Supreme Court Asked If Self-Defense Covers Firearm Discharge Charge
A Virginia man acquitted of shooting a YouTube prankster in self-defense but still convicted on a felony gun charge is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to sort out what he calls a verdict that cannot logically stand.
Snapshot
Alan Colie fired one shot at Tanner Cook during a 2023 mall confrontation Cook instigated. A jury cleared Colie of aggravated malicious wounding and the related firearm charge, but convicted him of unlawful discharge of a firearm. Bearing Arms reports the case, Colie v. Commonwealth of Virginia, is now before the justices in conference.
Key points
- The incident: Colie, working as a delivery driver, drew his lawfully carried pistol and shot Cook once in the chest after Cook followed him during a filmed harassment stunt.
- Split verdict: Jurors acquitted Colie of wounding Cook but convicted him of discharging a firearm in a building, leaving him a felon despite rejecting the prosecution's theory that he had no reasonable fear for his life.
- The legal argument: Colie's attorney, Poulliard, says jury instructions may have wrongly led jurors to believe self-defense didn't apply to the discharge charge, calling the result "inconsistent with the law."
- The cert question: Colie's petition asks whether due process requires tossing a conviction when a jury's other verdicts show it found the act justified, citing Footnote 8 of United States v. Powell on logically exclusive verdicts.
- Long odds: Bearing Arms notes no justice has yet asked Virginia to respond to the petition, which the outlet says is not a favorable sign for Colie.
Quick take
Bearing Arms argues the conviction makes little sense if jurors genuinely believed Colie acted in self-defense, and that he shouldn't lose his Second Amendment rights over what may have been confusing instructions. Whether the Court agrees to hear it remains uncertain, but the case raises a real question about how self-defense findings should carry through to every related charge.
Read the full story: bearingarms.com