California dreaming…

I am planning on getting a good night of sleep tonight, and perhaps I’ll be dreaming about the California Supreme Court’s ability to get right to work on the Blakely issue. Here’s my prior post discussing People v. Towne, the first case in which Blakely issues will be examined by the California Supreme Court.

At first, based on a read of the lower court opinion, it was hard to figure out whether Towne was going to present the Blakely issue cleanly. Helpfully, additional information — particularly this supplemental letter containing points and authorities in support of the defendant’s argument for a reversal of his sentence to the upper term — suggests that Towne should be a very interesting and effective case for state consideration of Blakely. Also helpful and interesting is this article giving background on the case.

Finally, it is worth highlighting that the fine folks at the First District Appellate Project now have a host of additional California-specific briefs/petitions on their fine FDAP Blakely Page.