State v. Outlaw

748 N.W.2d 349, 2008 Minn. App. LEXIS 193, 2008 WL 1971456
CourtCourt of Appeals of Minnesota
DecidedMay 6, 2008
DocketA07-0245
StatusPublished
Cited by23 cases

This text of 748 N.W.2d 349 (State v. Outlaw) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Minnesota primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Outlaw, 748 N.W.2d 349, 2008 Minn. App. LEXIS 193, 2008 WL 1971456 (Mich. Ct. App. 2008).

Opinion

OPINION

KALITOWSKI, Judge.

Appellant John E. Outlaw challenges his conviction of and sentence for first-degree burglary. Appellant argues that: (1) the district court’s determination that his out-of-state convictions are felonies under Minnesota law violated his right to a jury trial; (2) the state failed to prove that his out-of-state convictions are felonies under Minnesota law; (3) there was insufficient evidence to support his burglary conviction; (4) there was insufficient evidence that the current offense was part of a pattern of criminal conduct; (5) the prosecutor committed misconduct; and (6) appellant received ineffective assistance of counsel.

FACTS

On June 28, 2006, around 1:00 a.m., Paj Yang and her fiancé, John Dittbenner, were at their home watching a movie. Yang heard her dog barking and noticed that the garage lights were on. Yang and Dittbenner went out to the garage and saw that the padlock was gone. Dittbenner approached the garage and began yelling at an intruder. Subsequently, Dittbenner and the intruder began scuffling inside the garage, with Dittbenner preventing the intruder from getting out the door. Yang was standing two to three feet from the intruder and got a 30-to-60-seeond look at his face. Dittbenner was face-to-face with the intruder while keeping him in a headlock “for awhile.” The intruder eventually dug his hands into Dittbenner’s eyeball, causing Dittbenner to let him go. The intruder then hit Dittbenner with a trash can and ran away. Dittbenner sustained minor injuries.

The next day, a police officer contacted Yang'and Dittbenner at their home. The officer presented a photographic array containing six pictures, including one of *354 appellant. The officer first asked Dittben-ner, outside of Yang’s presence, if he could identify the garage intruder from among the six pictures. Dittbenner picked out appellant’s picture, indicating that he was certain that appellant was the intruder. The officer then presented the array to Yang, who also indicated she was certain that appellant was the intruder. Yang and Dittbenner did not communicate with each other during this process.

Appellant was charged with and found guilty of first-degree burglary in violation of Minn.Stat. § 609.582, subd. 1(c) (2006). The state filed a motion for an aggravated sentence under Minn.Stat. § 609.1095, subd. 4 (2006). The state presented evidence of appellant’s 11 prior felony convictions at the Blakely hearing, and the jury returned a special-verdict form finding that the burglary was committed as part of a pattern of criminal conduct. The district court sentenced appellant to the statutory-maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.

ISSUES

1. Did the district court violate appellant’s right to a jury trial by determining that appellant’s out-of-state convictions qualify as felonies under Minnesota law?

2. Did the district court err in determining that appellant has five prior felony convictions?

3. Does sufficient evidence support appellant’s conviction?

4. Does sufficient evidence support the jury’s finding that appellant’s conduct was part of a pattern of criminal conduct?

5. Did the prosecutor commit misconduct?

6.Did appellant receive ineffective assistance of counsel?

ANALYSIS

I.

Appellant argues that the district court’s determination as to whether his out-of-state convictions are felonies under Minnesota law violates the principles set out by the Supreme Court in Blakely v. Washington, 542 U.S. 296, 124 S.Ct. 2531, 159 L.Ed.2d 403 (2004). We disagree.

In Apprendi v. New Jersey, the United States Supreme Court held that “[ojther than the fact of a prior conviction, any fact that increases the penalty for a crime beyond the prescribed statutory maximum must be submitted to a jury.” 530 U.S. 466, 490, 120 S.Ct. 2348, 2362-63, 147 L.Ed.2d 435 (2000). Applying Apprendi, Blakely held that an upward durational departure from the statutory-maximum sentence based on a judge’s findings, rather than those of a jury, is invalid under the Sixth Amendment right to trial by jury. 542 U.S. at 301-05, 124 S.Ct. at 2536-38.

Minn.Stat. § 609.1095, subd. 4 (2006), provides: “[T]he judge may impose an aggravated durational departure from the presumptive sentence up to the statutory maximum sentence if the factfinder determines that the offender has five or more prior felony convictions and that the present offense is a felony that was committed as part of a pattern of criminal conduct.” In State v. Adkins, we held that the statute is unconstitutional “to the extent that it authorizes a judicial finding that a pattern of criminal conduct exists.” 1 706 N.W.2d 59, 64 (Minn.App.2005). But we have not addressed whether a judicial find *355 ing regarding prior out-of-state felony convictions is permissible.

Appellant argues that the Supreme Court’s analysis in Shepard v. United States should guide this court’s analysis. 544 U.S. 13, 125 S.Ct. 1254, 161 L.Ed.2d 205 (2005). But the Shepard court focused on which documents a sentencing court may examine in determining whether a defendant has a prior conviction. Id. at 19-26, 125 S.Ct. at 1259-63. Accordingly, we conclude that Shepard does not apply to the issue presented here.

But the question before us has been addressed by another appellate court. In State v. Thomas, 135 Wash.App. 474, 144 P.3d 1178 (2006), the Washington Court of Appeals held that a sentencing court may determine whether an out-of-state conviction is a felony under Washington law without running afoul of Blakely. Id. at 1182. The court concluded that limited fact-finding was permissible, as long as the findings were based on admitted or stipulated facts or facts proved beyond a reasonable doubt in another jurisdiction. Id. at 1181-82.

The reasoning in Thomas is persuasive. Here, appellant does not contend that the district court relied on facts not proven beyond a reasonable doubt. And the jury properly made the determination of whether appellant’s offenses established a pattern of criminal conduct, as required by Adkins. See 706 N.W.2d at 64. We conclude that a sentencing court does not violate a defendant’s right to a jury trial when it determines whether out-of-state convictions are felonies under Minnesota law. Accordingly, the district court did not err in determining which of appellant’s out-of-state convictions are felonies.

II.

Appellant argues, and respondent concedes, that the record does not indicate that the state has proved that at least five of appellant’s prior convictions are felonies under Minnesota law. We agree.

Minn.Stat.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
748 N.W.2d 349, 2008 Minn. App. LEXIS 193, 2008 WL 1971456, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-outlaw-minnctapp-2008.