United States Third Circuit

Defendant's sentence for unlawful possession of a firearm by a person previously convicted of a felony is vacated and remanded where: 1) the district court is restricted to considering the materials outlined by the Supreme Court in Sheppard for the sole purpose of determining to which part of the Pennsylvania simple assault statute defendant actually pled guilty to; and 2) in the even the materials do not demonstrate the mens rea to which defendant pled guilty, his simple assault conviction cannot qualify as a crime of violence in this case in light of the government's representation that it does not seek to define that conviction as a crime of violence to the extent it is premised on reckless conduct.

Appellate Information

• Decided 11/18/2009
• Published 11/18/2009

Judges

• Before:  SMITH, FISHER and NYGAARD, Circuit Judges.

Court

• United States Third Circuit

Counsel

• For Appellant:
  
• Renee Pietropaolo, Office of Federal Public Defender, Pittsburgh, PA, for Appellant.


• For Appellees:
  
• Robert L. Eberhardt, Rebecca R. Haywood, Laura S. Irwin, Office of the United States Attorney, Pittsburgh, PA, for Appellee.