United States v. Thomas, No. 16-1283 (8th Cir. 2016)
Annotate this CaseAfter defendant was convicted of distributing cocaine base, the district court applied the Guidelines' career-offender enhancement on the basis of two prior convictions, one of which was for first-degree battery under 5-13-201 of the Arkansas Code. The court concluded that it is not possible to inflict serious physical injury by means of a deadly weapon, as those terms are defined in the Arkansas Code, without employing physical force. Therefore, defendant's prior conviction for first-degree battery is a crime of violence. Because the district court did not err by applying the enhancement, the court affirmed the judgment.
Court Description: Per Curiam - Before Loken, Beam and Gruender, Circuit Judges] Criminal case - Sentencing. The district court did not err in determining defendant's conviction under Arkansas Code Annotated Section 5-13-201(a)(1) was a crime of violence for sentencing purposes.
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