Commonwealth v. Wentworth

**665This case presents an opportunity to clarify the application of the Massachusetts armed career criminal act (ACCA), G. L. c. 269, § 10G. Specifically, we address whether the "modified categorical approach," as discussed in our recent cases, is the appropriate analytical framework, in certain statutes, when determining whether a predicate offense under the ACCA involved "force." The defendant, Ezara Wentworth, was indicted for a number of unlawful firearm offenses.1 The indictments charging the firearm offenses also alleged that the defendant previously had been convicted of three violent…