United States v. Antonio Minnis, 872 F.3d 889

Antonio Minnis pled guilty to possession with intent to distribute heroin; district court sentenced him to 188 months after designating him a career offender under U.S.S.G. § 4B1.1.
The career-offender designation rested on a prior Missouri conviction for attempted first-degree assault (Mo. Rev. Stat. § 565.050).
The legal question was whether attempted first-degree assault under Missouri law qualifies as a "crime of violence" under U.S.S.G. § 4B1.2(a)(1).
Missouri attempt law requires a "substantial step" toward committing the offense; Minnis argued Missouri’s attempt definition is broader than the generic attempt and thus not categorically a crime of violence.
The government relied on Eighth Circuit precedent holding Missouri assault/attempt offenses sufficiently narrow; the court applied the categorical approach and compared statutory elements to the generic offense.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether Minnis’s prior conviction for attempted first-degree assault is a "crime of violence" under U.S.S.G. § 4B1.2(a)(1)	Minnis: Missouri attempt (substantial-step) is broader than the generic offense and may not require the use of physical force	Government: Missouri’s attempt standard does not expand the offense beyond the generic crime; prior Eighth Circuit decisions support categorization as violent	The court held the Missouri attempted first-degree assault conviction is a crime of violence and affirmed career-offender designation
Whether Missouri law requires "physical force" as contemplated by § 4B1.2(a)(1)	Minnis: Missouri statutes for attempted assault do not require proof of physical force, so conviction may fall outside guideline definition	Government: Physical force can be satisfied without direct bodily contact; precedents reject hypothetical non-contact scenarios as excluding coverage	The court rejected Minnis’s physical-force argument, citing authority that indirect force (e.g., poisoning/infecting) falls within the definition

United States v. Harrison, 809 F.3d 420 (8th Cir. 2015) (categorical-approach review of prior convictions under § 4B1.2)
United States v. Rice, 813 F.3d 704 (8th Cir. 2016) (applying categorical approach to determine whether prior conviction is a crime of violence)
Descamps v. United States, 133 S. Ct. 2276 (2013) (statute’s elements must be the same as or narrower than the generic offense for categorical match)
United States v. Vinton, 631 F.3d 476 (8th Cir. 2011) (relying on ACCA precedent in § 4B1.2 analyses)
State v. Lammers, 479 S.W.3d 624 (Mo. banc 2016) (applying Missouri’s substantial-step attempt standard to affirm attempted first-degree assault conviction)
United States v. Alexander, 809 F.3d 1029 (8th Cir. 2016) (held Missouri second-degree assault conviction was a violent felony under ACCA and endorsed Missouri attempt analysis)
United States v. Winston, 845 F.3d 876 (8th Cir. 2017) (physical force can include indirect applications; hypothetical non-contact scenarios do not avoid coverage)
United States v. Castleman, 134 S. Ct. 1405 (2014) (discussing the scope of "physical force" in related contexts)
United States v. Fields, 863 F.3d 1012 (8th Cir. 2017) (distinguishing different Missouri assault provisions and not undermining Alexander)

The judgment of the district court affirming Minnis’s career-offender sentence was affirmed.