Charles Borden had been convicted three times of aggravated assault under Tennessee law. Federal law prohibits possession of firearms by convicted felons, and the Armed Career Criminal Act (ACCA) provides a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years for those with three prior convictions of violent felonies. Two of Borden's convictions were under a subsection of Tennessee's aggravated assault law covering intentional or knowing violations, and one was under a subsection covering reckless violations. Borden was sentenced to the mandatory minimum over his objection that reckless aggravated assault is not a "violent felony" within the meaning of the ACCA.The federal courts of appeals were divided on the question of whether crimes with a reckless mens rea were included within the particular clause of the ACCA invoked in this case. That clause includes convictions of a crime which "has as an element the use, attempted use, or threatened use of physical force against the person of another."The Supreme Court reversed in a fractured decision, unable to reach majority agreement on a single rationale. The result is that any crime which has a definition permitting conviction on the basis of mental state of recklessness will not count for the ACCA.Featuring: Kent Scheidegger, Legal Director and General Counsel, Criminal Justice Legal Foundation ---Dial 888-752-3232 to access the call.

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