An Oregon Blakely trifecta

With thanks to many for spotlighting these rulings for me, Oregon’s intermediate court at least made sure that there would be judicial Blakely news of note today by rendering three noteworthy Blakely opinions: Oregon v. Perez, No. 0201-30132; A119741(Or. Ct. App. Dec. 8, 2004); Oregon v. Gornick, No. 02C53376; A121042 (Or. Ct. App. Dec. 8, 2004); Oregon v. Ross, 03CR0143; A121410 (Or. Ct. App. Dec. 8, 2004).

There is a lot of “there there” in these opinions, all three of which were authored by Chief Judge David V. Brewer. Perez seems especially noteworthy for giving the “prior conviction exception” a narrow reading:

We conclude that the Supreme Court plainly meant what it said when it described the holding in Almendarez-Torres as “a narrow exception to the general rule” and stated that, other than “the fact of a prior conviction, any 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.” Apprendi, 530 US at 490 (emphasis added). It is therefore beyond reasonable dispute that the exception applies only to the fact of a prior conviction.