Bring a machine gun into a bank robbery you don’t have to fire a single shot and be prepared for an additional 30-year mandatory minimum prison stint on top of any other punishment. That’s what happened to a man named Bryan Burwell, who was convicted in Washington and is now serving more than 40 years behind bars.
Burwell’s lawyers recently pitched the U.S. Supreme Court on the case, urging the high court to review this issue: Whether prosecutors, at trial, should be required to prove that a person knew a particular gun was capable of automatic fire.
