In United States v. Moss, No. 17-10473 (Apr. 4, 2019)
(Wilson, Branch, Anderson), the Court held that Georgia aggravated
assault did not satisfy the elements clause of the ACCA because it could be
committed recklessly.
The Court relied heavily on its prior decision in Palomino
Garcia, which held that an Arizona assault offense with a reckless mens
rea did not satisfy the elements clause in the Guidelines. The Court rejected the government's reliance
on Turner, which held that Florida aggravated assault qualified under
the elements clause. Looking only to the
face of the Florida assault statute, the Court emphasized that Florida assault
required an intentional mens rea, whereas Georgia assault did not. The Court made no mention of Florida case law
showing that aggravated assault could be committed recklessly, even though it
looked to Georgia case law to establish that proposition in this case.
