×
You've used up your 3 free articles for this month. Subscribe today.
Third Circuit: Pennsylvania Conviction for First-Degree Aggravated Assault Does Not Require Physical Force so Is Not Qualifying Predicate for ACCA Purposes
Loaded on Dec. 15, 2023
by Douglas Ankney
published in Criminal Legal News
December, 2023, page 20
Filed under:
U.S. Sentencing Guidelines,
Three Strikes,
Career Offenders,
Three Strikes Statutes/Rule,
Recidivist Enhancements.
Location:
Pennsylvania.
by Douglas Ankney
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit held that because a conviction under Pennsylvania’s first-degree aggravated assault statute, 18 Pa. Cons. Stat. § 2702(a)(1), does not require the element of physical force, such a conviction cannot serve as a qualifying predicate for purposes of the Armed ...
Full article and associated cases available to subscribers.
As a digital subscriber to Criminal Legal News, you can access full text and downloads for this and other premium content.
Already a subscriber? Login
More from this issue:
- Dangerous Encounters: Interactions Between Autistic Individuals and Law Enforcement, by Casey Bastian
- Natural Language Processing Software Can Identify Biased Jury Selection, Has Potential to Be Used in Real Time During Voir Dire, by Jo Ellen Nott
- Louisiana Sheriffs Repeatedly and Conveniently Destroy Public Records, by Benjamin Tschirhart
- Eleventh Circuit Announces Defendant May Not Be Sentenced to Home Confinement for Violating Terms of Supervised Release When Sentenced to Statutory Maximum Period of Imprisonment for the Violation, by Douglas Ankney
- CBP Promises Not to Buy Location Data – But Is It a Hollow Promise?, by Michael Thompson
- Use of Forensic Genetic Genealogy Searches to Identify Suspects Needs Regulation and Can Be Challenged, by Matthew Clarke
- Chicago Cop Lied So Many Times Under Oath That Prosecutors Are Dismissing Cases That Relied on His Testimony, by Jordan Arizmendi
- Texas Court of Criminal Appeals Clarifies Application of ‘Estoppel’ in Plea Bargain Context and Holds Trial Court Lacked Jurisdiction to Revoke Community Supervision After Statutory Term Expired, by Richard Resch
- Report Finds Effective Text Message Reminders Can Reduce Community Supervision Violations, by Jordan Arizmendi
- Third Circuit: Pennsylvania Conviction for First-Degree Aggravated Assault Does Not Require Physical Force so Is Not Qualifying Predicate for ACCA Purposes, by Douglas Ankney
- First Circuit: Justification for Upward Sentencing Departure Following Supervised Release Revocation Must Be Ade-quately Explained, by Matthew Clarke
- Sixth Circuit: District Court Committed Procedural Error by Impermissibly Ceding Its Discretion to Congress to Determine Guidelines’ Crack-to-Powder Ratio at Sentencing, by David Reutter
- Indiana Supreme Court Reverses Involuntary Manslaughter Conviction Where Trial Court Denied Defense Counsel Opportunity to Directly Voir Dire Prospective Jurors, by Douglas Ankney
- We the Targeted: How the Government Weaponizes Surveillance to Silence its Critics 2372, by Nisha Whitehead, John W. Whitehead
- Fourth Circuit: Disparate Sentence of 30 Years for Two § 924(c) Convictions Constitutes ‘Extraordinary and Compelling Reason’ for Early Release and § 3553(a) Sentencing Factors ‘Overwhelmingly’ Favor Sentence Reduction, by Douglas Ankney
- Massachusetts Supreme Court: Defense Counsel’s Overt Bias Against Own Client Constitutes Actual Conflict of Interest Requiring New Trial Without Need to Prove Prejudice, by Anthony Accurso
- New Mexico Ends Juvenile Life Without Parole, Retroactively Applies Rule to Previously Convicted Minors, by Anthony Accurso
- Fourth Circuit Reverses § 924(c) Conviction Because Kidnapping No Longer Qualifies as Predicate Offense and ‘Critical Record Documents’ Do Not Show Firearm Charge Was ‘Expressly Predicated Upon’ Any Other Offense, by Douglas Ankney
- Texas Using Highly Sophisticated Israeli Phone Tracking Software, by Jo Ellen Nott
- New York Court Rules Police Allowed to Use Familial DNA Searches, by Jordan Arizmendi
- ‘Criminal Courteaucracy’: Understanding the Unique Role of Criminal Court Administrators in Implementing Social Con-troll, by David Reutter
- Fifth Circuit: Fourth Amendment Seizure Occurred When Officer Pulled Behind Parked Vehicle, Activated Emergency Lights, and Simultaneously Ordered Suspect to Remain in Vehicle, by Douglas Ankney
- The EFF Is Tackling Border Towers, Facilitating Research into Impact of Mass Surveillance, by Anthony Accurso
- Kentucky Supreme Court Clarifies When Lesser-Included Offense Instruction Must Be Provided, Reverses Convictions Based on Trial Court’s Failure to Properly Instruct Jury, by Matthew Clarke
- After Mississippi Supreme Court Announcement, Courts Unprepared to Ensure Poor Defendants Have a Lawyer Throughout the Criminal Process, by Jo Ellen Nott
- Seventh Circuit Announces Procedures for Addressing ‘Facially Questionable Warrant’ Due to ‘Material Handwritten Alterations’ Unsigned or Initialed by Issuing Judge, by Richard Resch
- California Supreme Court Reinstates Petition for Resentencing Under SB 1437 Because Trial Court Misapprehended Le-gal Requirements for Proving Aiding and Abetting Implied Malice Murder, by Matthew Clarke
- Maine Supreme Judicial Court Announces Clarification of Test for Violation of Right to Speedy Trial Under Maine Constitu-tion, by David Reutter
- Sixth Circuit: Because Ohio’s Aggravated Robbery Statute Does Not Contain Mens Rea Requirement, Conviction Is Violent Felony Under ACCA Only if Underlying Theft in Robbery Contains Required Mens Rea, by Douglas Ankney
- News in Brief
More from Douglas Ankney:
- Third Circuit Upholds Award of $265,000 to Prisoner Who Was Sexually Assaulted Twice by the Same Guard, Aug. 1, 2025
- Fifth Circuit Announces When Initial § 2255 Petition Not Decided on Merits and Appeals Court Later Recalls Mandate Dismissing Direct Appeal and Affirms Conviction, Subsequent § 2255 Petition Not ‘Second or Successive’ Under AEDPA, Aug. 1, 2025
- $340,000 for Former Massachusetts Prisoner Whose Baby Was Stillborn, July 15, 2025
- New Jersey Supreme Court Refuses Guard’s Challenge to Firing for Failing to Report Kiss with Prisoner, July 15, 2025
- New York City Loses Bid to Withhold Jail Records, July 15, 2025
- Eleventh Circuit Announces New Deliberate Indifference Framework in Dismissing Georgia Prisoner’s Claim for Skipped Anti-Seizure Meds, July 15, 2025
- Washington Jail Settles DOJ Allegations of ADA Noncompliance in Failure to Treat Opioid Use Disorder, July 15, 2025
- Ohio Supreme Court Says Sheriff Must Get and Disclose Records of Private Contractors, July 15, 2025
- Third Circuit Rejects U.S. Sentencing Commission Amended Compassionate Release Policy, July 15, 2025
- South Carolina Prisoners Granted Class-Action Status in Suit Over Low Wages in Prison Industries Jobs, July 15, 2025
More from these topics:
- U.S. Sentencing Commission Adopts 2025 Amendments to Resolve Circuit Conflicts, Aug. 1, 2025. U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, Criminal History, Arrest/Arraignment, Sentence Enhancements/Departures.
- Summary of the 2025 Drug Offenses Amendment by the U.S. Sentencing Commission, Aug. 1, 2025. U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, Methamphetamine, Drug Mule, Machine Guns, Safety Valve.
- SCOTUS Announces Sentence ‘Has Not Been Imposed’ for Purposes of First Step Act Retroactivity Upon Resentencing When § 924(c) Offender Sentenced Prior to Act’s Enactment but Sentence Subsequently Vacated, Aug. 1, 2025. Retroactivity, First Step Act, Resentencing, Recidivist Enhancements, Stacking Mandatory Minimum Sentences.
- Third Circuit Rejects U.S. Sentencing Commission Amended Compassionate Release Policy, July 15, 2025. U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, Compassionate Release.
- Fourth Circuit: A Finding of Offering Money to Minor for Videos Depicting Specific Conduct Without Establishing Order of Events Insufficient to Establish Offer ‘Caused’ Minor to Produce Explicit Material Within Meaning of Guidelines § 2G2.2(c)(1) Cros, July 1, 2025. U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, Applicable Guidelines Issues.
- First Circuit Announces What Constitutes ‘Otherwise Using’ a Dangerous Weapon for Purposes of the Four-Level Enhancement Under Guidelines § 2B3.1(a), May 15, 2025. U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, Probation, Sentence Enhancements/Departures.
- ACLU Sues BOP Over Failure to Implement First Step Act Release Credits, May 1, 2025. U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, First Step Act, Bureau of Prisons (BOP).
- Arkansas Supreme Court Rules § 16-93-609(b)(2)(B), Relating to Parole Eligibility for Residential Burglary Conviction, Applies Retroactively to Defendant, April 15, 2025. U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, Resentencing, Bank Fraud/Robbery/Theft, Probation, Parole & Supervised Release, Eligibility for Parole.
- Fifth Circuit Announces Definition of ‘Controlled Substance’ in Effect at Time of Current Sentencing Applies for Purposes of Career-Offender Enhancement, Not Definition at Time of Prior Sentencings, March 15, 2025. Controlled Substances, Career Offenders, Sentence Enhancements/Departures.
- Virginia Parole Board Skirts New Transparency Rules, Governor Walks Back Expanded Sentence Credits—Again, March 1, 2025. Local Rules, U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, Probation, Parole & Supervised Release, Credits.