Justices Will Consider Double Jeopardy Claim in Violent Crime

The US Supreme Court agreed to hear a double jeopardy case that asks if someone can be sentenced for both carrying a gun and murdering someone with it during a crime of violence.

In an order Monday, the court accepted an appeal from Dwayne Barrett, who faces sentences for aiding the use of a gun and aiding the use of a gun that killed a man during an armed robbery in 2011.

Barrett argues the court should resolve this dispute by holding a defendant may be punished for either one or the other but not both offenses under 18 U.S.C. § 924.

“The only meaningful difference is that section 924(j) requires proof of one additional fact: the death,” he said. “Accordingly, section 924(c) is a lesser included offense of section 924(j).”

The Biden administration had urged the court to reject the case. Because Barrett hasn’t been resentenced, former Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar said the district court could structure the sentence or the government could seek dismissal of one of the relevant charges to avoid any constitutional violation.

“The United States has long taken the position that cumulative punishment under Section 924(c) and (j) for the same use of a firearm is not permitted,” she said.

The case is Barrett v. United States, U.S., No. 24-5774, 3/3/25.