United States v. Carter, No. 16-16829 (11th Cir. 2021)
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Defendant pleaded guilty to possessing a firearm after having previously been convicted of a felony and was sentenced under the Armed Career Criminal Act (ACCA) based on his previous drug-related convictions.
The Eleventh Circuit explained that the Supreme Court recently clarified in Borden v. United States, 141 S. Ct. 1817, 1825 (2021), that the ACCA's elements clause does not include offenses that criminalize reckless conduct; it covers only offenses that require a mens rea of knowledge or intent. In this case, defendant was convicted of a version of Georgia aggravated assault that can be accomplished with a mens rea of recklessness -- aggravated assault with a deadly weapon under O.C.G.A. 16-5-21(a)(2) based on a simple assault under O.C.G.A. 16-5-20(a)(2). Therefore, defendant's aggravated assault conviction cannot support his classification as an armed career criminal. The court vacated the district court's sentence and remanded for resentencing.
This opinion or order relates to an opinion or order originally issued on August 18, 2017.
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