Stephens, who was convicted in 2019 of being a felon in possession of a firearm after incidents at a Tampa-area gun range and a later shooting, challenged his enhanced sentence under Section 2255 based on several Supreme Court decisions. The case stemmed from September 2017 visits to Shooters World where Stephens fired handguns and purchased ammunition, followed by an April 2018 incident where he fired multiple rounds at another vehicle from a car before discarding the weapon when police tried to stop him. DNA evidence linked him to the fully loaded gun officers recovered.
Judge Honeywell rejected Stephens's claims that the Supreme Court's 2021 Borden ruling invalidated his enhanced sentence, explaining that his Florida aggravated assault conviction remained a qualifying predicate offense. "Under the holding in Jackson II, the only Florida cocaine-related drug convictions that may no longer be considered serious drug offenses under the ACCA are those for which a defendant was convicted after September 11, 2015," Honeywell wrote, noting that Stephens's drug convictions occurred in 2009 and 2015, before the federal schedule change.
The court found particularly damaging to Stephens's position the Eleventh Circuit's decision in Somers v. United States, which held that "aggravated assault under Florida law requires a mens rea of at least knowing conduct and, accordingly, it qualifies as an ACCA predicate offense under [Borden]." Judge Honeywell emphasized that the Florida Supreme Court had determined the assault statute "demands the specific intent to direct a threat at another person and cannot be violated by a reckless act."
Stephens had pleaded guilty without a plea agreement to possession of a firearm and ammunition by a previously convicted felon in violation of federal law. During his plea hearing before a magistrate judge, Stephens affirmed he was "fully satisfied" with counsel's advice and understood he faced a mandatory minimum 15-year sentence for each count. The court found his ACCA enhancement was supported by three prior Florida convictions: aggravated assault with firearm possession, possession of cocaine with intent to sell or deliver, and delivery of cocaine.
The court also ruled that Stephens's claims were procedurally defaulted because he failed to raise them on direct appeal and could not show cause for the delay. "Because no external impediment prevented Stephens from challenging the imposition of his ACCA enhancement or validity of his prior convictions in the district court or on direct appeal, and because such challenges were reasonably available to him at the time of his sentencing, he cannot demonstrate cause for his failure to raise the issue on direct appeal," Judge Honeywell wrote.
Judge Honeywell found that while Stephens's Borden-based claims were timely filed within the one-year window after that Supreme Court decision, his separate challenge under United States v. Jackson was untimely. The Jackson claim, which argued his drug convictions no longer qualified as predicate offenses, was filed nearly three years after the deadline expired. The court noted the Jackson argument failed on the merits regardless, since Stephens's cocaine convictions occurred before the relevant federal schedule changes.
The ruling also rejected Stephens's jurisdictional and due process challenges, with Judge Honeywell concluding that "because Stephens has at least three qualifying ACCA predicates, his claim challenging this Court's jurisdiction to impose the enhancement and violation of his due process rights fails." The court denied a certificate of appealability, finding that reasonable jurists would not debate either the merits of the claims or the procedural issues raised.