The New Mexico Supreme Court recently clarified what counts as "use" of a dangerous weapon following an incident involving a 12-year-old boy bringing a BB gun to school, according to Administrative Office of the Courts documents.
The boy was found guilty of "aggravated assault with a deadly weapon on a school staff" after the Court unanimously decided that a "defendant uses a weapon to commit assault where the defendant makes facilitative use of the lethal weapon."
"Facilitative use of a deadly weapon may be found if a deadly weapon is present at some point during the encounter, the victim knows or, based on the defendant's words or actions, has reason to know that the defendant has a deadly weapon and the presence of the weapon is intentionally used by the defendant to facilitate the commission of the assault," Chief Justice Michael E. Vigil wrote in the Court's opinion, according to the documentation obtained by the New Mexico Sun.
The case was brought to the Supreme Court after the 12-year-old brought a BB gun to his Clovis, N.M., middle school and threatened the principal, according to Administrative Office of the Courts documents.
The boy's attorney argued that the "use of a deadly weapon" should require "weapons-related conduct" or "affirmative action with the deadly weapon."
The court, however, dismissed these arguments because the child verbally threatened his principal during the encounter even though he did not brandish or point the gun at anyone.
