USCA11 Case: 19-10331 Date Filed: 03/10/2021 Page: 1 of 13 [DO NOT PUBLISH] IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT ________________________ No. 19-10331 ________________________ D.C. Docket Nos. 8:18-cv-01721-RAL-TGW; 8:08-cr-00027-RAL-TGW-1 CHEDDIE LAMAR GRIFFIN, Petitioner - Appellant, versus UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Respondent - Appellee. ________________________ Appeal from the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida ________________________ (March 10, 2021) Before ROSENBAUM, LUCK, and JULIE CARNES, Circuit Judges. PER CURIAM: Cheddie Lamar Griffin appeals the district court’s denial of his second or successive 28 U.S.C. § 2255 motion to vacate his conviction for using, carrying, or USCA11 Case: 19-10331 Date Filed: 03/10/2021 Page: 2 of 13 possessing a firearm in relation to a crime of violence, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 924(c)(1)(A). Griffin’s conviction was predicated on a separate conviction for kidnapping under 18 U.S.C § 1201(a). After careful review, we affirm. I. Griffin and his coconspirators kidnapped an individual at gunpoint and robbed him by forcing him to withdraw money from an ATM. A few weeks later, Griffin robbed a car-stereo store at gunpoint. In connection with those crimes, Griffin was indicted and charged with one count of carjacking, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2119 (Count One); one count of kidnapping, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1201 (Count Three); two counts of robbery, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1951 (Counts Five and Eight); one count of armed robbery, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2113(a), (d), and (e) (Count Six); and four counts of brandishing a firearm in relation to a crime of violence, in violation of § 924(c) (Counts Two, Four, Seven, and Nine). A jury found Griffin guilty of all nine counts. Griffin was sentenced to concurrent terms of imprisonment consisting of 15 years for carjacking, life for kidnapping, 20 years for each of the two counts of robbery, and 25 years for armed robbery. He also received consecutive sentences for each of his four § 924(c) convictions, totaling an additional 82 years’ imprisonment. In all, Griffin was sentenced to life plus 82 years’ imprisonment. 2 USCA11 Case: 19-10331 Date Filed: 03/10/2021 Page: 3 of 13 Griffin filed a direct appeal, and we affirmed. United States v. Griffin, 380 F. App’x 840 (11th Cir. 2010). In 2011, Griffin filed his first § 2255 motion to vacate. It was unsuccessful. A few years passed, and in 2015, the Supreme Court issued Johnson v. United States, 576 U.S. 591 (2015). In Johnson, the Court held that the so-called residual clause within the definition of the term “violent felony,” in the Armed Career Criminal Act (“ACCA”), 18 U.S.C. § 924(e)(2)(B)(ii), was unconstitutionally vague. Johnson, 576 U.S. at 606. A year later, the Supreme Court made clear that Johnson announced a new rule of constitutional law that is retroactively applicable to cases on collateral review. Welch v. United States, 136 S. Ct. 1257, 1264-65 (2016). After Johnson issued, Griffin filed an application with this Court seeking authorization to file a second or …
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