Skip to main content

Jury consideration of self-defense

Alan Walter Colie v. Virginia

Updated Nov 12, 2026

In brief

Where it stands
Petition Pending

Awaiting an order on the petition

No decision timeline until the Court agrees to hear the case.

What it’s about
Alan Walter Colie asks the Supreme Court to review his sole Virginia conviction for unlawful discharge of a firearm.
What's at stake
Colie's request to overturn his only conviction is still pending; the Supreme Court has not agreed to review it.

Summary: written with AI from the case record.

What it's about

His petition says the jury acquitted him of the other charges on self-defense grounds but was prevented from considering that defense on the remaining charge; the petition was distributed for a conference, which alone does not mean the Court agreed to hear it.

Colie cites District of Columbia v. Heller, an earlier Supreme Court case that described self-defense as an ancient right.

Question presented

1. Does the right to self-defense meet that test, by virtue of Justice Scalia’s extensively-catalogued recognition of self-defense as an “inherent,” “ancient” and “common law” right in District of Columbia v. Heller, 554 U.S. 570 (2008), and subsequent cases? 2. If so, did the Virginia courts violate due process by effectively stopping Mr. Colie’s jury from considering self-defense, when deliberating on the only remaining allegation against him: unlawful discharge of a firearm? (After acquitting Mr. Colie of all other criminal charges on the basis of bona fide self-defense?)? 3. Does due process require vacatur of the sole conviction, consistent with Powell’s Footnote 8 exception, where the jury’s verdicts as a whole rationally convey that they found the act legally justified by self-defense, foreclosing lawful conviction?

What happens next

The Court's next step is to decide whether to hear the case. The petition was distributed for a Nov. 13, 2026 conference, but that does not guarantee a decision on that date.

Documents

1

Docket activity

7
  • New analysis added

    Nov 12, 2026 · Court records

  • AI analysis generated: Case Briefing

    Nov 12, 2026 · Generated

  • Case data updated: summary, question_presented, generation_metadata

    Nov 12, 2026 · Court records

  • Case data updated: question_presented, extraction_metadata

    Nov 12, 2026 · Court records

  • Case data updated: documents, description, proceeding_type

    Oct 28, 2026 · supremecourt.gov

Show 2 more
  • Case data updated: documents, description, document_url, proceeding_type

    Sep 8, 2026 · supremecourt.gov

  • Brief added: Petition

    Sep 8, 2026 · Court records

Sources

Primary materials plus reporting. Best-effort analysis: this explainer relies on a mix of primary materials and trusted secondary sources. Official filings and opinions remain authoritative.

Checked Nov 12, 2026Methodology

Court records and filings

Reporting and analysis