>>16004366In America, the legal system is built upon layers of prosecutorial discretion. The police have the discretion to pull you over for speeding or to write you a ticket, have the discretion to decide what to charge you with (if anything) and the judge has the discretion to find defendants guilty or modify sentences.
If they get the vibe that your friend is remorseful, had good intentions, and maybe was a little naive (youth helps a lot with this), and assuming this is his first major violent offense, in America he would very often be shown leniency. Also, I believe in America the individual who was shot needs to press charges. Maybe the state can bring a case for something related, such as carrying a firearm without a license or something like that, but at least in America, I believe if the person you shot does not want to charge you, nothing happens.
Obviously I'm not a lawyer and none of this was legal advice, but, that's my understanding of things here. Pretty sure you're not a lawyer either, so I'm curious what you told him, lol.
