SCOTUS considers meaning of 'accompany' in bank robbery law
The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday considered whether a fleeing bank robber who broke into a home had forced an elderly woman to “accompany” him when they moved to another room.
If the answer is yes, the North Carolina defendant, Larry Whitfield, is subject to a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison, report the New York Times and the Washington Post. The law at issue imposes the additional sentence when a bank robber “forces any person to accompany him” during the crime or while fleeing.
Justice Antonin Scalia saw no ambiguity in the law. “Accompany means accompany,” Scalia said. “I don’t see any spatial component in it.” He took issue with a lawyer for Whitfield who argued that the law should not be applied when the movement was de minimis.
“The woman died from a heart attack, didn’t she?” Justice Scalia asked. “That wasn’t de minimis.”
The case is Whitfield v. United States.
