Opinion ID: 1852334
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Whether the Imposition of Consecutive Sentences Violated Due Process Based on Improper Fact-Finding.

Text: Defendant urges that Iowa Code section 901.8, authorizing consecutive sentences, violates the due process clause of the federal constitution because it authorizes consecutive sentences without requiring aggravating factors to be alleged in the indictment or information and without requiring proof of such factors beyond a reasonable doubt. This claim is based primarily on Apprendi v. New Jersey, 530 U.S. 466, 120 S.Ct. 2348, 147 L.Ed.2d 435 (2000). The Court in Apprendi held that the Fifth Amendment due process clause and the Sixth Amendment notice and jury trial guarantees require that any fact other than a prior conviction that increases the maximum penalty for a crime must be charged in an indictment or information, submitted to a jury, and proved beyond a reasonable doubt. Apprendi, 530 U.S. at 490, 120 S.Ct. at 2362-63, 147 L.Ed.2d at 455. [1] This cannot be avoided by labeling a statutory condition for a particular sentence as a sentencing consideration rather than an element of the crime. Id. at 494, 120 S.Ct. at 2365,147 L.Ed.2d at 457. [2] This holding has application to those situations in which a court is not permitted to impose sentence beyond a statutorily imposed limit in the absence of a finding that a statutorily prescribed sentencing factor has been established. As the Court further observed: We should be clear that nothing in this history suggests that it is impermissible for judges to exercise discretion taking into consideration various factors relating both to offense and offenderin imposing a judgment within the range prescribed by statute. We have often noted that judges in this country have long exercised discretion of this nature in imposing sentence within statutory limits in the individual case. Id. at 481, 120 S.Ct. at 2358, 147 L.Ed.2d at 449. Apprendi has no application to the present case because all of the sentences imposed on defendant were within the limits of the basic sentencing statutes for those offenses of which he was found guilty. The imposition of consecutive sentences did not depend on the finding of a statutorily prescribed fact. See Stradt v. State, 608 N.W.2d 28, 30 (Iowa 2000) (each count is a separate offense and court may impose separate and distinct sentences, which are cumulative and are to run consecutively). Courts have generally recognized that statutes which afford discretion to a sentencing court to impose consecutive sentences do not violate due process. E.g., Roy v. Watson, 669 F.2d 611, 612 (9th Cir.1982); People v. Toliver, 251 Ill.App.3d 1092, 1100, 191 Ill.Dec. 290, 623 N.E.2d 880, 886 (1993); State v. Adkins, 236 Kan. 259, 689 P.2d 880, 884 (1984). Defendant has failed to demonstrate the procedures under which his sentence was imposed violated due process.