*After examining the briefs and appellate record, this panel has determined

unanimously that oral argument would not materially assist the determination

of this appeal. See Fed. R. App. P. 34(a)(2); 10th Cir. R. 34.1(G). The case is

therefore ordered submitted without oral argument.

F I L E D

United States Court of Appeals

Tenth Circuit

OCT 28 2003

PATRICK FISHER

Clerk

PUBLISH

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

TENTH CIRCUIT

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,

Plaintiff-Appellee,

v. No. 03-2025

TRINIDAD LUCIO-LUCIO,

Defendant-Appellant.

APPEAL FROM THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

FOR THE DISTRICT OF NEW MEXICO

(D.C. NO. CR-02-1403 WPJ)

Submitted on the briefs: *

Stephen P. McCue, Federal Public Defender, Steve Sosa, Assistant Federal Public

Defender, and Shari Lynn Allison, Research and Writing Specialist, Las Cruces,

New Mexico, for Defendant-Appellant.

David C. Iglesias, United States Attorney, and David N. Williams, Assistant

United States Attorney, Albuquerque, New Mexico, for Plaintiff-Appellee.

Before TACHA , Chief Circuit Judge, McKAY and McCONNELL , Circuit

Judges.
-2-

McCONNELL , Circuit Judge.

In June of 2002, a border patrol agent apprehended Mr. Trinidad LucioLucio for violating the immigration laws. Mr. Lucio-Lucio had been deported

twice previously, most recently on May 10, 2002. He subsequently pled guilty to

one count of illegally reentering the United States, in violation of 8 U.S.C. §

1326. Because he had a prior conviction in Texas for driving while intoxicated,

which had been charged and sentenced as a felony because of earlier DWI

offenses, his offense level was subject to some degree of enhancement under

U.S.S.G. § 2L1.2(b)(1). Although Mr. Lucio-Lucio urged the trial court to apply

only the four-level enhancement for having a past felony conviction, the court

ultimately decided to apply the harsher eight-level enhancement reserved for

aggravated felonies. It reasoned that this Court’s previous decision in Tapia

Garcia v. INS , 237 F.3d 1216 (10th Cir. 2001), mandated the conclusion that

driving while intoxicated is a “crime of violence,” and therefore an aggravated

felony under the Sentencing Guidelines. Mr. Lucio-Lucio appeals, and we

REVERSE.
-3-

I

The sentencing guideline that governs this case provides for a range of

enhancements depending on the severity of an illegal alien’s convictions prior to

removal. See U.S.S.G. § 2L1.2(b)(1) (2002). An alien previously convicted of an

aggravated felony is subject to an eight-level enhancement. Id. § 2L1.2(b)(1)(C). 

The application notes direct the courts to use the definition of “aggravated

felony” from 8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(43). See U.S.S.G. § 2L1.2 cmt. n.2. That

section lists several types of aggravated felony, among them a “crime of violence

(as defined in Section 16 of Title 18, but not including a purely political offense)

for which the term of imprisonment [is] at least one year.” 8 U.S.C. §

1101(a)(43)(F). 18 U.S.C. § 16 in turn defines a “crime of violence” as:

(a) an offense that has as an element the use, attempted

use, or threatened use of physical force against the

person or property of another, or

(b) any other offense that is a felony and that, by its

nature, involves a substantial risk that physical force

against the person or property of another may be used in

the course of committing the offense.

Clearly, DWI does not satisfy § 16(a). The question before us, therefore, is

whether driving while intoxicated is an offense “that, by its nature, involves a

substantial risk that physical force against the person or property of another may

be used in the course of committing the offense.” § 16(b).

Despite the Government’s insistence to the contrary, this Court has not yet
-4-

ruled on that question. In Tapia Garcia , a panel of this Court reviewed a decision

of the Board of Immigration Appeals under a deferential standard of review; we

held only that “the BIA reasonably construed 18 U.S.C. § 16(b) to include an

offense for driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol.” 237 F.3d at 1222. 

Deciding that an interpretation is reasonable is not to decide that it is correct. See

Williams v. Taylor , 529 U.S. 362, 410 (2000). We now proceed to address the

issue de novo . See United States v. Saenz-Mendosa , 287 F.3d 1011, 1013 n.1

(10th Cir. 2002).

II

According to § 16(b), we are to consider whether driving while intoxicated

is a crime that, “by its nature,” poses a substantial risk that physical force may be

used in the commission of the offense. That phrase signals that we are to use the

“categorical approach,” under which “a court must only look to the statutory

definition, not the underlying circumstances of the crime.” United States v.

Reyes-Castro , 13 F.3d 377, 379 (10th Cir. 1993); cf. Taylor v. United States , 495

U.S. 575, 588-89 (1990) (applying this approach in interpreting the Armed Career

Criminal Act). The Texas statutes under which Mr. Lucio-Lucio was convicted

state that DWI occurs “if the person is intoxicated while operating a motor

vehicle in a public place,” Tex. Penal Code Ann. § 49.04, and upgrade the offense

to a felony when preceded by two or more convictions for any of several similar
 

2There are unusual scenarios in which one could technically violate the DWI

statute without creating the risks normally associated with drunk driving. See,

e.g., Barton v. State, 882 S.W.2d 456, 459 (Tex. App. 1994) (holding that the

defendant could be guilty of DWI if he attempted to drive, even though the

vehicle was not in motion). For that reason, the Second Circuit held that a similar

DWI offense is not by its nature a crime of violence. See Dalton v. Ashcroft, 257

F.3d 200, 205-06 (2d Cir. 2001) (New York DUI is not a crime of violence

because it applies to some harmless activity, such as sleeping at the wheel of a car

with the engine off). We do not take the phrase “by its nature” as an invitation to

search for exceptional cases of this kind. Rather, the proper inquiry is “one that

contemplates the risks associated with the proscribed conduct in the mainstream

of prosecutions brought under the statute.” Id. at 209 (Walker, C.J., dissenting).

-5-

alcohol-related offenses. Id. § 49.09. For purposes of this analysis, we take the

statutory term “operating a motor vehicle” to refer to the typical case – actual

driving. 2

Every circuit that has considered the issue directly has determined that

driving while intoxicated, by itself, is not a “crime of violence” under 18 U.S.C. §

16. See Dalton v. Ashcroft , 257 F.3d 200, 205-06 (2d Cir. 2001); United States v.

Chapa-Garza, 243 F.3d 921, 927 (5th Cir. 2001); Bazan-Reyes v. INS , 256 F.3d

600, 612 (7th Cir. 2001); Montiel-Barraza v. INS , 275 F.3d 1178 (9th Cir. 2002)

(per curiam) (holding that repeat DUI is not a crime of violence). And although

this Court has, on deferential review, upheld the BIA’s determination that DWI is

a crime of violence, see Tapia Garcia , 237 F.3d at 1222, the BIA has since bowed

to the weight of contrary circuit authority and overruled its previous

determination. In re Ramos , 23 I. & N. Dec. 336 (BIA 2002).
 

3See generally Karen Crawford & Thomas Hutchins, Ignoring Congress: The

Board of Immigration Appeals and Crimes of Violence in Puente and Magallanes,

6 Bender’s Im. Bul. 67 (2001).

-6-

We agree with our sister circuits and the BIA that to call DWI a crime of

violence would stretch the § 16(b) definition too far. In the absence of a clear

indication that Congress intended otherwise, we must “read the definition in light

of the term to be defined, . . . which calls to mind a tradition of crimes that

involve the possibility of more closely related, active violence.” United States v.

Doe, 960 F.2d 221, 225 (1st Cir. 1992); Bazan-Reyes , 256 F.3d at 610.

Legislative history confirms that Congress meant its definition to align with

the everyday meaning of the term. 3

 Section 16(b) was enacted as part of the

Comprehensive Crime Control Act of 1984. That statute also included a chapter

on bail reform, which required a hearing before someone who had committed a

crime of violence or one of various other serious offenses could be released on

bail. See Pub. L. No. 98-473, sec. 203(a), § 3142(f), 98 Stat. 1976, 1979-80

(1984) (codified as amended at 18 U.S.C. § 3142(f)). Congress included in that

chapter a definition of “crime of violence” substantially identical to § 16. See id.

sec. 203(c), § 3156(a)(4), 98 Stat. at 1985 (codified as amended at 18 U.S.C. §

3156(a)(4)). The Senate Report on the legislation explains that the crimes of

violence and other serious crimes that make a hearing mandatory are meant to

include “essentially the same categories of offenses described in the District of
 

4Many states categorize certain crimes as violent ones; like the D.C. Code,

they generally limit the category to crimes involving actual or intended violence. 

See Doe, 960 F.2d at 225 (surveying state definitions).

-7-

Columbia Code by the terms ‘dangerous crime’ and ‘crime of violence’ for which

a detention hearing may be held under that statute.” S. Rep. No. 98-225, at 20-21

& n.60, reprinted in 1984 U.S.C.C.A.N. 3182, 3203-04.

The referenced D.C. Code provisions defined crimes of violence to include

the following: 

murder, forcible rape, carnal knowledge of a female

under the age of sixteen, taking or attempting to take

immoral, improper, or indecent liberties with a child

under the age of sixteen years, mayhem, kidnaping,

robbery, burglary, voluntary manslaughter, extortion or

blackmail accompanied by threats of violence, arson,

assault with intent to commit any offense, assault with a

dangerous weapon, or an attempt or conspiracy to

commit any of the foregoing offenses.

D.C. Code § 23-1331(4) (1981) (most recently amended 2002). Dangerous crimes

included taking property by force, certain kinds of burglary, certain kinds of

arson, forcible rape, assault with intent to rape, and some drug offenses. Id. § 23-

1331(3) (most recently amended 2001). Drunk driving did not appear on either

list. More significantly, the offenses listed involve far more of an intent to

commit violence, or at least a willingness to commit violence if necessary, than

the typical DWI offense. 4

 To hold DWI to be a crime of violence would frustrate
 

5That the violence be committed intentionally or close to intentionally is a

necessary condition, not a sufficient one. Of course, the phrase “in the course of

the offense” also suggests that the risked violence must have some nexus to the

(continued...)

-8-

Congress’s intent to differentiate among crimes and to apply more severe

sanctions to a limited class of especially heinous offenses.

The statutory definition captured that Congressional intent by including

only those crimes that pose “a substantial risk that physical force may be

used . . . in the course of committing the offense. ” 18 U.S.C. § 16(b) (emphasis

added). For a use of force to be “in the course of committing the offense,” we

think it must be part of the course of action that the offender commits – and thus

it, too, must be actively committed. See Chapa-Garza , 243 F.3d at 927 (“section

16(b) refers only to that physical force that may be used to perpetrate the

offense”) (emphasis added); Ramos, 23 I. & N. Dec. at 346 (noting that cases

have distinguished between crimes that risk violent conduct and those that

merely risk harmful consequences by requiring the harm to come about through

“action rather than inaction”); United States v. Gracia-Cantu , 302 F.3d 308, 312-

13 (5th Cir. 2002) (holding that injury to a child is not a crime of violence

because “many convictions for this offense involve an omission rather than an

intentional use of force”). Usually, this kind of active commission carries a

connotation of at least some degree of intent, and we are persuaded that it does

so here. See Bazan-Reyes , 256 F.3d at 611; Chapa-Garza , 243 F.3d at 927. 5
 

5

(...continued)

offense conduct; an offense that increases the likelihood of intentional violence

long after the offense conduct is over may still fall outside of the § 16(b)

definition. See United States v. Lane, 252 F.3d 905, 907 (7th Cir. 2001) (Posner,

J.) (“A crime that increases the likelihood of a crime of violence need not itself

be a crime of violence.”).

-9-

According to the legislative history, the paradigmatic offense that falls

under § 16(b) is burglary. S. Rep. No. 98-225, at 307, reprinted in 1984

U.S.C.C.A.N. at 3486-87. There, what is risked is not just injury, but intentional

violence committed by the offender in connection with the same general course

of action. The burglar thus risks committing an act of violence in connection

with the commission of the offense.

By contrast, a drunk driver typically does not mean to cause an accident at

all, and can hardly be said to “commit” the resulting violence in the same way

that a burglar does. Although the drunk driver recklessly risks harming others,

the risk is not that this will happen intentionally (as in burglary). Rather, it is

that the impairment of the driver’s faculties will result in negligent driving,

which in turn will result in an accident. Thus, while burglary and DWI are

similar in that they both recklessly risk harm, they differ greatly in the character

of the act that immediately causes the harm. A burglar is reckless of the risk of

committing an intentional act of violence; a drunk driver is reckless of the risk

that he will accidentally cause harm. Whatever the precise degree of intent

necessary to separate violent conduct from conduct that leads to harmful
-10-

consequences, it seems plain that DWI resulting in an accident – which, when it

happens, is a purely unintended result – falls into the latter category. Hence,

DWI is not within the ambit of § 16(b). See Bazan-Reyes , 256 F.3d at 611-12

(“§ 16(b) is limited to crimes in which the offender is reckless with respect to the

risk that intentional physical force will be used in the course of committing the

offense.”) (emphasis added); United States v. Trinidad-Aquino , 259 F.3d 1140,

1145 (9th Cir. 2001) (“[A] defendant cannot commit a ‘crime of violence’ if he

negligently – rather than intentionally or recklessly – hits someone or something

with a physical object.”).

Without a distinction between crimes that potentially involve violent

conduct and crimes that merely involve the possibility of resulting harm, the §

16(b) definition would be far too inclusive; any sufficiently dangerous activity,

including extreme speeding, unlawful transportation of hazardous chemicals, or

child neglect, might qualify as a crime of violence. See Dalton , 252 F.3d at 207

(“Crimes of gross negligence or reckless endangerment, such as leaving an infant

alone near a pool, involve a risk of injury . . . .”); United States v. Lane , 252

F.3d 905, 907 (7th Cir. 2001). As then-Chief Judge Breyer observed in Doe, if

one focuses on “the risk of direct future harm that present conduct poses,” then

“how could one then exclude, say, drunken driving or unlawful transportation of

hazardous chemicals or other risk-creating crimes . . . ? There is no reason to
 

6Doe involved the definition of “violent felony” that appears in 18 U.S.C. §

924(e) and U.S.S.G. § 4B1.2(a)(2), which in one respect is significantly more

broad than the definition in § 16. See infra Part III. If courts must be cautious in

extending that definition to include conduct that risks future harms, this applies a

fortiori to the more limited § 16(b) definition.

 

7Unlike the offense in Farnsworth, Mr. Lucio-Lucio’s prior offense includes

neither actual harm to another nor grossly negligent driving among its elements.

-11-

believe that Congress meant to enhance sentences based on, say, proof of

drunken driving convictions.” 960 F.2d at 225. 6

III

Our interpretation of §16(b) preserves the distinction between that section

and another provision of the Sentencing Guidelines that also refers to crimes of

violence. U.S.S.G. § 4B1.2(a)(2) defines the term “crime of violence” as

including conduct “that presents a serious potential risk of physical injury to

another.” In one respect, that is obviously broader than §16(b), which is limited

to crimes entailing a “substantial risk that physical force . . . may be used in the

course of committing the offense.” In United States v. Farnsworth , 92 F.3d

1001, 1008-09 (10th Cir. 1996), this Court held that the defendant’s prior

conviction for “killing a human being while driving under the influence of drugs

or alcohol and with gross negligence” satisfied the definition in § 4B1.2(a)(2).

Id. at 1008. 7 Grossly negligent driving while intoxicated self-evidently posed “a

serious potential risk of physical injury to another.” U.S.S.G. § 4B1.2(a)(2). But

because the risk in the DWI context is not that the injury will occur through the
 

8Compare Bazan-Reyes, 256 F.3d at 609; United States v. Rutherford, 54 F.3d

370, 372-73 (7th Cir. 1995); United States v. Parson, 955 F.2d 858, 866 (3d Cir.

1992); Dalton, 257 F.3d at 206-07; Chapa-Garza, 243 F.3d at 926-27 (all

construing “use of physical force” to imply an intentionality requirement), with

Trinidad-Aquino, 259 F.3d at 1146; Ramos, 23 I. & N. Dec. at 345 (both holding

that the conduct must have been at least reckless), and with Omar v. INS, 298

F.3d 710, 720 (8th Cir. 2002); Le v. United States Att’y Gen., 196 F.3d 1352,

(continued...)

-12-

commission of acts of force, it cannot be described as posing “a substantial risk

that physical force . . . may be used in the course of committing the offense.” 18

U.S.C. § 16(b). If we were to follow the Government and conclude that § 16(b)

reaches DWI offenses merely because they “involve a significant risk of harm to

the person or property of others,” Appellee’s Br. at 7, we would collapse the

distinction between these two differently-worded definitions.

IV

Our decision today is confined to § 16(b) cases in which the statutory

offense does not involve actual injury to others. Because we hold that in the

DWI context, the possible use of physical force is not committed “in the course

of committing the offense,” we need not consider whether § 16(a), which does

not include this limiting language, contains an implicit intent requirement that

keeps it from applying to crimes – such as DWI resulting in death or injury –

involving unintentional but actual injury to another. Some courts have reached

that conclusion because they hold that any “use” of physical force, which is

involved in both § 16(a) and § 16(b), must be intentional. 8

 We leave the question
 

8

(...continued)

1353-54 (11th Cir. 1999) (per curiam); United States v. Santana-Garcia, No. 98-

2234, 2000 WL 491510 at *2-*3 (6th Cir. Apr. 18, 2000) (unpublished) (all

rejecting an intentionality requirement in DWI cases resulting in serious injury or

death). While we have not ruled on whether § 16(a) has an intentionality

requirement, we held in United States v. Lujan, 9 F.3d 890, 891-92 (10th Cir.

1993), that manslaughter is a violent felony under a similar provision in 18 U.S.C.

§ 924(e)(2)(B)(i), even though intentionality was not an element of the

manslaughter offense at issue there.

-13-

of intentionality under § 16(a) for another day.

V

The Government argues that, even if pure DWI is not “by its nature” a

crime of violence, by some alchemy, repeat DWI is. Repeat offenders, the

argument goes, have special reason to know of the dangers of DWI, and are

therefore particularly reckless when they commit the offense. Therefore, the

Government would have us conclude that a violation of Tex. Penal Code § 49.04

may or may not be a crime of violence, depending on whether it is enhanced

under § 49.09. Some authority suggests that making an offense’s status depend

on the presence of enhancing factors in this way would be inconsistent with our

categorical approach. See United States v. Corona-Sanchez , 291 F.3d 1201,

1208-11 (9th Cir. 2002); Montiel-Barraza , 275 F.3d at 1180. We need not

decide that question today, though, because we are not convinced that mere

recidivism is enough to change DWI into a crime that is “by its nature” violent. 

See Dalton , 257 F.3d at 205-06. It is true that we have remarked that “[o]ne who
-14-

drives a vehicle while under the influence after having been convicted of that

offense knows better than most that his conduct is not only illegal, but entails a

substantial risk of harm to himself and others.” United States v. Tan , 254 F.3d

1204, 1210 (10th Cir. 2001). But whatever increased awareness of risk

accompanies prior convictions, it is not so great that the risked injury becomes

more in the nature of intentional conduct than an unintended consequence.

VI

In holding that DWI is not a crime of violence under § 16(b), we by no

means mean to minimize the severity of the offense. We understand that drunk

driving is an irresponsible and often fatal act. See Farnsworth , 92 F.3d at 1008. 

Our holding today does not reach the question of whether pure DWI is a “crime

of violence” under other definitions of the term like the one at issue in

Farnsworth , or whether DWI actually causing injury or death to another is a

crime of violence under § 16(a). Furthermore, it is possible that another DWI

statute, one which required sufficiently reckless driving, might proscribe conduct

with a sufficient nexus to the force unleashed in an accident to make it a crime of

violence even under § 16(b). But the Texas law at issue here did not, and

accordingly, we REVERSE the district court’s application of the eight-level

enhancement, and REMAND for resentencing consistent with this opinion.