US v. Rice: Rice pleaded guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm. At sentencing, one issue was whether a prior conviction for “assault inflicting serious injury by strangulation” in North Carolina was a crime of violence that increased Rice’s base offense level. The district court concluded this was a “crime of violence” and sentenced Rice to the bottom of the resulting advisory Guideline range.
On appeal, the Fourth Circuit affirmed Rice’s sentence, 2-1. Rice argued that the assault conviction was not a crime of violence because it the only intent required to sustain a conviction was culpable negligence. Had his prior offense been “run of the mill assault . . . he would have a point.” The complicating factor here was strangulation, which by its nature involves conduct that “could not be accomplished absent an intentional, knowing or purposeful state of mind.” This was true “even if not expressly stated” in North Carolina law. In addition, no “ordinary person would say that a person could strangle another without a purposeful, knowing or intentional state of mind.” Nor could Rice point to any cases sustaining convictions for strangulation that did not involve purposeful conduct.
Judge King dissented, arguing that strangulation in North Carolina did not have any additional element (beyond regular assault) that increases its mens rea.
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