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The mandatory minimum has to be applied to violent felonies.
6th Circuit
An offense counts as a "violent felony" under the ACCA if (among other things) it "has as an element the use, attempted use, or threatened use of physical force against the person of another[.]" 18 U.S.C. § 924(e)(2)(B)(i). Here, the relevant North Carolina offense is defined as follows: Any person who willfully or wantonly discharges or attempts to discharge: (1) Any barreled weapon capable of discharging shot, bullets, pellets, or other missiles at a muzzle velocity of at least 600 feet per second; or (2) A firearm into any building, structure, vehicle, aircraft, watercraft, or other conveyance, device, equipment, erection, or enclosure while it is occupied is guilty of a Class H felony. N.C. Gen. Stat. § 14 34.1 (1981). As interpreted by the North Carolina courts, "[t]he elements of this offense are (1) willfully and wantonly discharging (2) a firearm (3) into property (4) while it No. 17 5027 Higdon v. United States Page is occupied." State v. Rambert, 459 S.E.2d 510, 512 (N.C. 1995).
I would have gone with the initial court - you shot at a building/structure - that is a violent crime, even though you didn't hit someone. What would happen if you shot at a person, but missed?
6th Circuit
- Man convicted in 1984 of shooting into an occupied building gets nabbed for gun possession in 2012; he gets 15-year mandatory-minimum sentence. But wait! Is shooting into an occupied building a violent crime? The Sixth Circuit says no; he didn't actually hurt anyone, so it doesn't count towards the mandatory minimum. Resentence him.
An offense counts as a "violent felony" under the ACCA if (among other things) it "has as an element the use, attempted use, or threatened use of physical force against the person of another[.]" 18 U.S.C. § 924(e)(2)(B)(i). Here, the relevant North Carolina offense is defined as follows: Any person who willfully or wantonly discharges or attempts to discharge: (1) Any barreled weapon capable of discharging shot, bullets, pellets, or other missiles at a muzzle velocity of at least 600 feet per second; or (2) A firearm into any building, structure, vehicle, aircraft, watercraft, or other conveyance, device, equipment, erection, or enclosure while it is occupied is guilty of a Class H felony. N.C. Gen. Stat. § 14 34.1 (1981). As interpreted by the North Carolina courts, "[t]he elements of this offense are (1) willfully and wantonly discharging (2) a firearm (3) into property (4) while it No. 17 5027 Higdon v. United States Page is occupied." State v. Rambert, 459 S.E.2d 510, 512 (N.C. 1995).
I would have gone with the initial court - you shot at a building/structure - that is a violent crime, even though you didn't hit someone. What would happen if you shot at a person, but missed?
