NEW YORK (AP) — Once annually, sometimes less, the full federal appeals court in New York meets to confront a perplexing legal question. This year, it was to decide whether shooting somebody point-blank in the face and stabbing somebody to death are violent acts. On Tuesday, 14 judges of the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan decided by a 9-to-5 vote that the killings were indeed crimes of violence. Their decision was necessary because Supreme Court precedent requires courts decide whether a charge used to convict someone requires in every instance that violence be involved. The debate has tied courts in knots from coast to coast.
