Opinion ID: 2649840
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Physical Force Element

Text: The residual clause to comment note 1(B)(iii) defines “crime of violence” as any offense that has “as an element the use, attempted use, or threatened use of physical force against the person of another.” U.S.S.G. § 2L1.2 cmt. n.1(B)(iii). To be an element of the offense, “the intentional use of force must be a constituent part of a claim that must be proved for the claim to succeed.” United States v. Vargas-Duran, 356 F.3d 598, 605 (5th Cir. 2004) (en banc) (citation and 6 Case: 12-41231 Document: 00512465250 Page: 7 Date Filed: 12/09/2013 No. 12-41231 internal quotation marks omitted). “If any set of facts would support a conviction without proof of that component, then the component most decidedly is not an element—implicit or explicit—of the crime.” Id. For Guidelines purposes, physical force requires “force capable of causing physical pain or injury to another person.” United States v. Flores-Gallo, 625 F.3d 819, 823 (5th Cir. 2010). For much the same reason that the least culpable means of violating the statutes of conviction does not constitute the enumerated offense of aggravated assault, it likewise does not have as an element the use, attempted use, or threatened use of physical force against another. See Esparza-Perez, 681 F.3d at 232 (“Assault, as commonly understood, by its nature requires proof of the use, attempted use, or threatened use of offensive contact against another person.”). As illustrated above, the statutes require proof only that the defendant pointed a firearm at another or displayed a dangerous weapon in a threatening manner toward another. See § 708.1(3). Although there are certainly situations encompassed by the statute that would constitute a threatened use of physical force, the statute does not require intent to harm or apprehension by the victim of potential harm. As such, it could include an accidental or jesting pointing of the weapon, which would not fall under the “use, attempted use, or threatened use” of physical force rubric. The statutes do not require use of the weapon, threatened use of the weapon, touching another person with the weapon, or that a victim even be aware that the weapon is pointed or displayed toward them. Cf. United States v. Dominguez, 479 F.3d 345, 347–49 (5th Cir. 2007) (finding that intentionally touching or striking with a deadly weapon against the victim’s will is a crime of violence based on the threatened use of physical force). The least culpable means of violating the statutes of conviction simply does not have a physical-force element as articulated in the residual clause of U.S.S.G. § 2L1.2 cmt. n.1(B)(iii). 7 Case: 12-41231 Document: 00512465250 Page: 8 Date Filed: 12/09/2013 No. 12-41231