{ "attribution": { "source": "legal.exploreworldai.com", "canonical": "https://legal.exploreworldai.com/api/public/v1/judgment-text?id=us:ca3-25-3163-2026-09-21", "cite_as": "NovaCopilot, legal.exploreworldai.com (https://legal.exploreworldai.com/api/public/v1/judgment-text?id=us:ca3-25-3163-2026-09-21)", "license": "https://legal.exploreworldai.com/revision", "version": "legal-2026-10-04", "fingerprint": "ewai:se:d79eaf", "proof": "sha256:1155d0690354a7de2b31dacbc0b30133693baf96d7b4aa70fc7ab1068b71078f", "jurisdiction": "se", "lang": "en", "publisher": "NovaCopilot by ExploreWorld Legal", "terms": "https://legal.exploreworldai.com/om" }, "brand_source": "Source: NovaCopilot", "brand": { "product": "NovaCopilot", "platform": "ExploreWorldAI", "infrastructure": "ExploreWorld Legal", "infrastructure_url": "legal.exploreworldai.com", "legal_entity": "Valkiv Ventures AB", "permanent_url": "https://legal.exploreworldai.com/novacopilot", "source": "Source: NovaCopilot", "powered_by": "Powered by NovaCopilot", "license": "https://legal.exploreworldai.com/licensvillkor", "contact": "stig@valkiv.com" }, "item": { "schema_version": "1.0.0", "id": "us:ca3-25-3163-2026-09-21", "jurisdiction": "us", "lang": "en", "brand_source": "Source: NovaCopilot", "brand": { "product": "NovaCopilot", "platform": "ExploreWorldAI", "infrastructure": "ExploreWorld Legal", "infrastructure_url": "legal.exploreworldai.com", "legal_entity": "Valkiv Ventures AB", "permanent_url": "https://legal.exploreworldai.com/novacopilot", "source": "Source: NovaCopilot", "powered_by": "Powered by NovaCopilot", "license": "https://legal.exploreworldai.com/licensvillkor", "contact": "stig@valkiv.com" }, "sections": [ { "title": "UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE THIRD CIRCUIT", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "No. 25-3163", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "UNITED STATES OF AMERICA", "paragraphs": [ "para_4", "para_5" ] }, { "title": "Appellant", "paragraphs": [ "para_7", "para_8" ] }, { "title": "Judge John M. Gallagher, No. 5:22-cr-00326", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "Before: HARDIMAN, BIBAS, and RENDELL, Circuit Judges", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "Submitted: Sept. 17, 2026; Filed: Sept. 21, 2026", "paragraphs": [ "para_12" ] }, { "title": "OPINION OF THE COURT", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "BIBAS, Circuit Judge. Sometimes, as here, a crime spree", "paragraphs": [ "para_15", "para_16", "para_17", "para_18", "para_19", "para_20", "para_21", "para_22", "para_23" ] }, { "title": "2", "paragraphs": [ "para_25" ] }, { "title": "AND FILMS ONE OF THE RAPES", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "For more than a year, Duane Taylor dated and lived with a", "paragraphs": [ "para_28", "para_29", "para_30", "para_31", "para_32", "para_33", "para_34", "para_35", "para_36" ] }, { "title": "Then he put something over her head, drove her to a parking", "paragraphs": [ "para_38" ] }, { "title": "After they awoke, he drove them to another parking lot, where", "paragraphs": [ "para_40", "para_41", "para_42", "para_43", "para_44" ] }, { "title": "Once Taylor left the SUV, J.H. did escape and was found near", "paragraphs": [ "para_46", "para_47", "para_48" ] }, { "title": "Taylor was arrested and confessed. He pleaded guilty with-", "paragraphs": [ "para_50", "para_51", "para_52" ] }, { "title": "2251(a), 2252(a)(1), (4)(B), (b)(1), (2). At sentencing, he", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "3", "paragraphs": [ "para_55", "para_56", "para_57" ] }, { "title": "Court sentenced him to life imprisonment, applying both enhance-", "paragraphs": [ "para_59", "para_60", "para_61" ] }, { "title": "F.4th 745, 748 (3d Cir. 2025); United States v. Iannone, 184", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "F.3d 214, 220 (3d Cir. 1999); United States v. Perez-Colon, 62", "paragraphs": [ "para_64" ] }, { "title": "II. THE VULNERABLE-VICTIM ENHANCEMENT APPLIED", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "First, Taylor objects that the District Court should not have", "paragraphs": [ "para_67" ] }, { "title": "J.H. was in fact vulnerable because of her cognitive defects and", "paragraphs": [ "para_69", "para_70", "para_71", "para_72", "para_73" ] }, { "title": "Taylor had plenty of knowledge of J.H.’s vulnerabilities. He", "paragraphs": [ "para_75", "para_76", "para_77", "para_78", "para_79", "para_80" ] }, { "title": "But that is no defense. As the District Court found, “I don’t see", "paragraphs": [ "para_82", "para_83" ] }, { "title": "4", "paragraphs": [ "para_85", "para_86" ] }, { "title": "That finding was proper. The court also found that because of", "paragraphs": [ "para_88", "para_89" ] }, { "title": "JA 247. So it reasonably found that J.H.’s vulnerability facili-", "paragraphs": [ "para_91" ] }, { "title": "III. THE ENHANCEMENT FOR A PATTERN OF", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "CHILD SEX CRIMES APPLIED", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "Next, Taylor argues that his child sex crimes amounted to", "paragraphs": [ "para_95", "para_96", "para_97", "para_98", "para_99" ] }, { "title": "First off, Taylor claims that the “pattern” enhancement applies", "paragraphs": [ "para_101", "para_102", "para_103" ] }, { "title": "4(B)(ii). Since Taylor confessed to multiple rapes and does not", "paragraphs": [ "para_105" ] }, { "title": "18 U.S.C. § 2426(b)(1)(B), see id. at cmt. 4(A), the only ques-", "paragraphs": [ "para_107", "para_108" ] }, { "title": "To understand what counts as one occasion, we look to", "paragraphs": [ "para_110" ] }, { "title": "Armed Career Criminal Act. Applying its ordinary meaning the", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "Court held that “an ‘occasion’ means an event or episode.”", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "Wooden v. United States, 595 U.S. 360, 367 (2022). To", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "5", "paragraphs": [ "para_115", "para_116", "para_117", "para_118", "para_119", "para_120", "para_121", "para_122" ] }, { "title": "Id. at 368. And like the punches, a string of burglaries is a sin-", "paragraphs": [ "para_124", "para_125", "para_126", "para_127" ] }, { "title": "Without citing Wooden, the District Court intuited and ap-", "paragraphs": [ "para_129", "para_130", "para_131", "para_132", "para_133", "para_134", "para_135" ] }, { "title": "Counsel for Appellant", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "Marc S. Fisher", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "GROSS MCGINLEY", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "Counsel for Appellee", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "Rosalynda Michetti", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "Robert A. Zauzmer", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "U.S. ATTORNEY’S OFFICE", "paragraphs": [] } ], "paragraphs": [ { "text": "UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE THIRD CIRCUIT", "paragraph_id": "para_1" }, { "text": "No. 25-3163", "paragraph_id": "para_2" }, { "text": "UNITED STATES OF AMERICA", "paragraph_id": "para_3" }, { "text": "v.", "paragraph_id": "para_4" }, { "text": "DUANE TAYLOR,", "paragraph_id": "para_5" }, { "text": "Appellant", "paragraph_id": "para_6" }, { "text": "_____________________________", "paragraph_id": "para_7" }, { "text": "On Appeal from the U.S. District Court, E.D. Pa.", "paragraph_id": "para_8" }, { "text": "Judge John M. Gallagher, No. 5:22-cr-00326", "paragraph_id": "para_9" }, { "text": "Before: HARDIMAN, BIBAS, and RENDELL, Circuit Judges", "paragraph_id": "para_10" }, { "text": "Submitted: Sept. 17, 2026; Filed: Sept. 21, 2026", "paragraph_id": "para_11" }, { "text": "_____________________________", "paragraph_id": "para_12" }, { "text": "OPINION OF THE COURT", "paragraph_id": "para_13" }, { "text": "BIBAS, Circuit Judge. Sometimes, as here, a crime spree", "paragraph_id": "para_14" }, { "text": "spans separate occasions. Duane Taylor challenges two of his", "paragraph_id": "para_15" }, { "text": "sentencing enhancements: one for harming a vulnerable vic-", "paragraph_id": "para_16" }, { "text": "tim, and another for committing a pattern (meaning at least two", "paragraph_id": "para_17" }, { "text": "occasions) of child sex crimes. But the District Court reasona-", "paragraph_id": "para_18" }, { "text": "bly found that he knew or should have known that the victim", "paragraph_id": "para_19" }, { "text": "was vulnerable. And it reasonably treated the hours-long spree", "paragraph_id": "para_20" }, { "text": "of child rapes, across at least three locations, as adding up to a", "paragraph_id": "para_21" }, { "text": "pattern, not just one occasion. Because the court did not clearly", "paragraph_id": "para_22" }, { "text": "err in applying either enhancement, we will AFFIRM.", "paragraph_id": "para_23" }, { "text": "2", "paragraph_id": "para_24" }, { "text": "I. TAYLOR KIDNAPS J.H., RAPES HER FOUR TIMES,", "paragraph_id": "para_25" }, { "text": "AND FILMS ONE OF THE RAPES", "paragraph_id": "para_26" }, { "text": "For more than a year, Duane Taylor dated and lived with a", "paragraph_id": "para_27" }, { "text": "woman and her children. But after they broke up and she", "paragraph_id": "para_28" }, { "text": "moved out, Taylor snuck into her home in Pennsylvania. One", "paragraph_id": "para_29" }, { "text": "night around 2 a.m., he drove up with his headlights off. Wear-", "paragraph_id": "para_30" }, { "text": "ing gloves and a sheet, he crept inside, grabbed his ex-girlfriend’s", "paragraph_id": "para_31" }, { "text": "thirteen-year-old daughter, J.H., brought her out to his SUV,", "paragraph_id": "para_32" }, { "text": "and forced her into the trunk. When she resisted, he told her to", "paragraph_id": "para_33" }, { "text": "“shut the f*** up” and tied her hands, neck, feet, and mouth.", "paragraph_id": "para_34" }, { "text": "From there, Taylor drove J.H. up to Brooklyn, New York.", "paragraph_id": "para_35" }, { "text": "Around 6 a.m., he raped her in his apartment there as she cried.", "paragraph_id": "para_36" }, { "text": "Then he put something over her head, drove her to a parking", "paragraph_id": "para_37" }, { "text": "lot, and raped her again inside the SUV. They slept in the SUV.", "paragraph_id": "para_38" }, { "text": "After they awoke, he drove them to another parking lot, where", "paragraph_id": "para_39" }, { "text": "he raped her a third and fourth time, performed oral sex on her,", "paragraph_id": "para_40" }, { "text": "and forced her to perform it on him. He also filmed the SUV", "paragraph_id": "para_41" }, { "text": "rapes with his cellphone. During one of them, she was scream-", "paragraph_id": "para_42" }, { "text": "ing. After the fourth rape, he showed J.H. a gun and threatened", "paragraph_id": "para_43" }, { "text": "to kill her whole family if she made any noises or tried to escape.", "paragraph_id": "para_44" }, { "text": "Once Taylor left the SUV, J.H. did escape and was found near", "paragraph_id": "para_45" }, { "text": "his apartment around 5:30 p.m. A bystander called 911. J.H.", "paragraph_id": "para_46" }, { "text": "was brought to a hospital, where rape kits confirmed semen in", "paragraph_id": "para_47" }, { "text": "and around her vagina.", "paragraph_id": "para_48" }, { "text": "Taylor was arrested and confessed. He pleaded guilty with-", "paragraph_id": "para_49" }, { "text": "out a plea agreement to five crimes: kidnapping; traveling inter-", "paragraph_id": "para_50" }, { "text": "state for illicit sex; and producing, transporting, and possessing", "paragraph_id": "para_51" }, { "text": "child pornography. 18 U.S.C. §§ 1201(a)(1), (g), 2423(b),", "paragraph_id": "para_52" }, { "text": "2251(a), 2252(a)(1), (4)(B), (b)(1), (2). At sentencing, he", "paragraph_id": "para_53" }, { "text": "3", "paragraph_id": "para_54" }, { "text": "disputed two enhancements: a two-level enhancement for a", "paragraph_id": "para_55" }, { "text": "vulnerable victim and a five-level one for a pattern of child sex", "paragraph_id": "para_56" }, { "text": "crimes. U.S.S.G. §§ 3A1.1(b)(1), 4B1.5(b)(1). The District", "paragraph_id": "para_57" }, { "text": "Court sentenced him to life imprisonment, applying both enhance-", "paragraph_id": "para_58" }, { "text": "ments; Taylor now appeals both. We review the court’s factual", "paragraph_id": "para_59" }, { "text": "findings for clear error and its application of the Guidelines to", "paragraph_id": "para_60" }, { "text": "the facts for abuse of discretion. United States v. Wise, 134", "paragraph_id": "para_61" }, { "text": "F.4th 745, 748 (3d Cir. 2025); United States v. Iannone, 184", "paragraph_id": "para_62" }, { "text": "F.3d 214, 220 (3d Cir. 1999); United States v. Perez-Colon, 62", "paragraph_id": "para_63" }, { "text": "F.4th 805, 812 (3d Cir. 2023).", "paragraph_id": "para_64" }, { "text": "II. THE VULNERABLE-VICTIM ENHANCEMENT APPLIED", "paragraph_id": "para_65" }, { "text": "First, Taylor objects that the District Court should not have", "paragraph_id": "para_66" }, { "text": "applied the vulnerable-victim enhancement. He concedes that", "paragraph_id": "para_67" }, { "text": "J.H. was in fact vulnerable because of her cognitive defects and", "paragraph_id": "para_68" }, { "text": "developmental delays, but disputes that he “knew or should", "paragraph_id": "para_69" }, { "text": "have known” of them. U.S.S.G. § 3A1.1(b)(1). He also disputes", "paragraph_id": "para_70" }, { "text": "that J.H.’s vulnerability “facilitated” his crime. United States v.", "paragraph_id": "para_71" }, { "text": "Adeolu, 836 F.3d 330, 333 (3d Cir. 2016) (citation omitted).", "paragraph_id": "para_72" }, { "text": "Both objections fail.", "paragraph_id": "para_73" }, { "text": "Taylor had plenty of knowledge of J.H.’s vulnerabilities. He", "paragraph_id": "para_74" }, { "text": "had lived with her and her family for more than a year. She", "paragraph_id": "para_75" }, { "text": "routinely sucked her thumb and had her mother hold her for", "paragraph_id": "para_76" }, { "text": "security. Indeed, one of Taylor’s videos shows J.H. sucking her", "paragraph_id": "para_77" }, { "text": "thumb during one of the rapes. And the District Court properly", "paragraph_id": "para_78" }, { "text": "relied on those facts to support the enhancement.", "paragraph_id": "para_79" }, { "text": "True, Taylor had his own mental and emotional problems.", "paragraph_id": "para_80" }, { "text": "But that is no defense. As the District Court found, “I don’t see", "paragraph_id": "para_81" }, { "text": "anything in the psychological evaluations or otherwise in the", "paragraph_id": "para_82" }, { "text": "record that persuasively supports that Mr. Taylor was incapable", "paragraph_id": "para_83" }, { "text": "4", "paragraph_id": "para_84" }, { "text": "of knowing of the victim’s vulnerability. In fact, as I noted, I", "paragraph_id": "para_85" }, { "text": "think the facts … may support a contrary position.” JA 248.", "paragraph_id": "para_86" }, { "text": "That finding was proper. The court also found that because of", "paragraph_id": "para_87" }, { "text": "her vulnerabilities, J.H. “did not realize the danger that was", "paragraph_id": "para_88" }, { "text": "posed to her” and had difficulty “verbalizing requests for help.”", "paragraph_id": "para_89" }, { "text": "JA 247. So it reasonably found that J.H.’s vulnerability facili-", "paragraph_id": "para_90" }, { "text": "tated Taylor’s crimes.", "paragraph_id": "para_91" }, { "text": "III. THE ENHANCEMENT FOR A PATTERN OF", "paragraph_id": "para_92" }, { "text": "CHILD SEX CRIMES APPLIED", "paragraph_id": "para_93" }, { "text": "Next, Taylor argues that his child sex crimes amounted to", "paragraph_id": "para_94" }, { "text": "just a single occasion, not a “pattern” comprising “at least two", "paragraph_id": "para_95" }, { "text": "separate occasions.” U.S.S.G. § 4B1.5(b) & cmt. 4(B)(i). The", "paragraph_id": "para_96" }, { "text": "government responds that the enhancement applied because he", "paragraph_id": "para_97" }, { "text": "sexually abused J.H. at different times and places. No one dis-", "paragraph_id": "para_98" }, { "text": "putes that the commentary applies here.", "paragraph_id": "para_99" }, { "text": "First off, Taylor claims that the “pattern” enhancement applies", "paragraph_id": "para_100" }, { "text": "only to a pattern of convictions. Not so. The enhancement con-", "paragraph_id": "para_101" }, { "text": "siders any “prohibited sexual conduct,” whether or not that", "paragraph_id": "para_102" }, { "text": "conduct “resulted in a conviction.” U.S.S.G. § 4B1.5(b) & cmt.", "paragraph_id": "para_103" }, { "text": "4(B)(ii). Since Taylor confessed to multiple rapes and does not", "paragraph_id": "para_104" }, { "text": "dispute that those rapes would have supported convictions under", "paragraph_id": "para_105" }, { "text": "18 U.S.C. § 2426(b)(1)(B), see id. at cmt. 4(A), the only ques-", "paragraph_id": "para_106" }, { "text": "tion is whether those separate offenses make up separate “occa-", "paragraph_id": "para_107" }, { "text": "sions.” They do.", "paragraph_id": "para_108" }, { "text": "To understand what counts as one occasion, we look to", "paragraph_id": "para_109" }, { "text": "precedent. The Supreme Court has interpreted that word in the", "paragraph_id": "para_110" }, { "text": "Armed Career Criminal Act. Applying its ordinary meaning the", "paragraph_id": "para_111" }, { "text": "Court held that “an ‘occasion’ means an event or episode.”", "paragraph_id": "para_112" }, { "text": "Wooden v. United States, 595 U.S. 360, 367 (2022). To", "paragraph_id": "para_113" }, { "text": "5", "paragraph_id": "para_114" }, { "text": "differentiate occasions, we consider how close in time and", "paragraph_id": "para_115" }, { "text": "uninterrupted the crimes are; how far apart they take place; and", "paragraph_id": "para_116" }, { "text": "how similar or intertwined they are. Id. at 369. Crimes sepa-", "paragraph_id": "para_117" }, { "text": "rated by a day or more, or spread across a “significant dis-", "paragraph_id": "para_118" }, { "text": "tance,” are “nearly always treated … as occurring on separate", "paragraph_id": "para_119" }, { "text": "occasions.” Id. at 370 (internal quotation marks omitted). Con-", "paragraph_id": "para_120" }, { "text": "versely, a string of punches during a bar fight adds up to only", "paragraph_id": "para_121" }, { "text": "one occasion, even if the punches hit three different victims.", "paragraph_id": "para_122" }, { "text": "Id. at 368. And like the punches, a string of burglaries is a sin-", "paragraph_id": "para_123" }, { "text": "gle occasion if they all happen on one night, back to back, in", "paragraph_id": "para_124" }, { "text": "the same building. Id. at 375. Though Wooden interpreted a dif-", "paragraph_id": "para_125" }, { "text": "ferent law, its reading of “occasion[s]” tracks ordinary English", "paragraph_id": "para_126" }, { "text": "usage and we adopt it here too.", "paragraph_id": "para_127" }, { "text": "Without citing Wooden, the District Court intuited and ap-", "paragraph_id": "para_128" }, { "text": "plied this common-sense test properly. It stressed that Taylor", "paragraph_id": "para_129" }, { "text": "committed separate rapes at three or more locations, “set apart", "paragraph_id": "para_130" }, { "text": "from one another in time and in place.” JA 249. (Indeed, they", "paragraph_id": "para_131" }, { "text": "apparently happened across the better part of a day.) That anal-", "paragraph_id": "para_132" }, { "text": "ysis was reasonable, and the District Court did not abuse its", "paragraph_id": "para_133" }, { "text": "discretion. So we will AFFIRM Taylor’s sentence, including", "paragraph_id": "para_134" }, { "text": "both sentence enhancements.", "paragraph_id": "para_135" }, { "text": "Counsel for Appellant", "paragraph_id": "para_136" }, { "text": "Marc S. Fisher", "paragraph_id": "para_137" }, { "text": "GROSS MCGINLEY", "paragraph_id": "para_138" }, { "text": "Counsel for Appellee", "paragraph_id": "para_139" }, { "text": "Rosalynda Michetti", "paragraph_id": "para_140" }, { "text": "Robert A. 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