Opinion ID: 171646
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Serious Potential Risk of Physical Injury

Text: Our Romero decision is strongly persuasive on the issue of whether possession of a deadly weapon in prison presents a serious potential risk of physical injury to another. See 18 U.S.C. § 924(e)(2)(B)(ii). We concluded in Romero that it did, 122 F.3d at 1341, and we now reaffirm that conclusion. For two reasons, a conviction under Tex. Penal Code Ann. § 46.10 clearly involves conduct that presents a serious potential risk of physical injury to another. First, it requires carrying, possessing, or concealing something manifestly designed, made, or adapted for the purpose of inflicting death or serious bodily injury; or ... anything that in the manner of its use or intended use is capable of causing death or serious bodily injury. See Tex. Penal Code Ann. § 1.07 (defining deadly weapon). Second, it requires that the act be committed within the confines of a penal institution. We have determined that such confines preclude any recreational uses for a deadly weapon and render its possession a serious threat to the safety of others. By its nature ... the possession of a deadly weapon by a prison inmate presents a serious potential risk of physical injury to another. Romero, 122 F.3d at 1341 (quotations omitted). [2] Accordingly, we are satisfied that Mr. Zuniga's predicate offense presented a serious potential risk of physical injury to another.