SCOTUS Petition Tests Whether Self-Defense Covers Firearm-Discharge Charges

A Virginia man convicted of a felony firearm-discharge charge despite being acquitted of shooting a YouTube prankster in self-defense is asking the Supreme Court to step in, nearly three years after the jury handed down its contradictory verdict.

Snapshot

Alan Colie fired on YouTube prankster Tanner Cook inside a northern Virginia mall in April 2023 after Cook followed and confronted him. A jury acquitted Colie of aggravated malicious wounding and related firearm use but convicted him of unlawful discharge of a firearm. His cert petition, Colie v. Commonwealth of Virginia, was set for conference today, per Bearing Arms.

Key points

• Mixed verdict: The jury cleared Colie of wounding Cook but convicted him on the sole discharge count, leaving him behind bars.
• Attorney's argument: Colie's lawyer, Poulliard, says the verdict is "inconsistent with the law" and argues jurors were likely confused about whether self-defense applied to the discharge charge.
• Two questions for SCOTUS: The petition asks whether Virginia violated due process by effectively blocking jurors from applying self-defense to the discharge count, and whether footnote 8 of United States v. Powell requires vacating a conviction when verdicts are logically exclusive, not just inconsistent.
• Not a good sign yet: Bearing Arms' Cam Edwards notes no justice has asked Virginia to respond to the petition, which he says doesn't bode well for Colie.

Quick take

Edwards argues Colie "deserves more than a shrug from the courts," noting the felony conviction costs him his Second Amendment rights even though the jury seemingly accepted his self-defense claim. Whether the justices take the case remains uncertain, but the underlying question about how self-defense interacts with discharge statutes matters to anyone who carries.

Read the full story: bearingarms.com