P. v. Nguyen 6/29/07 CA6

State: California

Court: 1st District Court of Appeal 1st District Court of Appeal

Docket No: H028798B

Case Date: 10/10/2007

Preview:Filed 6/29/07; opn. on rehearing

CERTIFIED FOR PUBLICATION IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA SIXTH APPELLATE DISTRICT

THE PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. VINCE VINTHUONG NGUYEN, Defendant and Appellant.

H028798 (Santa Clara County Super. Ct. No. CC476520)

The sole issue in this appeal is whether "the role of the jury [is] diminished and eroded in violation of the Sixth and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution" by the use of juvenile adjudications to increase the maximum punishment for an offense, in light of the United States Supreme Court's opinions in Apprendi v. New Jersey (2000) 530 U.S. 466 (Apprendi) and Blakely v. Washington (2004) 542 U.S. 296 (Blakely). In concluding that it is, we respectfully disagree with our colleagues on this court and others, and join the small but growing number of courts across the county that have likewise concluded that Apprendi and its progeny compel us to recognize that the Sixth Amendment right to a jury trial is an integral part of the process that is due before a prior conviction may be used to increase the maximum sentence for a criminal offense. In our prior opinion, we also held that because defendant's juvenile adjudication is based on his admission of guilt in juvenile court, rather than on a contested hearing, he was not entitled to relief, and we affirmed the judgment. We granted defendant's rehearing petition to reconsider that holding. Upon reconsideration, we now conclude that the core principles driving our rejection of the cases that treat juvenile adjudications

the same as prior adult convictions also compel us to apply those principles across the board to all juvenile adjudications. Accordingly, we reverse the judgment. STATEMENT OF THE CASE AND FACTS In December 2004 a complaint was filed charging 21-year-old defendant Nguyen with four felony counts: possession of a firearm by a felon; possession of ammunition by a felon, possession of a billy, and possession of methamphetamine. (Pen. Code,

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