United States v. Andrew Jackson Chitwood ( 2012 )


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  •                                                                       [PUBLISH]
    IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
    FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT
    ________________________            FILED
    U.S. COURT OF APPEALS
    ELEVENTH CIRCUIT
    No. 11-12054
    APRIL 5, 2012
    Non-Argument Calendar
    JOHN LEY
    ________________________         CLERK
    D.C. Docket No. 4:10-cr-00029-RLV-WEJ-1
    UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
    Plaintiff-Appellee,
    versus
    ANDREW JACKSON CHITWOOD,
    Defendant-Appellant.
    ________________________
    Appeal from the United States District Court
    for the Northern District of Georgia
    ________________________
    (April 5, 2012)
    Before CARNES, BARKETT, and ANDERSON, Circuit Judges.
    CARNES, Circuit Judge:
    Andrew Chitwood appeals his 188-month sentence, which was imposed after
    he pleaded guilty to and was convicted of possession with intent to distribute
    methamphetamine and obstruction of an officer. The sentence was based in part on
    the district court’s ruling that Chitwood’s previous conviction for violating
    Georgia’s false imprisonment statute qualified as a crime of violence for purposes
    of career offender treatment under United States Sentencing Guidelines § 4B1.1.
    He contends that was error.
    I.
    A police informant arranged to buy $5,200 worth of methamphetamine from
    Chitwood. They met at a gas station, and the informant confirmed that Chitwood
    had the drugs in his car. Police officers then pulled cars in front of and behind
    Chitwood’s car, identified themselves as law enforcement, and asked Chitwood to
    exit his car. Instead of exiting, Chitwood put his car in reverse and hit an officer’s
    vehicle, causing minor damage. Police then arrested him without further incident.
    Searches of Chitwood and his car yielded 150.68 grams of methamphetamine and a
    9mm pistol.
    A federal grand jury indicted Chitwood on three counts: possession with
    intent to distribute more than 50 grams of methamphetamine, in violation of 21
    U.S.C. §§ 841(a)(1) and (b)(1)(B); possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, in
    2
    violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 922(g)(1) and 924(a)(2); and obstruction of an officer, in
    violation of 18 U.S.C. § 111(a)(1) and (b). As part of a written plea agreement,
    Chitwood pleaded guilty to the first and third counts, and the second count was
    dismissed.
    The presentence investigation report recommended a base offense level of
    26 because Chitwood possessed between 50 and 200 grams of methamphetamine.
    See U.S.S.G. § 2D1.1(c)(7) (Nov. 2010). The report added 2 levels because
    Chitwood possessed a firearm, see 
    id. § 2D1.1(b)(1),
    and subtracted 3 levels for
    acceptance of responsibility, see 
    id. § 3E1.1(a),
    (b). It also recommended 24
    criminal history points, placing Chitwood in criminal history category VI. With an
    adjusted offense level of 25 and a criminal history category of VI, Chitwood’s
    guidelines range would have been 110 to 137 months. See 
    id. § 5A
    (Sentencing
    Table).
    The PSR recommended, however, that the court sentence Chitwood as a
    career offender under § 4B1.1(a) of the guidelines. That recommendation was
    premised on the view that he had previously been convicted of committing two
    predicate crimes of violence—false imprisonment and aggravated assault—which
    made him a career offender within the meaning of § 4B1.1(a). As a career
    offender, Chitwood’s offense level would be bumped up to 34 because one of his
    3
    offenses had a statutory maximum sentence of 25 years or more. See 21 U.S.C. §
    841(b)(1)(B); U.S.S.G. § 4B1.1(b)(B).1 He would, however, still be eligible for the
    3-level reduction for acceptance of responsibility. See U.S.S.G. § 4B1.1(b). The
    net result of treating Chitwood as a career offender would be a guidelines range of
    188–235 months instead of 110–137 months.
    Chitwood objected to the PSR’s recommendation that he be treated as a
    career offender. He argued that a violation of Ga. Code Ann. § 16-5-41, Georgia’s
    false imprisonment statute, was not a crime of violence under the categorical
    approach. He also objected to any factual description of the offense in the PSR to
    the extent it was based on documents other than those approved by Shepard v.
    United States, 
    544 U.S. 13
    , 
    125 S. Ct. 1254
    (2005).
    At the sentence hearing, the government conceded that this Court had never
    addressed whether violation of Georgia’s false imprisonment statute was a crime of
    violence but argued that it was. Chitwood took the position that because false
    imprisonment is not an enumerated offense in § 4B1.2(a)(2) of the sentencing
    guidelines and there is no “physical force” element to the offense, see U.S.S.G. §
    4B1.2(a)(1), as it is defined under Georgia law, see Ga. Code Ann. § 16-5-41, the
    1
    As a career offender, Chitwood’s criminal history category would automatically be VI, see
    § 4B1.1(b), but that made no difference because it already was VI even without consideration of his
    career offender status.
    4
    crime can be a crime of violence only if it falls within the scope of the residual
    clause of § 4B1.2(a)(2). He argued that, applying our test from United States v.
    Harrison, 
    558 F.3d 1280
    , 1287 (11th Cir. 2009) abrogated by Sykes v. United
    States, __ U.S. __, 
    131 S. Ct. 2267
    (2011), the underlying offense of false
    imprisonment is not a crime of violence.2
    The district court adopted the PSR, including the finding that false
    imprisonment was a crime of violence. Although the record is somewhat unclear
    on this point, the court appears to have applied the modified categorical approach,
    see United States v. Pantle, 
    637 F.3d 1172
    , 1176 (11th Cir. 2011), in determining
    that the crime of false imprisonment for which Chitwood had been convicted was a
    crime of violence under § 4B1.2. As a result, it set Chitwood’s total offense level
    at 31, and with a criminal history category of VI, his guidelines range was 188–235
    months. The court imposed a sentence of 188 months imprisonment.
    II.
    “We review de novo whether a prior conviction qualifies as a ‘crime of
    violence’ under the Sentencing Guidelines.” United States v. Lockley, 
    632 F.3d 1238
    , 1240 (11th Cir. 2011). And “we may affirm ‘for any reason supported by
    2
    In determining whether a conviction is a crime of violence under U.S.S.G. § 4B1.2, we also
    rely on cases interpreting the residual clause of the Armed Career Criminal Act, 18 U.S.C. § 924(e),
    because the § 4B1.2 definition of “crime of violence” and ACCA’s definition of “violent felony”
    are substantially the same. See United States v. Archer, 
    531 F.3d 1347
    , 1350 n.1 (11th Cir. 2008).
    5
    the record, even if not relied upon by the district court.’” United States v. Al-
    Arian, 
    514 F.3d 1184
    , 1189 (11th Cir. 2008) (quoting Williams v. Bd. of Regents,
    
    477 F.3d 1282
    , 1284 (11th Cir. 2007)).
    Under § 4B1.2 of the guidelines, any state or federal offense that is
    punishable by more than one year of imprisonment can be a crime of violence if it
    fits within one of three categories. The first category includes crimes that have “as
    an element the use, attempted use, or threatened use of physical force against the
    person of another . . . .” U.S.S.G. § 4B1.2(a)(1). The second category includes the
    enumerated crimes of “burglary of a dwelling, arson, or extortion” and those
    involving the “use of explosives.” § 4B1.2(a)(2). The third category, sometimes
    referred to as residual clause crimes, includes those that “otherwise involve[]
    conduct that presents a serious potential risk of physical injury to another.” 
    Id. The use,
    attempted use, or threatened use of physical force is not an element
    of false imprisonment under Ga. Code Ann. § 16-5-41, so the first category of
    violent crimes is out. Nor is false imprisonment one of the enumerated offenses in
    § 4B1.2(a)(2), so the second category is out too. That leaves the third category,
    residual clause crimes.
    There are two ways in which a crime can fall within the residual clause of §
    4B1.2(a)(2). The first way is the categorical approach, under which “‘we consider
    6
    whether the elements of the offense are of the type that would justify its inclusion
    within the residual provision, without inquiring into the specific conduct of this
    particular offender.’” Sykes v. United States, __ U.S. __, __,
    131 S. Ct. 2267
    , 2272
    (2011) (quoting James v. United States, 
    550 U.S. 192
    , 202, 
    127 S. Ct. 1586
    , 1594
    (2007)). If the elements of an offense are such that any conviction for violating
    that statute will fall within the scope of the residual clause, then we can say
    categorically that the offense is a crime of violence under the residual clause.
    The second way that a crime can come within the residual clause is the
    modified categorical approach, which can be applied where some, but not all, of
    the violations of a particular statute will involve the requisite violence. See 
    Pantle, 637 F.3d at 1175
    . Stated another way, courts apply the modified categorical
    approach “when the law under which a defendant has been convicted contains
    different statutory phrases—some of which qualify as ‘crimes of violence’ and
    some of which do not . . . .” 
    Id. In that
    statement, “different statutory phrases”
    means different statutory elements or ways of violating the statute.
    III.
    At sentencing in this case, the district court cited Pantle and stated that it was
    applying the modified categorical approach to conclude that Chitwood’s Georgia
    false imprisonment conviction was for a crime of violence. Using that approach to
    7
    “determine which statutory phrase was the basis for the conviction” involves
    consulting “a narrow universe of ‘Shepard documents’ that includes any charging
    documents, the written plea agreement, the transcript of the plea colloquy, and any
    explicit factual finding by the trial judge to which the defendant assented.” Id.; see
    
    Shepard, 544 U.S. at 26
    , 125 S.Ct. at 1263 (“We hold that enquiry under the
    ACCA to determine whether a plea of guilty to burglary defined by a nongeneric
    statute necessarily admitted elements of the generic offense is limited to the terms
    of the charging document, the terms of a plea agreement or transcript of colloquy
    between judge and defendant in which the factual basis for the plea was confirmed
    by the defendant, or to some comparable judicial record of this information.”). The
    problem is, as Chitwood argues, the government concedes, and we agree, that the
    district court did not consult any Shepard documents when deciding that
    Chitwood’s Georgia conviction for false imprisonment was for a crime of violence.
    IV.
    The government argues, however, that the error in the district court’s
    application of the modified categorical approach to Chitwood’s Georgia false
    imprisonment conviction does not require setting aside his career-offender-
    enhanced sentence because that conviction is a crime of violence under the
    categorical approach, which the district court did not apply. The government had
    8
    argued at the sentence hearing that false imprisonment was categorically a crime of
    violence. Because we can affirm for any reason supported by the record, “[e]ven
    though the district court did not reach the residual clause issue, we can still decide
    it.” United States v. Harris, 
    608 F.3d 1222
    , 1227 (11th Cir. 2010). That is true
    where, as here, the alternative route for affirming does not facts that remain to be
    found by the district court.
    In James v. United States, 
    550 U.S. 192
    , 201–02, 
    127 S. Ct. 1586
    , 1593–94
    (2007), the Supreme Court instructed federal courts to use a “categorical approach”
    to analyze whether a crime creates sufficient risk of physical injury to another to fit
    within the residual clause. We were told that under that approach we should “look
    only to the fact of conviction and the statutory definition of the prior offense,” and
    not to the “particular facts disclosed by the record of conviction.” 
    Id. at 202,
    127
    S.Ct. at 1594 (quotation marks omitted). It is “the elements of the offense” and not
    “the specific conduct of this particular offender” we examine. Id.; see also
    Chambers v. United States, 
    555 U.S. 122
    , 125, 
    129 S. Ct. 687
    , 690 (2009). And it
    is the “ordinary” or “generic” case that counts. 
    Harrison, 558 F.3d at 1285
    ; see
    also Begay v. United States, 
    553 U.S. 137
    , 141, 
    128 S. Ct. 1581
    , 1584 (2008) (“In
    determining whether [a] crime is a violent felony, we consider the offense
    generically, that is to say, we examine it in terms of how the law defines the
    9
    offense and not in terms of how an individual offender might have committed it on
    a particular occasion.”); 
    James, 550 U.S. at 208
    , 127 S.Ct. at 1597 (“[T]he proper
    inquiry is whether the conduct encompassed by the elements of the offense, in the
    ordinary case, presents a serious potential risk of injury to another.”). Applying
    this categorical approach, the Supreme Court in James looked at whether attempted
    burglary “posed the same ‘serious potential risk of physical injury’ that a
    completed burglary did.” 
    Harrison, 558 F.3d at 1285
    (quoting 
    James, 550 U.S. at 203
    , 127 S.Ct. at 1594). The Court concluded that it did. See 
    James, 550 U.S. at 203
    –09, 127 S.Ct. at 1594–98
    In Begay, the Supreme Court added to the residual clause analysis when it
    examined whether driving under the influence was “‘roughly similar, in kind as
    well as in degree of risk posed,’” to any of the enumerated offenses. 
    Harrison, 558 F.3d at 1285
    (quoting 
    Begay, 553 U.S. at 143
    , 128 S.Ct. at 1585). The Begay
    Court reasoned that the presence of the enumerated offenses as examples implied
    that the ACCA covered “only similar crimes, rather than every crime that ‘presents
    a serious potential risk of physical injury to another.’” 
    Begay, 553 U.S. at 142
    ,
    128 S.Ct. at 1585 (quoting 18 U.S.C. § 924(e)(2)(B)(ii)). The court noted that
    “[t]he listed crimes all typically involve purposeful, violent, and aggressive
    conduct.” 
    Begay, 553 U.S. at 144
    –45, 128 S.Ct. at 1586 (quotation marks
    10
    omitted). It followed that to be similar in kind to those listed crimes—burglary,
    arson, extortion, and the use of explosives— offenses that were violent crimes
    under the residual provision must also involve “purposeful, violent, and aggressive
    conduct.” 
    Chambers, 555 U.S. at 128
    , 129 S.Ct. at 692; see also 
    Begay, 553 U.S. at 144
    –45, 128 S.Ct. at 1586; 
    Harrison, 558 F.3d at 1295
    (“Begay requires courts
    to further address whether the crime is similar ‘in kind’ to burglary, arson,
    extortion, and the use of explosives. For [an offense] to be ‘similar in kind’ to
    those enumerated offenses, the conduct underlying the crime must be ‘purposeful,
    violent, and aggressive.’” (citations omitted)). Because it concluded that DUI was
    not “purposeful, violent, and aggressive” in that sense, the Court held that it was
    not a violent felony. 
    Begay, 553 U.S. at 144
    –45, 
    148, 128 S. Ct. at 1586
    –88.
    In our Harrison decision we synthesized James and Begay into a three-part
    test for determining whether a state offense is a crime of violence under the
    categorical approach:
    First, what is the relevant category of crime, determined by looking to
    how the crime is ordinarily committed? Second, does that crime pose
    a “serious potential risk of physical injury” that is similar in degree to
    the risks posed by the enumerated crimes? Third, is that crime similar
    in kind to the enumerated 
    crimes? 558 F.3d at 1287
    . To determine whether a crime is “similar in kind” to an
    enumerated offense, “we ask whether the conduct at issue in the statute is
    11
    ‘purposeful, violent and aggressive,’ or, whether it is a more passive crime of
    inaction.” United States v. Harris, 
    608 F.3d 1222
    , 1227 (11th Cir. 2010).
    Last year, however, the Supreme Court revisited the residual clause in Sykes
    v. United States, __ U.S. __, 
    131 S. Ct. 2267
    (2011), and the ever-shifting sands of
    the residual clause shifted again.3 The previous conviction at issue in Sykes was
    knowingly or intentionally fleeing in a vehicle from a law enforcement officer in
    violation of Ind. Code § 35-44-3-3. The Court noted that, “[i]n general, levels of
    risk divide crimes that qualify [under the residual clause] from those that do not,”
    and that the only decision “in which risk was not the dispositive factor is Begay.”
    
    Sykes, 131 S. Ct. at 2275
    . The Court reasoned that Begay’s “purposeful, violent,
    and aggressive” language had “no precise textual link to the residual clause” and
    was “an addition to the statutory text.” 
    Id. Further, it
    stated that crimes that are
    3
    Justice Scalia’s dissent in Sykes asserts that the residual clause of the ACCA is
    unconstitutional because it is so vague that it “does not ‘give a person of ordinary intelligence fair
    notice’ of its reach.” 
    Sykes, 131 S. Ct. at 2287
    (Scalia, J., dissenting) (quoting United States v.
    Batchelder, 
    442 U.S. 114
    , 123, 
    99 S. Ct. 2198
    , 2203–04 (1979)). See generally 
    Sykes, 131 S. Ct. at 2284
    –88 (Scalia, J., dissenting). His dissent notes that Sykes is the Court’s fourth attempt in four
    years to clarify which crimes qualify as violent felonies under the ACCA residual clause. 
    Id. at 2284.
    However logical Justice Scalia’s reasoning, and however appealing the result of that logic
    might be to courts like our own with caseloads enhanced by residual clause enhancement issues, the
    majority opinion in Sykes took the position that the ACCA residual clause “states an intelligible
    principle and provides guidance that allows a person to ‘conform his or her conduct to the law.’”
    
    Id. at 2277
    (majority opinion) (quoting Chicago v. Morales, 
    527 U.S. 41
    , 58, 
    119 S. Ct. 1849
    , 1860
    (1999) (plurality opinion)). That position appears to foreclose a conclusion, at least by a lower
    federal court such as our own, that the residual clause is unconstitutionally vague. In any event, the
    parties in this case have not raised that issue.
    12
    “purposeful, violent, and aggressive” and crimes that “present serious potential
    risks of physical injury to others tend to be one and the same.” 
    Id. Therefore, “[i]n
    many cases the purposeful, violent and aggressive inquiry will be redundant with
    the inquiry into risk . . . .” 
    Id. The Court
    concluded in Sykes that risk level
    provided a better categorical standard than the purposeful, violent, and aggressive
    standard it had articulated in Begay just two years earlier. 
    Id. at 2275–76.
    Another explanation the Sykes court gave for retreating from the
    Begay standard, or at least curtailing its reach, is that the focus on “purposeful,
    violent, and aggressive” was useful primarily to explain the result in Begay, which
    had involved DUI, “a crime akin to strict liability, negligence, and recklessness
    crimes.” 
    Id. at 2276.
    The vehicle flight to avoid law enforcement statute at issue
    in Sykes, by contrast, required knowing or intentional flight, and therefore was
    “not a strict liability, negligence, or recklessness crime.” 
    Id. Because of
    that
    distinction and because the statute involved in Sykes was categorically similar in
    risk to the offenses named in the residual clause, the Sykes Court concluded that
    knowingly or intentionally fleeing in a vehicle from a law enforcement officer is a
    violent crime under the residual clause. 
    Id. at 2275–76.
    Of our sister circuits that have spoken to the issue, a majority have
    concluded that Sykes means that Begay’s “purposeful, violent, and aggressive”
    13
    analysis is useful only when dealing with strict liability, negligence, or
    recklessness crimes. See, e.g., United States v. Meeks, __ F.3d __, __, No. 10-
    5336, 
    2012 WL 15169
    , at *2 (6th Cir. Jan. 5, 2012) (“The Supreme Court has
    recently suggested that Begay’s purposeful, violent, and aggressive conduct
    inquiry should be limited to crimes based on strict liability, negligence, and
    recklessness because it is not based on statutory language and is often redundant
    with the inquiry into risk. In other cases, levels of risk will generally divide crimes
    that qualify as crimes of violence from those that do not.” (citations and quotation
    marks omitted)); United States v. Rodriguez, 
    659 F.3d 117
    , 119 (1st Cir. 2011)
    (“According to Sykes, Begay’s purposeful, violent, and aggressive formulation
    will be redundant with the inquiry into risk when the felony at issue is not a strict
    liability, negligence, or recklessness crime. Where the prior felony has a stringent
    mens rea requirement—as is the case here—Begay provides no shelter.” (citations
    and quotation marks omitted)); United States v. Watson, 
    650 F.3d 1084
    , 1093 (8th
    Cir. 2011) (“Thus, provided the felony at issue is not ‘akin to strict liability,
    negligence, or recklessness crimes,’ it qualifies as a crime of violence under the
    residual clause if it is ‘as a categorical matter, similar in risk to the listed crimes.’”
    (quoting 
    Sykes, 131 S. Ct. at 2275
    –76)); United States v. McMurray, 
    653 F.3d 367
    ,
    376 n.9 (6th Cir. 2011) (“[T]he Supreme Court retreated to some degree from
    14
    Begay’s ‘purposeful violent, and aggressive’ standard. Nevertheless, the Court
    indicated that the Begay standard remains applicable when the felony is a strict
    liability, negligence, or recklessness crime.”); United States v. Armijo, 
    651 F.3d 1226
    , 1237 n.14 (10th Cir. 2011) (noting similarity of risk as dispositive and
    applying Sykes to U.S.S.G. § 4B1.2); United States v. Hill, 
    645 F.3d 900
    , 910 (7th
    Cir. 2011). But see United States v. Koufos, __ F.3d __, __, Nos. 10-2195, 10-
    2199, 10-2200, 
    2011 WL 6778133
    , at *5–8 (10th Cir. Dec. 27, 2011) (not
    addressing the Sykes/Begay question explicitly, but analyzing for “purposeful,
    violent, and aggressive conduct” post-Sykes); United States v. Park, 
    649 F.3d 1175
    , 1177–78, 1180 (9th Cir. 2011) (not addressing the Sykes/Begay question
    explicitly, but finding post-Sykes that California first-degree burglary was
    “roughly similar” to the enumerated generic burglary in part because it typically
    involved “purposeful, violent, and aggressive conduct”).
    Because Sykes makes clear that Begay’s “purposeful, violent, and
    aggressive” analysis does not apply to offenses that are not strict liability,
    negligence, or recklessness crimes, we join the general consensus of the circuits
    recognizing as much. Offenses that are not strict liability, negligence, or
    recklessness crimes qualify as crimes of violence under U.S.S.G. § 4B1.2(a)(2)’s
    residual clause if they categorically pose a serious potential risk of physical injury
    15
    that is similar to the risk posed by one of the enumerated crimes. See 
    Sykes, 131 S. Ct. at 2275
    –76. At least where the previous conviction required knowing or
    intentional conduct, it is enough if that conviction was for a crime that generally
    creates as much risk of physical injury as one of the enumerated crimes.
    V.
    Therefore, we compare the risk of serious physical injury that violations of
    Georgia’s false imprisonment statute pose to that posed by the closest analog
    among the enumerated offenses—burglary of a dwelling. See 
    id. at 2273.
    The risk
    need not be present in every conceivable violation of the false imprisonment
    statute, just as it is not present in every burglary of a dwelling, but it must be
    present “in the ordinary case.” 
    Harris, 608 F.3d at 1228
    (quoting 
    James, 550 U.S. at 208
    , 127 S.Ct. at 1597).
    “Burglary is dangerous because it can end in confrontation leading to
    violence.” 
    Sykes, 131 S. Ct. at 2273
    ; see also 
    James, 550 U.S. at 199
    –200, 127
    S.Ct. at 1592 (noting that all of the enumerated offenses “create significant risks of
    bodily injury or confrontation that might result in bodily injury”). Or, as the
    Supreme Court has explained: “The fact that an offender enters a building to
    commit a crime often creates the possibility of a violent confrontation between the
    offender and an occupant, caretaker, or some other person who comes to
    16
    investigate. And the offender’s own awareness of this possibility may mean that
    he is prepared to use violence if necessary to carry out his plans or to escape.”
    Taylor v. United States, 
    495 U.S. 575
    , 588, 
    110 S. Ct. 2143
    , 2153 (1990).4
    Under Georgia law, “[a] person commits the offense of false imprisonment
    when, in violation of the personal liberty of another, he arrests, confines, or detains
    such person without legal authority.” Ga. Code Ann. § 16-5-41(a). As Georgia
    cases make clear, false imprisonment ordinarily creates risks of physical injury to
    another similar to the risks created by burglary which were discussed in Taylor.
    See, e.g., Parson v. State, 
    711 S.E.2d 398
    , 400 (Ga. Ct. App. 2011) (finding false
    imprisonment where defendant pulled victim back into her car, pushed her into the
    driver’s seat, held her by her throat, and hit her in the chest); Bearfield v. State, 
    699 S.E.2d 363
    , 365 (Ga. Ct. App. 2010) (explaining that to avoid discovery of his
    false imprisonment and attempted rape of a 9-year-old girl, the defendant “ran to
    [the victim], picked her up, and threw her off his second story rear balcony”
    resulting in “injuries to her lip, legs, and stomach”); Pierce v. State, 
    687 S.E.2d 185
    , 190 (Ga. Ct. App. 2009) (involving a defendant who, while holding the victim
    4
    The quotation from the Taylor opinion speaks of a burglar entering a building instead of
    entering a dwelling because the ACCA definition of “violent felony,” which was involved in that
    case, lists “burglary” as one of the violent crimes, not “burglary of a dwelling,” as § 4B1.2(a)(2) of
    the guidelines does in defining “crime of violence.” Of course, burglary of a dwelling poses a risk
    of serious physical injury at least as great, and probably greater, than the burglary of a building that
    is not a dwelling.
    17
    in her apartment against her will, “grabbed the victim by the hair and dragged her
    from room to room in the apartment while beating her. . . . took her clothes off and
    ‘threw’ her in the shower”); Williams v. State, 
    670 S.E.2d 828
    , 832–33 (Ga. Ct.
    App. 2008) (“[T]he false imprisonment occurred when Williams forced the victim
    into the prayer room closet after he raped her, bound the closet doors closed with a
    cord, and ordered the victim under threat of death to remain there until he left.”).
    Arresting, confining, or detaining someone against his or her will presents a risk of
    serious physical injury to another similar to the risk that burglary of a dwelling
    presents: the risk of a violent confrontation between the offender and the person
    being falsely imprisoned, including the risk that the offender will have to inflict
    serious physical injury to detain the victim. And, just as with burglary, the
    offender’s awareness that such a violent confrontation is possible and could be
    necessary indicates that he may be prepared to use violence if necessary to
    complete the crime or to escape.
    The decisions of other circuits addressing similar statutes support our
    conclusion that Georgia false imprisonment creates risks similar to those created
    by burglary of a dwelling and is, therefore, a crime of violence. See, e.g., United
    States v. Capler, 
    636 F.3d 321
    , 322, 324, 329 (7th Cir. 2011) (concluding that
    Illinois’ crime of unlawful restraint is a crime of violence within the meaning of §
    18
    4B1.2(a)(2)); United States v. Billups, 
    536 F.3d 574
    , 576, 578–82 (7th Cir. 2008)
    (concluding the same about Wisconsin’s crime of false imprisonment); United
    States v. Riva, 
    440 F.3d 722
    , 723, 725 (5th Cir. 2006) (concluding the same about
    Texas’ crime of unlawful restraint of a child younger than 17 years); United States
    v. Stapleton, 
    440 F.3d 700
    , 703–04 (5th Cir. 2006) (concluding that Louisiana’s
    crime of false imprisonment with a dangerous weapon is a violent felony within
    the meaning of the ACCA); United States v. Zamora, 
    222 F.3d 756
    , 763–65 (10th
    Cir. 2000) (concluding that New Mexico’s crime of false imprisonment is a crime
    of violence within the meaning of § 4B1.2(a)(2)).
    And we have held that “kidnapping is a crime of violence.” United States v.
    Salemi, 
    26 F.3d 1084
    , 1087 (11th Cir. 1994); see also U.S.S.G. § 4B1.2 cmt. n.1.
    That holding is particularly relevant because under Georgia law the crime of false
    imprisonment is identical to the crime of kidnapping, except false imprisonment
    does not require movement of the victim. See, e.g., Hall v. State, 
    709 S.E.2d 348
    ,
    352 (Ga. Ct. App. 2011) (“And significantly, the only difference between the crime
    of kidnapping and the crime of false imprisonment is the element of asportation.”).
    Although the additional element of movement might increase the risk of physical
    injury some, the similarity of the two offenses lends support to our conclusion that
    false imprisonment is also a crime of violence.
    19
    Chitwood correctly points out that both the Supreme Court and this Court
    have sometimes relied on statistics when determining whether offenses are crimes
    of violence. But we have never held that statistical evidence is required. When, as
    here, “we are without the benefit of empirical evidence . . . we are left to rely on
    our own common-sense analysis of whether [the] conduct poses a serious potential
    risk of physical injury.” United States v. Alexander, 
    609 F.3d 1250
    , 1257 (11th
    Cir. 2010). Being without the benefit of empirical evidence, we rely on our
    common sense, which leads us to conclude that the conduct involved in violating
    Georgia’s false imprisonment statute generally poses a risk of serious physical
    injury comparable to burglary of a dwelling. Violations of Georgia’s false
    imprisonment statute are crimes of violence as defined in § 4B1.2(a) and for the
    purpose of sentencing under the career offender provision of U.S.S.G. § 4B1.1.
    The district court did not err in sentencing Chitwood as a career offender.
    AFFIRMED.
    20