The district court violated Apprendi v. New Jersey (2000) 530 U.S. 466, when it counted as a predicate offense for purposes of the Armed Career Criminal Act a prior juvenile adjudication. Apprendi requires that other than the fact of a prior conviction, any fact that increases the penalty for a crime beyond the statutory maximum must be submitted to a jury and proved. The “prior conviction” exception to Apprendis general rule must be limited to prior convictions that were obtained through proceedings that included the right to a jury trial. Therefore, the prior convictions exception does not apply to prior juvenile adjudications, and the trial court erred when it increased Tighes penalty beyond the prescribed statutory maximum based on that adjudication.
Case Summaries