State v. Price

171 P.3d 1223, 217 Ariz. 182, 2007 Ariz. LEXIS 140
CourtArizona Supreme Court
DecidedDecember 3, 2007
DocketCR-06-0435-PR
StatusPublished
Cited by14 cases

This text of 171 P.3d 1223 (State v. Price) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Arizona Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Price, 171 P.3d 1223, 217 Ariz. 182, 2007 Ariz. LEXIS 140 (Ark. 2007).

Opinions

OPINION

BALES, Justice.

¶ 1 We accepted review to determine whether the defendant’s sentence was aggravated in violation of Apprendi v. New Jersey, 530 U.S. 466, 490, 120 S.Ct. 2348, 147 L.Ed.2d 435 (2000), and Blakely v. Washington, 542 U.S. 296, 305, 124 S.Ct. 2531, 159 L.Ed.2d 403 (2004), which hold that the Sixth Amendment affords a right to have a jury, rather than a judge, determine any fact, other than a prior conviction, that increases a defendant’s statutory maximum sentence. The trial court imposed an aggravated sentence based on facts that the State now concedes were not found in compliance with Apprendi and Blakely. We hold that the case must be remanded for resentencing and reject the State’s suggestion that, as a reviewing court, we should find other aggravating facts to uphold the flawed sentence.

I.

¶ 2 In August 2001, while driving an SUV, Jacob Price fired a gun at a car. After a police pursuit, Price escaped on foot. Police seized a handgun and methamphetamine from Price’s vehicle and later arrested him. A jury convicted him on six counts, including one count of drive-by shooting, Ariz.Rev.Stat. (“A.R.S.”) § 13-1209 (2001), a class two felony; three counts of aggravated assault of passengers in the car, A.R.S. § 13-1204 [184]*184(2001), class three felonies; and two other counts for class four felonies.

¶ 3 The drive-by shooting count and the aggravated assault counts involved the discharge of a deadly weapon and thus subjected Price to enhanced sentencing ranges for dangerous felonies. See A.R.S. § 13-604(1) (2001).1 Under A.R.S. § 13-702(0 (2001), Price’s sentences were also subject to aggravation beyond their presumptive terms if there existed certain enumerated factors, such as the “presence of an accomplice,” A.R.S. § 13-702(0(4), or “the defendant was previously convicted of a felony within the ten years immediately preceding the date of the offense,” A.R.S. § 13-702(0(11). The statute, which has since been amended, also included a “catch-all” provision allowing aggravation based on “[a]ny other factor the court deems appropriate to the ends of justice.” A.R.S. § 13-702(0(18).

¶ 4 The trial court aggravated Price’s sentences for the four dangerous felonies and imposed sentences totaling thirty-one years.2 In aggravation the court found that Price was a “danger to the community and that he was by a preponderance of the evidence” guilty of an unrelated homicide for which he had been acquitted by a jury. Although the court did not identify the statutory basis for these aggravating factors, they can only be based on the “catch-all” provision, A.R.S. § 13-702(0(18), because neither is an enumerated aggravator.3

¶ 5 The trial court’s belief that Price had committed the unrelated homicide significantly influenced the sentencing. When Price objected to the court’s considering conduct for which he had been acquitted, the judge said that if the law barred him from relying on the homicide, he would be inclined to sentence Price differently. Price did not, however, object to the judge, rather than a jury, finding the aggravating facts.

¶ 6 On appeal, Price argued that his sentence was aggravated beyond the presumptive term in violation of the Apprendi/Blakely rule. The court of appeals affirmed the sentence but relied on a different rationale than had the trial court. Reviewing Price’s judicial record, which did not include any prior felony that would qualify as an enumerated aggravator under A.R.S. § 13-702(0(11), but did include juvenile adjudications, the court of appeals concluded that the record “necessarily connotes” and the trial court thus properly found that Price was a danger to the community. State v. Price, 213 Ariz. 550, 553 ¶¶ 11-12, 145 P.3d 647, 650 (App.2006).

¶ 7 After we granted review, the State conceded that it was error to aggravate Price’s sentence based only on the non-jury determinations that Price had committed the unrelated homicide and was a danger to the community. Nonetheless, the State urges this Court to hold that Price’s juvenile adjudications fall within the Apprendi prior conviction exception and that they exposed Price to an aggravated sentence.

II.

¶ 8 The Sixth Amendment requires 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, and proved beyond a reasonable doubt.” Apprendi, 530 U.S. at 490, 120 S.Ct. 2348. In Arizona, “the statutory maximum sentence for Apprendi purposes in a case in which no aggravating factors have been proved to a jury beyond a reasonable doubt is the presumptive sentence established” by statute. [185]*185State v. Martinez, 210 Ariz. 578, 583 17, 115 P.3d 618, 623 (2005). See Blakely, 542 U.S. at 303, 124 S.Ct. 2531 (“[T]he ‘statutory maximum’ for Apprendi purposes is the maximum sentence a judge may impose solely on the basis of the facts reflected in the jury verdict or admitted by the defendant.” (emphasis in original)).

¶ 9 Based on the jury verdict alone, Price faced maximum sentences of ten and one-half years for the class two felony and seven and one-half years for each of the class three felonies. See A.R.S. § 13-604(1). Thus, unless some aggravating factor constitutionally authorized an increase in Price’s maximum sentence, the judge erred when he sentenced Price to aggravated sentences of fifteen years for the class two felony and eight years each for the class three felonies.

¶ 10 There are three ways an aggravating factor can constitutionally increase a maximum sentence. A jury can find the aggravating factor beyond a reasonable doubt. Apprendi, 530 U.S. at 490, 120 S.Ct. 2348. The defendant can waive his Apprendi rights by stipulating to “the relevant facts or consenting] to judicial factfinding.” Blakely, 542 U.S. at 310, 124 S.Ct. 2531. Finally, either the judge or the jury can find “the fact of a prior conviction.” Apprendi, 530 U.S. at 490, 120 S.Ct. 2348.

A.

¶ 11 In this case, the jury did not find and Price did not admit any of the aggravating factors that subjected him to a sentence above the statutory presumptive sentence.

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Bluebook (online)
171 P.3d 1223, 217 Ariz. 182, 2007 Ariz. LEXIS 140, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-price-ariz-2007.