KS Aggravated Assault with a Deadly Weapon is a "Crime of Violence"

U.S. v. Benton, 876 F.3d 1260 (12/8/17) (Kan.) - Kansas aggravated assault with a deadly weapon satisfies the "crime of violence" definition in USSG § 4B1.2(a). The offense's elements are intentionally placing another person in reasonable apprehension of immediate bodily harm with a deadly weapon. First, the 10th relies on U.S. v. Ontiveros, 875 F.3d 533 (10th Cir. 2017), which relied on U.S. v. Castleman, 134 S. Ct. 1405 (2014), to hold it doesn't matter if the threatened bodily harm comes indirectly, e.g., through poison, or directly. Second, the 10th rejects Mr. Benton's argument that the crime could be committed with a harmless object that isn't capable of using enough force to be capable of causing physical pain or injury. The 10th says the definition of a deadly weapon thwarts Mr. Benton's argument. A deadly weapon is an instrument which, from the manner in which it is used, is likely to produce death or serious bodily injury. So, the 10th concludes, because a threat of death or serious bodily injury is at least force capable of causing physical pain or injury, the force required to convict someone of Kansas aggravated assault with a deadly weapon is violent physical force.