Opinion ID: 1104029
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: conclusion

Text: For the foregoing reasons, we find it is unconstitutional to apply La.Rev.Stat. 15.529.1 for the purpose of allowing juvenile adjudications to be counted as predicate offenses, where these adjudications were obtained without the right to a jury trial. In our view, the use of such adjudications violates Apprendi's narrow exception, which exempts only prior convictions from its general rule that any fact that increases the penalty for a crime beyond the statutory maximum must be submitted to a jury and proved beyond a reasonable doubt. Although these adjudications can be reliably and constitutionally obtained without the right to a jury trial, this is because the juvenile proceeding is a civil proceeding with a focus on rehabilitation and non-criminal treatment of the adjudicated delinquent. Prior convictions are excepted from the Apprendi holding because they were the product of proceedings that afforded crucial procedural protectionsparticularly fair notice, the right to jury trial and proof beyond a reasonable doubt.