Opinion ID: 1225871
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 9

Heading: Whether the defendant's prior felony drug conviction needed to be pleaded in the indictment and proven to a jury.

Text: Franklin finally argues that the prior convictions presented to the court pursuant to 21 U.S.C. § 851 should have been alleged in the indictment and presented to the jury. He argues that this was the position of the Supreme Court in Almendarez-Torres v. United States, 523 U.S. 224, 118 S.Ct. 1219, 140 L.Ed.2d 350 (1998), and of Justice Thomas' concurring opinion in Apprendi v. New Jersey, 530 U.S. 466, 499, 120 S.Ct. 2348, 147 L.Ed.2d 435 (2000). Again, this challenge to the indictment was not presented to the district court but assuming arguendo that Franklin can present it to this court, the Supreme Court's opinion in Almendarez-Torres specifically rejected the argument that a prior conviction triggering a mandatory minimum sentence is an element of an offense that must be proved to a jury. Almendarez-Torres, 523 U.S. at 247, 118 S.Ct. 1219. Franklin correctly argues that Justice Thomas' concurring opinion in Apprendi treated a prior conviction as an element that a prosecutor must present to the jury, but this was not a majority opinion, and the opinion of the court holds that prior convictions need not be charged in an indictment or presented to a jury. Apprendi, 530 U.S. at 490, 120 S.Ct. 2348. We affirm the district court's sentence in this case.