Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/boundvolumes/524bv.pdf
Page Number: 769

524US2

Unit: $U98

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MONGE v. CALIFORNIA

Opinion of the Court

Justice O(cid:146)Connor delivered the opinion of the Court.
This case presents the question whether the Double Jeop-
ardy Clause, which we have found applicable in the capital
sentencing context, see Bullington v. Missouri, 451 U. S. 430
(1981), extends to noncapital sentencing proceedings. We
hold that it does not, and accordingly afﬁrm the judgment of
the California Supreme Court.

I

Petitioner was charged under California law with one
count of using a minor to sell marijuana, Cal. Health & Safety
Code Ann. § 11361(a) (West 1991), one count of sale or trans-
portation of marijuana, § 11360(a), and one count of posses-
sion of marijuana for sale, § 11359.
In the information, the
State also notiﬁed petitioner that it would seek to prove two
sentence enhancement allegations: that petitioner had pre-
viously been convicted of assault and that he had served a
prison term for that offense, see Cal. Penal Code Ann.
§§ 245(a)(1), 667(e)(1), and 667.5 (West Supp. 1998).

Under California’s “three-strikes” law, a defendant con-
victed of a felony who has two qualifying prior convictions
for “serious felonies” receives a minimum sentence of 25
years to life; when the instant conviction was preceded by
one serious felony offense, the court doubles a defendant’s
term of imprisonment.
§§ 667(d)(1) and (e)(1)–(2). An as-
sault conviction qualiﬁes as a serious felony if the defendant
either inﬂicted great bodily injury on another person or per-

W. A. Drew Edmondson of Oklahoma, Hardy Myers of Oregon, Mike
Fisher of Pennsylvania, Jeffrey B. Pine of Rhode Island, Charlie Condon
of South Carolina, Mark Barnett of South Dakota, John Knox Walkup of
Tennessee, Dan Morales of Texas, William H. Sorrell of Vermont, Mark
L. Earley of Virginia, Darrell V. McGraw, Jr., of West Virginia, and Wil-
liam U. Hill of Wyoming; and for the Criminal Justice Legal Foundation
by Kent S. Scheidegger and Charles L. Hobson.

J. Bradley O’Connell and Jeffrey E. Thoma ﬁled a brief for the Califor-

nia Public Defenders Association as amicus curiae.