Home -> Law Blog Directory -> Criminal Law Blogs -> Fourth Circuit Blog

Criminal Law

: Fourth Circuit Blog

Involuntary Manslaughter Not "Crime of Violence"

By Jonathan Byrne

US v. Peterson: Peterson was convicted on multiple drug and gun counts. He was sentenced as a career offender, a status based partly on his 2001 conviction in North Carolina for involuntary manslaughter, arising from "an incident in which Peterson accidentally shot his close friend . . . while the two were playing with what they believed (mistakenly) was an unloaded pistol." Peterson objected to the career offender classification, arguing that the involuntary manslaughter conviction was not a "crime of violence" as defined by the Guidelines. The district court disagreed and sentenced him to 420 months in prison.On appeal, the Fourth Circuit agreed with Peterson and vacated his sentence. The court first concluded that generic "manslaughter" - which is specifically included in the definition of crime of violence - requires either that the defendant acted "recklessly" or "intentionally if under the influence of extreme mental or emotional disturbance...continue to full post

Full post as published by Fourth Circuit Blog on January 24, 2011 (boomark / email).