Dean v. United States
In another opinion finding against the defendant today, the U.S. Supreme Court, in Dean v. U.S., held that the mandatory minimum for discharging a firearm during the course of a violent crime does not require intent to discharge. Possession of a firearm during a violent crime or drug trafficking crime results in a mandatory minimum of 5 years, "brandishing" a firearm results in a minimum of 7 years, and discharging a firearm results in a minimum of 10 years.
Dean argued that, because the discharge of his firearm during a bank robbery was accidental and not intentional, he should not be subject to the mandatory minimum of 10 years. The Supreme Court disagrees - it does not matter if the discharge was accidental or intentional, the statute does not require a separate finding of intent, and if you carry a loaded gun into a bank robbery you assume the risk that the gun may go off unintentionally. As the witty Chief Justice Roberts put it in his opening lines: "Accidents happen. Sometimes they happen to individuals committing crimes with loaded guns."
