UNITED STATES OF AMERICA v. SHAWNTANNA LEMARUS THOMPSON
US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, Motz, Oct. 26, 2017,
US Sentencing Guidelines – Crime of Violence- North Carolina’s Assault Inflicting Serious Bodily Injury (AISBI) qualifies as a “crime of violence” for sentence enhancement purposes

Facts: Shawntanna Thompson pled guilty to a drug offense and being a felon in possession of a firearm. His sentence was increased because of a prior North Carolina conviction for Assault Inflicting Serious Bodily Injury (AISBI).
Thompson appealed, arguing that AISBI does not qualify as a “crime of violence” under US Sentencing Guidelines

Held: The 4th Circuit disagreed with Thompson. AISBI qualifies as a “crime of violence” because it requires conduct that is “especially violent” resulting in “extremely serious injuries.” This is a similar degree of risk and similar purposeful conduct to the crimes already listed in the definition. Sentence affirmed.

USSG – Crime of Violence – In 2015, the term “crime of violence” was defined as any offense under federal or state law, punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year, that—
(1) has as an element the use, attempted use, or threatened use of physical force against the person of another, or
(2) is burglary of a dwelling, arson, or extortion, involves use of explosives, or otherwise involves conduct that presents a serious potential risk of physical injury to another

Note: This definition was changed in 2016 to remove the “residual clause.” The current definition can be found here.

USSG – Crime of Violence – The phrase “or otherwise involves conduct that presents a serious potential risk of physical injury to another” was known as the “residual clause”

USSG – Crime of Violence – Residual Clause – A crime falls within the residual clause only if it’s similar to the crimes listed. This requires an assessment of whether the “degree of risk” posed by the crime in question is similar to the listed crimes and whether the crime in question involves the same kind of “purposeful, violent, and aggressive conduct” as the enumerated offenses.

USSG – Crime of Violence – Residual Clause – The “ordinary case” of the crime must be examined in this “residual clause” analysis; not the facts of the case in question.

USSG – Crime of Violence – Residual Clause – Ordinarily, a statute will require that the conduct be “knowing” or “intentional” in order to qualify under the residual clause. “Negligent” or “reckless” conduct will not generally qualify.