Dwayne Barrett, Petitioner v. United States

The Supreme Court said a defendant cannot get two convictions under 18 U.S.C. §§924(c)(1)(A)(i) and (j) for one firearm-related act that results in death. If one act violates both provisions, Congress allowed only one conviction, not two.

The Court ruled 9-0 for Barrett, and Justice Jackson wrote the opinion.

Majority

Jackson

Roberts

Thomas

Alito

Kagan

Sotomayor

Gorsuch

Kavanaugh

Barrett

“Congress did not authorize convictions under both 18 U.S.C. §§924(c)(1)(A)(i) and (j) for a single act that violates both provisions.”

The decision limits how federal prosecutors can charge and punish a single act under these two gun-crime statutes. For example, a defendant in a crime of violence resulting in death cannot receive two convictions under both sections for the same act.

Lower courts must apply this rule in pending and future cases involving these two statutes. Prosecutors, defense lawyers, and judges will need to revisit charging decisions, convictions, and sentences that treated one act as two separate convictions.

The dispute was whether one firearm-related act could support two convictions under two overlapping federal statutes. The Court said no.

Federal defendants, prosecutors, and trial judges are directly affected. The ruling matters most in cases where one violent act with a gun also results in death.

Lower courts must follow the new rule in open cases and on remand (sent back to a lower court). Lawyers may also challenge existing convictions or sentences built on both statutes for one act.