Supreme Court Weighs Whether Self-Defense Can Contradict Itself in Split Verdict

A Virginia man acquitted of shooting a YouTube prankster in self-defense but still convicted on a felony gun charge is asking the Supreme Court to sort out what he calls a contradictory verdict.

Snapshot

Alan Colie fired a single shot at prankster Tanner Cook during a 2023 confrontation at a northern Virginia mall. A jury acquitted him of aggravated malicious wounding and the related firearm charge, but convicted him of unlawful discharge of a firearm. Colie's cert petition, set for conference today per Bearing Arms, asks the justices to decide whether that split verdict can stand.

Key points

• The confrontation: Cook followed Colie, a delivery driver, after Colie tried to walk away, and Colie drew his lawfully carried pistol and shot Cook once in the chest.
• The verdict: Jurors cleared Colie of aggravated malicious wounding and the firearm-use charge tied to it, but convicted him of unlawful discharge of a firearm inside the building.
• The legal argument: Colie's attorney, Poulliard, says jurors were likely confused by instructions and mistakenly believed self-defense couldn't apply to the discharge charge, a claim Virginia's appeals courts have rejected.
• The SCOTUS question: The petition leans on a footnote in United States v. Powell, asking whether due process requires tossing a conviction when a jury's other verdicts logically show the act was justified self-defense.
• The stakes: No justice has yet asked Virginia to respond, which Bearing Arms' Cam Edwards calls a bad sign, and Colie remains a felon, losing his Second Amendment rights, while awaiting word.

Quick take

Edwards argues the verdict simply doesn't add up: you can't believe someone justifiably defended himself and still convict him for pulling the trigger. Whether the Court takes the case is uncertain, but the outcome matters beyond one man's record, since it touches how self-defense instructions get applied when multiple charges stem from a single shot.

Read the full story: bearingarms.com