Oral Argument: Wooden v. United States | Case No. 20-5279 | Date Argued: 10/4/2021 | Date Decided: 3/7/2022

Wooden v. United States | Case No. 20-5279 | Date Argued: 10/4/2021 | Date Decided: 3/7/2022

Question Presented: 1. Did the warrantless entry and search of petitioner's home violate his Fourth Amendment right to be free from illegal search and seizure? 2. Were petitioner Wooden's prior convictions for ten burglaries committed during a single criminal episode at a storage facility "committed on occasions different from one another" under the Armed Career Criminal Act ("ACCA")?

Holding: Wooden’s ten burglary offenses arising from a single criminal episode did not occur on different “occasions” and thus count as only one prior conviction for purposes of ACCA.

Result: Judgment REVERSED.

Voting Breakdown: 9-0. Justice Kagan delivered the opinion of the Court, in which Chief Justice Roberts and Justices Breyer, Sotomayor and Kavanaugh joined and in which Justices Thomas, Alito and Barrett joined as to all but Part IIâB. Justice Sotomayor filed a concurring opinion. Justice Kavanaugh filed a concurring opinion. Justice Barrett filed an opinion concurring in part and concurring in the judgment, in which Justice Thomas joined. Justice Gorsuch filed an opinion concurring in the judgment, in which Justice Sotomayor joined as to Parts II, III and IV.

Link to Opinion: Here.

Oral Advocates:

For Petitioner: Allon Kedem, Washington, D.C. For Respondent: Erica L. Ross, Assistant to the Solicitor General, Department of Justice, Washington, D.C.