In United States v. Blankson, --- F.3d ---, No. 16-10124 (9th Cir. 2018), the Ninth Circuit finished the process it began a few months ago in Edling.
Specifically, in Edling, the Court held that Nevada robbery was not a crime of violence under the Guidelines.
Today, the Court extended that to California robbery (PC 211), holding that robbery under California Penal Code § 211 is not a “crime of violence” because it is no longer a categorical match to a combination of Guidelines-described robbery and extortion, and the contrary holding in United States v. Becceril-Lopez, 541 F.3d 881 (9th Cir. 2008), is no longer good law.
This is great news going forward, but it did not help the defendant, who was sentenced before the Guidelines were amended in 2016. Under the prior version of the Guidelines, 211 was a crime of violence.
In short, 211 is not a crime of violence for everyone sentenced after August 1, 2016.
