United States v. Maldonado-Palma, 839 F.3d 1244

Manuel Maldonado-Palma, a Mexican national, pled guilty in federal court to illegal reentry after deportation in violation of 8 U.S.C. § 1326.
His Presentence Report applied a 16-level Sentencing Guidelines enhancement under U.S.S.G. § 2L1.2(b)(1)(A)(ii), treating a 2002 New Mexico conviction for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon as a "crime of violence."
Maldonado objected, arguing his New Mexico aggravated-assault conviction is not categorically a "crime of violence" under either the guideline's enumerated clause or its elements clause.
The district court overruled the objection, calculated a guidelines range of 77–96 months, and sentenced Maldonado to 77 months.
On appeal Maldonado challenged only the § 2L1.2(b)(1)(A)(ii) enhancement; the Tenth Circuit reviewed the statutory/Guidelines interpretation de novo and the sentence-procedural reasonableness for abuse of discretion.
Court focused on whether New Mexico § 30-3-2(A) (assault with a deadly weapon) categorically requires the use, attempted use, or threatened use of violent physical force.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether New Mexico aggravated assault with a deadly weapon is a "crime of violence" under U.S.S.G. § 2L1.2 (enumerated or elements clause)	Maldonado: The statute covers non-violent means (e.g., insulting language) and thus is not categorically a crime of violence under either clause	Government: The deadly-weapon element requires employment of the weapon; using a weapon capable of causing death or serious injury satisfies the elements clause (and defendant conceded subsection A applies)	The Tenth Circuit held § 30-3-2(A) is categorically a crime of violence under the elements clause because ‘‘use’’ of a deadly weapon requires employing it in the assault, which constitutes violent physical force; the 16-level enhancement was proper

United States v. Halliday, 665 F.3d 1219 (10th Cir.) (abuse of discretion standard for procedural reasonableness)
United States v. Castillo, 811 F.3d 342 (10th Cir.) (de novo review for statutory interpretation of guideline terms)
United States v. Reyes-Alfonso, 653 F.3d 1137 (10th Cir.) (use of guideline text and commentary in interpretation)
Taylor v. United States, 495 U.S. 575 (Supreme Court) (categorical approach for comparing state offense to generic enumerated offense)
Ventura-Perez v. United States, 666 F.3d 670 (10th Cir.) (applying Taylor approach to § 2L1.2)
Mathis v. United States, 136 S. Ct. 2243 (Supreme Court) (distinguishing divisible statutes; modified categorical approach)
Johnson v. United States, 559 U.S. 133 (Supreme Court) (defining "physical force" as violent force in elements-clause analysis)
Voisine v. United States, 136 S. Ct. 2272 (Supreme Court) (definition and ordinary meaning of "use" of a weapon)
United States v. Ramon Silva, 608 F.3d 663 (10th Cir.) (prior Tenth Circuit decision treating NM aggravated assault with deadly weapon as violent felony)
United States v. Zuniga-Soto, 527 F.3d 1110 (10th Cir.) (categorical approach requires examining statutory elements)