Opinion ID: 867440
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 14

Heading: The Aggravated Assaults

Text: ¶ 50 Cromwell's sentences on the two aggravated assault convictions also do not contravene Blakely. The jury expressly found that Cromwell used a dangerous instrument (the pool cue) to commit each assault. The assaults were therefore both class three felonies. See A.R.S. § 13-1204(A)(1) & (B) (Supp.2001). Under A.R.S. § 13-604(I), the presumptive sentence for a class three felony involving the use of a dangerous instrument is seven and one-half years. However, the presumptive sentence may be aggravated to a maximum of fifteen years pursuant to § 13-702(C). That statute permits aggravation when [t]he defendant was previously convicted of a felony within the ten years immediately preceding the date of the offense. A.R.S. § 13-702(C)(11) (Supp.2001). ¶ 51 The superior court increased each aggravated assault sentence to ten years based on two prior felony convictions in Cromwell's record. Prior convictions constitute an exception to the jury requirement and need only be found by the trial judge. Blakely, 124 S.Ct. at 2536; Apprendi v. New Jersey, 530 U.S. 466, 490, 120 S.Ct. 2348, 147 L.Ed.2d 435 (2000). Thus, the ten-year sentences on these convictions, being within the prescribed range, did not violate Cromwell's Sixth Amendment rights under Blakely.