Opinion ID: 177345
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Carlos Portalatin

Text: On July 12, 2002, Portalatin accosted a man at gunpoint and forced him to drive to an empty street in Brooklyn. Following a struggle, the victim managed to escape, and Portalatin drove away in the car. He was convicted of robbery in the first degree and kidnaping in the second degree, both class B violent felonies. See N.Y. Penal Law § 70.02(1). The prosecution asked the court to sentence Portalatin as a persistent felony offender. A sentencing hearing was held on April 28, 2003, at which the prosecution proved that Portalatin had been previously convicted of the following: (1) attempted burglary in the second degree in 1995; and (2) attempted criminal sale of a controlled substance in the fifth degree in 1998. Portalatin did not contest the existence of those convictions. The court concluded that Portalatin appear[ed] to be eligible for discretionary persistent felony offender adjudication based on those predicate offenses. Next, at step two, the court conducted an assessment to determine whether a class A-I sentence was warranted. The court considered the circumstances of the crimes for which he was convicted, and also examined the history and character of the defendant: [L]ooking back on the history of this defendant, and having read these reports... [H]e began his criminal career in 1989, and we have beginning from that point on, the failure to take advantage of opportunities that might have provided drug treatment, that might have in some way assisted him. We have bench warrants repeatedly. We have parole revocations, and repeated parole revocations to the extent that it's only when these sentences maxed out that he finally is released, and no sooner is he released than there is a new crime. .... He certainly has earned a persistent adjudication as I look at this Rap sheet and the circumstances of this offense and other offenses, and I'm going to adjudicate him a persistent felony offender. The court imposed two indeterminate sentences of eighteen years to life imprisonment, to run concurrently. Had the court elected not to sentence Portalatin as a PFO, he would have faced a determinate sentence of between ten and twenty-five years on each count. See N.Y. Penal Law § 70.04(3)(a). Portalatin appealed his conviction, contending that his sentence was imposed in violation of the Sixth Amendment, as construed by the Supreme Court in Apprendi. On May 16, 2005, the Appellate Division affirmed the judgment, People v. Portalatin, 18 A.D.3d 673, 674, 795 N.Y.S.2d 334, 335 (2d Dep't 2005), and the New York Court of Appeals subsequently denied him leave to appeal, People v. Portalatin, 5 N.Y.3d 793, 793, 801 N.Y.S.2d 814, 835 N.E.2d 674 (2005). Portalatin then sought a writ of habeas corpus in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York, which was granted. Portalatin, 478 F.Supp.2d at 407. The State took this appeal.