Lots of recent state Blakely action

Perhaps in honor of Blakely‘s birthday, the state courts have issued a lot of notable Blakely rulings of late.  In addition to the California Supreme Court’s big Blakely decision (basics here, commentary here and here), at least two other state Supreme Courts rendered notable Blakely decisions this week, as did a lot intermediate appellate courts in Ohio and Oregon and elsewhere.

The Minnesota Supreme Court issued only its second substantive Blakely decision in State v. Leake, No. A04-57 (Minn. Jun. 23, 2005) (available here), where the court confirmed that Blakely overruled an earlier state decision concerning the imposition of life without parole and also discussed the application of the prior-conviction exception.  Meanwhile, the Indiana Supreme Court continued to explain and enhance its Smylie decision concerning Blakely‘s applicability in Indiana through Mask v. State, No. 49S02-0506-CR-290 (Ind. Jun. 23, 2005) (available here), and Wright v. State, No. 49S02-0506-CR-285 (Ind. Jun. 22, 2005) (available here).

Though I cannot keep up with all the intermediate appellate court state Blakely decisions (and thus encourage readers to spotlight any that appear especially notable), the ruling of an Arizona court in Newkirk v. Nothwehr, 2005 WL 1475392 (Ariz. App. Div. 1 Jun. 23, 2005), did catch my eye.  In Newkirk, the defendant, challenging the denial of his request to allow a jury to find a prior conviction, built an interesting (but ultimately unsuccessful) argument for the right to a jury trial on provisions of the Arizona Constitution.