review to the district court’s factual findings, the court held that the government proved by a preponderance of the evidence that Spencer’s conduct created a substantial risk of death or serious injury to others during his flight. The enhancement depended on the risk created, not on whether anyone was actually harmed.
The panel rejected Spencer’s contention that the district court relied on speculation that children might have been endangered, explaining that the district court ultimately acknowledged those circumstances were not present. The court also rejected Spencer’s as-applied Second Amendment challenge to § 922(g)(1), which Spencer conceded was foreclosed by binding Fourth Circuit precedent holding that Bruen and Rahimi did not displace the circuit’s rule barring such challenges.
Key Takeaways
- Speeding away from police, running a stop sign, crashing, entering oncoming traffic, and attempting to open a moving vehicle’s door supported the reckless-endangerment-during-flight enhancement.
- U.S.S.G. § 3C1.2 focuses on the substantial risk created by a defendant’s flight and does not require actual physical injury.
- Fourth Circuit precedent foreclosed Spencer’s as-applied Second Amendment challenge to the federal felon-in-possession statute.
Why It Matters
The unpublished decision illustrates how a combination of dangerous driving and hazardous conduct on foot can support a two-level sentencing enhancement under U.S.S.G. § 3C1.2. It also confirms that, within the Fourth Circuit, as-applied Second Amendment challenges to § 922(g)(1) remain barred under circuit precedent notwithstanding Bruen and Rahimi.