The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has vacated murder-for-hire convictions based on a landmark ruling that such crimes do not categorically qualify as crimes of violence under federal law.
The court determined that federal murder-for-hire resulting in death cannot serve as a predicate offense for enhancement or sentencing purposes. This decision forces federal courts to conduct individualized assessments of whether specific murder-for-hire offenses constitute violent felonies on a case-by-case basis rather than applying a blanket classification.
The defendant in this case hired multiple hit men. Two murders were successfully carried out against his business associates. He subsequently hired another hit man to kill three additional targets, though those murders never occurred. The district court previously vacated the solicitation convictions involving the three unsuccessful murders but declined to vacate the two convictions tied to the completed killings.
The Ninth Circuit's ruling now mandates that the district court vacate the two remaining solicitation convictions as well. The decision rests on the principle that murder-for-hire, even when resulting in death, does not automatically constitute a categorical crime of violence under the Armed Career Criminal Act or similar federal sentencing enhancements.
This interpretation aligns with recent Supreme Court precedent emphasizing that only offenses with an inherent element of substantial risk of serious bodily injury qualify as crimes of violence. The court found that murder-for-hire, while deplorable, lacks the necessary categorical characteristics required to meet this definition.
The ruling creates practical implications for federal sentencing. Prosecutors cannot rely on a murder-for-hire conviction alone to trigger mandatory minimum sentences or sentencing enhancements tied to crimes of violence. Instead, they must prove the defendant's specific conduct presented a substantial risk of serious bodily injury.
This decision affects how federal courts address past convictions and resentencing hearings involving murder-for-hire offenses. Defendants