United States v. Garcia-Jimenez

Defendant appealed his sentence after pleading guilty to illegal reentry into the United States. The district court increased defendant's base offense level because of a prior aggravated assault conviction in New Jersey. The court concluded that the provision of the New Jersey statute under which defendant was convicted does not qualify as federal generic aggravated assault and therefore is not a “crime of violence." In this case, the New Jersey statute punishes conduct committed with only extreme indifference recklessness and is therefore broader than the general federal offense, and New Jersey’s definition of “attempt” is broader than the federal generic definition. Because this error was not harmless, the court vacated the sentence and remanded for resentencing. View "United States v. Garcia-Jimenez" on Justia Law