United States v. Melvin Williams

── United States v. Melvin Williams ── Court: Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit Date: May 14, 2026 Category: General NOT PRECEDENTIAL UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE THIRD CIRCUIT ______________ No. 25-2281 ______________ UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Appellant v. MELVIN WILLIAMS, ______________ On Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania (D.C. No. 2:94-cr-00196-001) U.S. District Judge: Honorable Anita B. Brody ______________ Submitted Under Third Circuit L.A.R. 34.1(a) May 11, 2026 ______________ Before: HARDIMAN, SHWARTZ, and MASCOTT, Circuit Judges. (Filed: May 14, 2026) ______________ OPINION* ______________  This disposition is not an opinion of the full court and, pursuant to I.O.P. 5.7, does not constitute binding precedent. 1 SHWARTZ, Circuit Judge. The Government appeals the District Court’s order granting Melvin Williams’s 28 U.S.C. § 2255 motion to vacate his conviction under 18 U.S.C. § 924(c). Applying the applicable legal standard, Willliams is not entitled to this relief so we will reverse and remand. I Williams conspired with others to rob drug dealers at gunpoint. On one occasion, he and his co-conspirators saw two FBI special agents approach their car. Williams, who was armed, ordered his co-conspirators to shoot the agents. Both agents were shot and one of the conspirators was killed. Relevant here, Williams was charged with conspiracy to commit Hobbs Act robbery, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1951 (Count One), conspiracy to assault and kill federal agents in the performance of their official duties, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 371 (Count Two), attempt to kill two federal agents, and aiding and abetting same, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 1114 and 2 (Counts Three and Four), assaulting and resisting two federal agents, and aiding and abetting same, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 111 and 2 (Counts Five and Six), and knowingly using and carrying a firearm during and in relation 2 to a crime of violence, and aiding and abetting same, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 924(c)1 and 2 (Count Eight). At trial, the District Court instructed the jury that to convict Williams of violating § 924(c) it must find that (1) the Government proved beyond a reasonable doubt that Williams had possession or control of a firearm at the time a crime of violence was committed, and (2) Counts One through Six were each crimes of violence. The Court also instructed the jury that: [T]o find the defendant guilty of [the § 924(c)] offense, you need not find that the firearm was used and carried during and in relationship to all of the underlying crimes of violence. It is sufficient if you find beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant knowingly used and carried a firearm during and in relation to any[]one of the underlying crimes of violence. . . . It is sufficient if you find beyond a reasonable doubt that [Williams] knowingly used and carried or aided and abetted or willfully caused the use or carrying of a single firearm listed in the indictment during and in relation to a crime