United States v. Milton

Michael Milton (defendant), convicted of felonious assault and using a firearm during a felony after fatally shooting Melvin Beasley, testified he fired two unprovoked shots into Beasley's car during a car chase (sparked by Beasley learning Milton had sold him fake cocaine) merely to scare him; Milton's partner also fired his own gun during the incident, and the fatal bullet was too damaged to identify which weapon fired it. At sentencing, the judge applied a cross-reference treating Milton's conduct as second-degree murder under the federal guidelines, without making a specific finding on the statutory malice-aforethought element, and Milton appealed that sentence.