Relying on circuit precedent, the Court rejected the defendant's argument that murder by surreptitious poisoning would not satisfy the elements clause, because it is "capable" of causing pain or injury. It was irrelevant that the offense was committed with indirect, rather than direct, force. Also relying on circuit precedent, the Court found that attempting to commit murder had an attempted use of force as an element. The Court also reiterated that, under circuit precedent, Florida aggravated assault and robbery were violent felonies.
Judge Jill Pryor concurred in the result. Although bound by circuit precedent, she opined that the attempted murder offense should not satisfy the elements clause. She disagreed with circuit precedent conflating an attempt to commit a violent felony with attempt to use physical force, arguing that this conflation rested on faulty logic: one could attempt to commit a violent crime without attempting to use physical force.
