Several readers have forwarded me copies today of a memo from the Howard County Circuit Judge, Judge Lynn Murray, outlining the changes in criminal sentencing procedure being implemented immediately in Howard County "in view of" Blakely. Access the scanned memo here.
Apparently this memo results from last week's Judicial Conference, and Howard County is among the first to promulgate its procedural changes.
I have now been able to OCR the memo, so can present it in full below (the scanned version is available above):
TO: Howard County Bar Members practicing criminal law in Circuit CourtPosted by Marcia Oddi at September 28, 2004 03:41 PM
FROM: Lynn Murray, Judge Hoard Circuit Court
DATE: September 28, 2004
RE: Changes with regard to criminal sentencing procedureIn view of the U.S. Supreme Court opinion Blakely v. Washington, 124 S.Ct. 2531 (2004), the Howard Circuit Court is immediately implementing certain procedural changes with regard to felony criminal cases.
In those cases in which the State seeks to have a defendant charged with a felony sentenced to a penalty greater than the presumptive sentence, the State must file a document separate from the rest of the charging information, alleging the existence of one (1) or more aggravating circumstances, called a Notice of Potential Aggravators. The Notice should be filed the earliest of thirty (30) days before trial or if the trial is scheduled within thirty (30) days, by the pretrial hearing date.
In those felony cases which proceed to jury trial and result in conviction, and in which the State has filed a Notice of Potential Aggravators, the jury trial will have a second sentencing phase. The jury will be instructed and hear evidence to determine if the State has proven the existence of each noticed aggravating factor beyond a reasonable doubt. If the defendant is convicted of the felony by trial to the court without a jury, the court alone shall hear evidence on the aggravating circumstances.
Note that Blakely exempts prior convictions, facts admitted by the defendant, and Facts necessarily proven by the verdict, as aggravators that must be proven to a jury beyond a reasonable doubt.
The court shall not accept a plea of guilty without first determining that the defendant has been informed that by pleading guilty, the defendant waives the right to have a jury determine the aggravating circumstances.