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Two Cal. Supreme Court Rulings Blunt Impact Of Cunningham

By Jeremy Price

In a pair of unanimous opinions authored by Chief Justice George, the California Supreme Court dealt a major blow to criminal defendants in California hoping to gain reduced sentences by virtue of the U.S. Supreme Court's Cunningham decision. In People v. Black, no. S126182A, the California Supreme Court first held that a single valid aggravating factor is sufficient to authorize the upper term. Thus, even if the trial court imposed the upper term while in part relying on a circumstance other than the fact of a prior conviction that was neither admitted by the defendant nor proven to a jury beyond a reasonable doubt, there is no constitutional violation so long as at least one other aggravating factor fell under the recidivist exception for the fact of a prior conviction (or was admitted by the defendant or proven to a jury beyond a reasonable doubt)...continue to full post

Full post as published by Criminal Appeal on July 31, 2007 (boomark / email).