Nationwide Blakely developments in the states

Though today’s non-arrival of Booker and Fanfan keeps the federal Blakely story on hold, the state Blakely stories continue to develop at a fast and furious pace: 

• Michael Ausbrook has a long and thoughtful post here on recent decisions from Indiana which may presage what the Indiana Supreme Court might do with the Blakely cases it is considering tomorrow. And, in the Indiana intermediate appellate courts, a decision today, Teeters v. State, 2004 WL 2521386 (Ind. App. Nov. 09, 2004), relies on the “prior conviction” exception and other means to affirm a sentence over Blakely objections.

• The Minnesota Sentencing Guidelines Commission details here its plans for a meeting next month “to consider proposed modifications to the sentencing guidelines and commentary resulting from the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision Blakely v. Washington.” The proposed modifications include “changes to the procedures for imposing aggravated departures, modifications to the consecutive sentencing provisions, modification to the sentencing grid and proposed ranking of unranked offenses.”

• The Delaware Sentencing Accountability Commission has here (scroll down) a brief discussion of the Delaware Supreme Court’s decision in Fuller v. State, No. 38 (Del. Oct. 29, 2004), which seems to indirectly suggest that Blakely may not be applicable to Delaware’s voluntary sentencing guidelines.

• And, of course, California’s appellate courts keep hashing out Blakely with now 137 Blakely-related opinions on-line. (Many of the most significant rulings are summarized here by the First Disrict Appellate Project in California.)