Opinion ID: 1057396
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Firearm as a “Deadly Weapon” for First Degree Aggravated Domestic Assault

Text: ¶ 6. In its first degree aggravated domestic assault instructions, the trial court declined to instruct the jury that it needed to find that the rifle was loaded and operable at the time of its use. Instead, the court instructed the jury that it needed to find that defendant was armed with a “deadly weapon” which it defined, as set forth at 13 V.S.A. § 1021(3), as “any firearm, or other weapon, device, instrument, material or substance, whether animate or inanimate which in the manner it is used or is intended to be used is known to be capable of producing death or serious bodily injury.” Defendant objected to this charge, arguing that the instructions were erroneous because an inoperable or unloaded firearm is incapable of causing death or serious bodily injury, and thus cannot constitute a deadly weapon. Defendant contends that the State failed to offer any evidence of an operable and loaded weapon. ¶ 7. The State responds first by arguing that first degree aggravated domestic assault, unlike standard aggravated assault, focuses on the threat to the victim, not actual danger, and a firearm can be used to create fear or intimidation regardless of whether it is loaded or operable. The State further argues that even if proof of actual danger is required, there was sufficient evidence for the jury to conclude that defendant’s rifle was capable of producing death or serious bodily injury. “Determination of the essential elements of an offense upon which the jury must be instructed is a matter of law and reviewed de novo.” State v. Coburn , 2006 VT 31, ¶ 14, 179 Vt. 448, 898 A.2d 128. ¶ 8. First degree aggravated domestic assault occurs when a person “uses, attempts to use or is armed with a deadly weapon and threatens to use [it] on a family or household member.” 13 V.S.A. § 1043(a)(2). As stated in the jury instructions, a “deadly weapon” is defined as “any firearm, or other weapon, device, instrument, material or substance, whether animate or inanimate which in the manner it is used or is intended to be used is known to be capable of producing death or serious bodily injury.” Id . § 1021(3). Looking at the plain language of the statute, there is no requirement that a firearm be loaded or operable to be a “deadly weapon.” See State v. Kimmick , 2007 VT 45, ¶ 12, __ Vt. __, 928 A.2d 489 (construing statute by first examining its plain meaning). Though an unloaded or inoperable firearm is generally incapable, then and there, “of producing death or serious bodily injury,” the statute does not require immediate dangerousness in fact. Instead, the statute focuses on the “use” of any object and whether such use is “ known to be capable of producing death or serious bodily injury.” Id . (emphasis added). Further, the statutory definition does not make the knowledge of the object’s capacity for deadly harm dependent upon an actor’s “intended” use alone; rather, an object’s danger can be objectively “known” from the “manner” in which it is used. Id . ¶ 9. The New Hampshire Supreme Court reached a similar conclusion when interpreting a statutory definition of “deadly weapon” nearly identical to that found in 13 V.S.A. § 1021. [1] State v. Hatt , 740 A.2d 1037, 1038-39 (N.H. 1999). The court ruled that a firearm used in an assault need not be loaded and operable to be considered a deadly weapon, reasoning that “known to be capable,” as used in the statutory definition means “generally recognized,” which in turn means “objectively understood.” Id . at 1038 (emphasis omitted). The description does not require operability because a firearm used in threatening to kill someone is objectively understood to be capable of causing serious bodily injury. Id . at 1038-39. In the present case, had our Legislature intended the definition of deadly weapon to include only firearms that are loaded and operable, it could have explicitly said so. Cf. People v. Favalora , 117 Cal. Rptr. 291, 292 (Ct. App. 1974) (interpreting statute banning sawed-off shotguns to not require operability; finding significance in the legislature’s failure to explicitly include operability in the statute); see also Wetterau, Inc. v. Dep’t of Taxes , 141 Vt. 324, 330, 449 A.2d 896, 899 (1982) (rejecting broad definition of a term when such meaning, if intended, could have been more simply accomplished). [2] ¶ 10. To construe this language otherwise—to define the crime solely according to an accused’s intent to actually injure another with a firearm rather than an intent to put another in fear of a gunshot—would make the statute virtually unenforceable absent a confession or recovery of the firearm. Equally absurd would be to base enforcement conditioned upon proof of the accused’s private knowledge that a firearm is ready and able to fire, again dependent upon admission or, possibly, recovery of the weapon, rather than the victim’s objective perception of danger based on a general knowledge that firearms are ordinarily capable of inflicting death or serious injury. Because “[a] presumption obtains against a construction that would lead to absurd results,” Craw v. Dist. Court , 150 Vt. 114, 119, 549 A.2d 1065, 1069 (1988), we hold that the State need not prove that a firearm is actually loaded or operable to constitute a “deadly weapon” for purposes of the first degree aggravated domestic assault statute. ¶ 11. In summary, the statutory language and logic leads to the conclusion that a firearm employed in a threat against a family or household member need not be shown to be operable or loaded to constitute a deadly weapon. First, the wording of the definition of deadly weapon is broadly written to include anything that is, in the manner used, “known to be capable” of producing harm. Second, several of the assault statutes to which the definition applies, most notably the charged crime, proscribe conduct beyond placing someone in actual danger. These crimes are in contrast to reckless endangerment, which requires that a firearm be operable because placing a person in actual danger is an element of the crime. Messier , 2005 VT 98, ¶ 10. In the context of first degree aggravated domestic assault, it is entirely irrelevant if a rifle brandished to punctuate a threat was loaded and able to fire when the threat was made, because this crime does not require an imminent threat. Consequently, a firearm need not be proven to be loaded and operable, immediately or otherwise, to constitute a deadly weapon under 13 V.S.A. §§ 1021(3) and 1043(a)(2), and the court did not err by omitting such a requirement in its instructions to the jury.