You may remember a way back there was a hullaballoo about an offender getting mad at getting a firearm enhancement when the jury found a deadly weapon. The court reversed because a deadly weapon could be something other than a firearm. Well here is the opposite problem. Well, not really a problem. A firearm is always a deadly weapon.
Let’s see if we can break this down. I am white. Rick Astley is white. Consider a firearms enhancement like Rick Astley. Say a trial court said…hey, you’re Justin, and therefore a white guy, and we will give you a white guy enhancement:
(IS a white guy)
But say it was even worse than being a white guy to be Rick Astley. And the court found that I was Rick Astley because it already found I was a white guy.
(NOT Justin)
However, you can say that if you find that a person is Rick Astley to begin with, that he is in fact a white guy. That’s not only science, but it is me Rick-rollin’ you!!!!
So needless to say, the fact that a firearms enhancement was found does in fact mean Rick Astley is a white guy (or that there was a deadly weapon involved). So needless to say, arguing a firearm is not necessarily a deadly weapon fails.
He also claimed that the firearm enhancement punished the same criminal conduct as the firearm charged. Unfortunately, this has come up before. A sentencing enhancement isn’t a sentence, and thus falls outside double jeopardy.
