United States v. Harris

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Convicted as a felon in possession of a firearm, Harris was sentenced to 300 months’ imprisonment under the Armed Career Criminal Act’s residual clause. After the Supreme Court invalidated the residual clause, Harris received a new sentence of 115 months—the top of a range set in part by the district court’s determination that Harris’s two prior convictions for Michigan felonious assault were crimes of violence under the Guidelines. The Sixth Circuit affirmed, rejecting Harris’s argument that Michigan felonious assault does not categorically involve the “use, attempted use, or threatened use of physical force,” as required by the “elements clause,” U.S.S.G. 4B1.2(a). Michigan’s felonious assault statute obliges a jury to find at least attempted or threatened offensive touching and use of a dangerous weapon; those two elements together add up to violent force. The categorical approach does not require that each element of an offense involve use of force; it requires that the offense overall include use of violent force. View "United States v. Harris" on Justia Law