United States v. Dean
556 U. S. ____
(2009)
Procedural History
In the case United States v. Dean, started in the Federal Court system, because of interstate travel. It was a case in which the defendant was involved in an armored bank robbery. During the robbery the defendant pulled out his weapon and told everyone to get down. While the defendant was gathering the money from the bank clerks, his firearm accidentally discharges. The accidental discharge of the firearm is the reason that this case made it all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. Under the Statue ยงยง924(c)(1)(A)(ii), (iii). This statue is broken into three parts. Part 1 states that if a firearm is carried with you in furtherance of a crime, 5 years minimum is added to your sentence. Part 2 states that if during the crime you pull your firearm, if part of it shows, or if is made known that a firearm is present for intimidation, then 7 years is added to your sentence. Part 3 states that if the firearm is discharged during the crime, then 10 years minimum is added to your sentence. The defendant stated that the firearm was fired accidentally, so 10 years should not be added to his sentence, because the statue does not state intent. The defendant appealed the decision by the District Court, to the Eleventh Circuit Court. The Eleventh Circuit court upheld the decision given by the District Court, and stated that no proof of intent is required in the statue. The next appeal was headed to the U.S. Supreme Court in March 2009.
Facts of the Case
In the case of United States v. Dean, the main fact of the case seems to be the wording of the statue and how it applies to the defendant Dean. The defendant admits to the armed robbery, admits to pulling out his firearm, but says the firearm went off without his intent. Some of the witnesses state that when the weapon went off, the defendant acted surprised and lucky that no one was harmed. The first main fact of the case is that in the statue is...