United States v. Travis Eugene Keesee

This is a direct criminal appeal. The case raises issues concerning the sentence enhancement provisions of the Armed Career Criminal Act.

Facts

One thing led to another, from a domestic disagreement to a federal felony conviction. A parking-lot argument between a man and a woman led to a domestic-violence call, that led to discovery of stolen checks, that led to discovery of a gun in the possession of a felon. The gun furnished the basis for a fifteen-year armed career criminal sentence.

A K-Mart employee called the Flagstaff police to report a man and woman fighting in the parking lot. When the first officer got there, the store employee told him that the man, who turned out to be Keesee, had driven off in a motor home, which the employee described to the officer. She also told the officer that the woman had gone into the ladies’ room in the store. He had her get the woman out of there, and the woman, who was crying, told the policeman first that the fight was “no big deal,” but then said Keesee had grabbed her hand so hard he bent a ring she was wearing.

Another officer quickly found Keesee’s motor home parked at an apartment complex near the store, and once backup came,…