Opinion ID: 1908957
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Sixth Amendment Violation

Text: [¶ 7] In Schofield, 2005 ME 82, ¶¶ 20-21, 876 A.2d at 49-50, we held that because a factual finding of heinousness is a prerequisite to a sentence in the twenty- to forty-year range, a criminal defendant has a Sixth Amendment right to have a jury determine heinousness beyond a reasonable doubt. Averill argues that he was entitled to have the issue of heinousness presented to the jury and was denied his Sixth Amendment rights when a sentence in excess of twenty years was imposed without his being given the opportunity to have a jury make that determination. Id. ¶¶ 28-36, 876 A.2d at 52-54. [¶ 8] Averill, like the defendant in Schofield, did not raise the Sixth Amendment issue in the trial court. In Schofield, we applied the obvious error standard of review, and for the reasons expressed therein, we apply the same standard here. [¶ 9] Averill was sentenced pursuant to 17-A M.R.S.A. § 1252(2)(A) (Supp.2001), [2] which authorized the court to sentence him to a maximum term of twenty-to-forty years based on either the nature and seriousness of the crime alone or on the nature and seriousness of the crime coupled with the serious criminal history of the defendant. 17-A M.R.S.A. § 1252(2)(A). Unlike the defendant in Schofield, Averill has a criminal history. The transcript of the court's sentencing hearing, however, indicates that the court's determination that Averill's offense qualified for a maximum sentence of in the range of twenty-to-forty years was based solely on its finding that Averill's crime was among the most heinous. Because we cannot determine from this record, beyond a reasonable doubt, that a jury acting rationally would have found that Averill's crime was among the most heinous crimes committed against a person, we must conclude that the sentencing process here constitutes obvious error affecting substantial rights. Therefore, we vacate his sentence and remand for resentencing pursuant to the procedures specified in Schofield.