Opinion ID: 2625939
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 11

Heading: Does Ring II Apply to Aggravating Circumstances Involving Prior Convictions?

Text: ¶ 54 Arizona law establishes two aggravating circumstances for prior criminal convictions. [22] A.R.S. § 13-703.F.1-.2. The first of Arizona's prior conviction factors, A.R.S. section 13-703.F.1, applies when [t]he defendant has been convicted of another offense in the United States for which under Arizona law a sentence of life imprisonment or death was imposable. The second, A.R.S. section 13-703.F.2, is implicated when [t]he defendant was previously convicted of a serious offense, whether preparatory or completed. [23] In Almendarez-Torres v. United States, the Supreme Court held that a judge could consider prior convictions to enhance a penalty beyond that authorized by the facts established by the jury's verdict. 523 U.S. 224, 226-27, 118 S.Ct. 1219, 1222, 140 L.Ed.2d 350 (1998). ¶ 55 The State argues that Almendarez-Torres establishes an exception to Apprendi/Ring for the two prior conviction aggravating circumstances. According to the State, a judge may constitutionally determine the existence of any prior conviction. The defendants argue that Almendarez-Torres is no longer good law. [24] They also argue that the F.1 and F.2 aggravating circumstances do not fit within the prior conviction exception. Alternatively, they argue that the Arizona Constitution's jury trial guarantee should supplant Almendarez-Torres and require a jury determination of prior convictions. For the following reasons, we hold that Almendarez-Torres remains effective and that the Sixth Amendment does not require a jury to determine prior convictions under sections 13-703.F.1 and F.2.
¶ 56 First we consider whether Arizona's statutory aggravating circumstance for prior convictions falls within the Almendarez-Torres exception. In cases handed down within the past five years, the Supreme Court consistently has stated that a statutory provision permitting increased penalties when a defendant has a prior conviction operates as a sentencing enhancement and not as an element of a criminal offense. [25] ¶ 57 In two Supreme Court cases, defendants challenged sentencing enhancements when the government failed to allege the factor increasing their penalty in the indictment. In Almendarez-Torres, the Court held that a prior conviction need not be alleged in a criminal indictment. 523 U.S. at 226-27, 118 S.Ct. at 1222. The Court first concluded that Congress intended to use recidivism as a sentencing factor and not as a substantive element. Id. at 230-31, 118 S.Ct. at 1226. It then noted that recidivist provisions traditionally are used exclusively as sentencing factors, pointing out that no federal criminal statute contains recidivism as a statutory element. Id. at 244, 118 S.Ct. at 1231. Enhanced penalties for repeat offenders do not relate to the commission of the offense, but go[ ] to the punishment only, and therefore ... may be subsequently decided [by a judge]. Id. at 244, 118 S.Ct. at 1231 (quoting Graham v. West Virginia, 224 U.S. 616, 629, 32 S.Ct. 583, 588, 56 L.Ed. 917 (1912)). ¶ 58 In its next term, the Court decided a similar case and reached a revised, but consistent, conclusion. In Jones v. United States , the Court held that federal prosecutors must allege in the indictment and prove, beyond a reasonable doubt, an element of the federal car jacking statute the lower courts previously had regarded as a sentencing factor. 526 U.S. 227, 229, 119 S.Ct. 1215, 1217, 143 L.Ed.2d 311 (1999). In Jones's case, serious bodily injury provided the additional element. Id. at 231, 119 S.Ct. at 1218. Notwithstanding its decision, the Court reaffirmed that not every fact expanding a penalty range must be stated in a felony indictment and expressly distinguished sentence enhancements for prior criminal convictions from other statutory elements because the law traditionally regards recidivism as a sentencing factor, not as an element to be set out in the indictment. Id. at 248-49, 119 S.Ct. at 1226-27. The Court appeared less concerned with the fact that Jones involved a Sixth Amendment challenge, while Almendarez-Torres did not, than with the fact that sentencing enhancements for prior convictions serve a traditional penological purpose. Id. ¶ 59 The Court revisited the prior conviction sentence enhancement issue in Apprendi, decided one year after Jones. In Apprendi, the Court held that a statutory provision providing an increased penalty when a crime was motivated by hate involved not a sentencing enhancer, but an element of the offense. 530 U.S. at 491-92, 120 S.Ct. at 2363. Consequently, the Sixth Amendment jury trial right required that the jury determine the element's existence before the enhanced penalty could be imposed. Id. at 490, 120 S.Ct. at 2362-63 ([A]ny fact that increases the penalty for a crime beyond the prescribed statutory maximum must be submitted to a jury, and proved beyond a reasonable doubt.). The Court carefully distinguished its view that prior convictions are not elements of an offense and structured its holding to exclude prior convictions from its reach. Id. at 487-90, 120 S.Ct. at 2361-63. ¶ 60 The Apprendi Court found no need to submit the question of prior convictions to the jury because, unlike other factors, prior convictions already had been established through proceedings incorporating procedural safeguards: Both the certainty that procedural safeguards attached to any fact of prior conviction, and the reality that Almendarez-Torres did not challenge the accuracy of that fact in his case, mitigated the due process and Sixth Amendment concerns otherwise implicated in allowing a judge to determine a fact increasing punishment beyond the maximum statutory range. 530 U.S. at 488, 120 S.Ct. at 2362. Thus, permitting a judge to decide the fact of a prior conviction does not raise Sixth Amendment concerns; those convictions are themselves products of Sixth Amendmentcompliant proceedings. ¶ 61 We cannot ignore a Supreme Court decision interpreting federal law unless the Court expressly overrules or casts cognizable doubt on that decision. In Agostini v. Felton, the Court stated: We do not acknowledge, and we do not hold, that other courts should conclude our more recent cases have, by implication, overruled an earlier precedent. We reaffirm that [i]f a precedent of this Court has direct application in a case, yet appears to rest on reasons rejected in some other line of decisions, [the lower court] should follow the case which directly controls, leaving to this Court the prerogative of overruling its own decisions. 521 U.S. 203, 237, 117 S.Ct. 1997, 2017, 138 L.Ed.2d 391 (1997) (quoting Rodriguez de Quijas v. Shearson/American Exp., Inc., 490 U.S. 477, 484, 109 S.Ct. 1917, 1921-22, 104 L.Ed.2d 526 (1989)); accord United States v. Gatewood, 230 F.3d 186, 192 (6th Cir.2000); United States v. Pacheco-Zepeda, 234 F.3d 411, 414 (9th Cir.2000) (If the views of the Supreme Court's individual justices and the composition of the Court remain the same, Almendarez-Torres may eventually be overruled.) (citing Apprendi, 120 S.Ct. at 2362 ([I]t is arguable that Almendarez-Torres was incorrectly decided, and that a logical application of our reasoning today should apply if the recidivist issue were contested.)); State v. Harrod, 200 Ariz. 309, 318 ¶ 44, 26 P.3d 492, 501 (2001) (rejecting defendant's argument that Apprendi implicitly overruled Walton ), vacated on other grounds by Harrod v. Arizona, 536 U.S. 953, 122 S.Ct. 2653, 153 L.Ed.2d 830 (2002) (mem.). Our constitutional system requires adherence to the rule of law established in Almendarez-Torres unless and until the Court unequivocally disapproves its holding. Ring I, 200 Ariz. at 279-80 ¶ 44, 25 P.3d at 1151-52.
¶ 62 Courts consistently have implemented both Apprendi and Almendarez-Torres. In cases decided after Apprendi, many defendants facing prior conviction sentence enhancements argued that Apprendi had either overruled or cast doubt upon Almendarez-Torres. Courts universally reject this argument and recognize that the two cases can be harmonized by construing Almendarez-Torres as the exception to Apprendi's general rule. E.g., United States v. Martino, 294 F.3d 346, 349 (2d Cir.2002); United States v. Stone, 306 F.3d 241, 243 (5th Cir.2002); Cherry v. Araneta, 203 Ariz. 532, 533-34 ¶ 5, 57 P.3d 391, 392-93 (App.2002); State v. Kendall, 58 P.3d 660, 667-68 (Kan.2002). In explaining its decision, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals stated: It is true that in Apprendi, the Court expressed reservations about Almendarez-Torres. However, the Court reasoned that any due process or Sixth Amendment concernsarising out of the judicial determination of a fact that increased punishment beyond the statutory maximum were mitigated in Almendarez-Torres by [b]oth the certainty that procedural safeguards attached to any `fact' of prior conviction, and the reality that [the defendant] did not challenge the accuracy of that `fact' in his case. Thus, the Court in Apprendi chose not to overrule Almendarez-Torres, and unmistakably carved out an exception for prior convictions that specifically preserved the holding of Almendarez-Torres. Pacheco-Zepeda, 234 F.3d at 414 (citations omitted). ¶ 63 The Supreme Court consistently has held that legislatures may permit a judge to impose an increased penalty based upon a defendant's recidivism. We therefore conclude that the Sixth Amendment does not require a jury to find prior convictions beyond a reasonable doubt.
¶ 64 Several defendants whose cases are consolidated in this appeal received death sentences based, at least in part, upon prior conviction findings made by a sentencing judge. Following the teachings of Almendarez-Torres, Jones and Apprendi, we hold that the Sixth Amendment does not require remanding these cases for resentencing on the F.1 and F.2 circumstances. ¶ 65 The characteristic of a prior conviction aggravating circumstance that sets it apart from other circumstances is that the original criminal proceeding, through either a guilty plea or a verdict of guilt, established the circumstance. No additional benefit derives from having a jury re-find an aggravating circumstance already established through a guilty plea or a jury verdict. At each proceeding giving rise to the prior criminal conviction, defendants either waived their right to a jury trial or received a jury determination of guilt, and procedural safeguards protected the defendant against constitutional violations. Moreover, each defendant had an opportunity to appeal his conviction. ¶ 66 The F.1 and F.2 aggravating circumstances contemplate a more severe punishment for persons who continue to commit crimes. Our jurisprudence traditionally has viewed recidivism as a sentencing factor to be determined by a judge. Almendarez-Torres, 523 U.S. at 243, 118 S.Ct. at 1230. Moreover, under the pre- Ring II capital sentencing scheme, the legislature clearly intended prior convictions to be sentencing factors and not substantive elements of capital murder. See, e.g., A.R.S. § 13-703.F-.G (Supp.2001) (instructing the court to consider aggravating circumstances when deciding which sentence to impose). ¶ 67 We reach a different conclusion for those defendants for whom the trial judge found an F.2 aggravating circumstance prior to 1993. As to those defendants, determining the presence of the F.2 factor required additional fact finding; the judge needed to go beyond the mere fact that the prior conviction existed. ¶ 68 Arizona amended the requirements for finding an F.2 factor in 1993. [26] Prior to the 1993 amendment, section 13-703.F.2 permitted finding this aggravating circumstance when [t]he defendant was previously convicted of a felony in the United States involving the use or threat of violence on another person. A.R.S. § 13-703.F.2 (1989) (emphasis added). State law did not define violence in this context. In United States v. Breitweiser, the court pointed out: If a recidivist statute permitted enhancement based on proof of underlying conduct, however, factual questions could arise as to exactly what conduct the defendant engaged in. Typically, such factual questions are within the province of a jury and this Court doubts that the Supreme Court would construe Almendarez-Torres as applying to such situations. 220 F.Supp.2d 1374, 1379 (N.D.Ga.2002). We agree that when an additional finding must be made beyond the bare fact that a prior conviction exists, the Sixth Amendment demands that a jury perform this task. That situation can arise for defendants whose F.2 factor depended upon a finding that a prior conviction reflected a crime involving the use or threat of violence. None of the consolidated defendants were sentenced under such a circumstance. Therefore, none of these cases involve a Sixth Amendment violation based on a judge's finding of one or more F.2 aggravating circumstances.
¶ 69 This court has held that the Arizona Constitution's Sixth Amendment analog, Article II, Section 23, [27] provides substantially the same right to a jury trial as does the Sixth Amendment. State v. Carlson, 202 Ariz. 570, 577 ¶ 18, 48 P.3d 1180, 1187 (2002). Nevertheless, the defendants urge us to look to the Arizona Constitution to find a requirement that prior conviction aggravating circumstances must be found by a jury. ¶ 70 They point to two decisions. The first, State v. Carlson , rejected an argument that the Arizona constitutional right to an impartial jury provides greater protection than does the federal constitution against pretrial publicity affecting the jury pool. Id. at 576-77 ¶¶ 17-18, 48 P.3d at 1186-87. We stated that our constitution does not afford any greater protection to defendants against pretrial media coverage than does the federal constitution. Id. at 577 ¶ 18, 48 P.3d at 1187. The second case, State ex rel. McDougall v. Strohson, held that Arizona's Constitution traditionally provides greater access to jury trials than that required by the federal constitution. 190 Ariz. 120, 121-22, 945 P.2d 1251, 1252-53 (1997). Under the federal constitution, only crimes punishable by more than six months in jail must be tried by a jury. Id. at 122, 945 P.2d at 1253. In instances in which a defendant can be sentenced to less than six months in jail, in contrast, our constitution demands a jury trial if the moral quality of the act charged, and its relationship to common law crimes requires that a jury determine guilt. [28] Id. ¶ 71 In relying on these decisions, the defendants overlook the distinction between jury impartiality or jury access issues and the Apprendi/Ring issue. The Carlson case rejected an expansive interpretation of the Arizona Constitution because we were unwilling to move beyond federal precedent in this area. Our holding in Strohson means only that a defendant is entitled to a jury trial for certain minor crimes for which the federal constitution does not require a jury trial. ¶ 72 Under these facts, then, we hold that Article II, Section 23 provides substantially the same jury trial right as does the Sixth Amendment.