PEOPLE OF MI V RANDY LEE BEGAY
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STATE OF MICHIGAN
COURT OF APPEALS
PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN,
UNPUBLISHED
December 14, 2006
Plaintiff-Appellee,
v
No. 269772
Chippewa Circuit Court
LC No. 00-006946-FC
RANDY LEE BEGAY,
Defendant-Appellant.
Before: Meter, P.J., and O’Connell and Davis, JJ.
MEMORANDUM.
In 2001, defendant pleaded no contest to armed robbery, MCL 750.529, for which the
trial court sentenced him to serve a term of imprisonment of twenty to thirty years, with no jail
credit. In 2005, defendant moved for resentencing on the grounds that he was entitled to jail
credit and that several of the variables under the sentencing guidelines were incorrectly scored.
On March 30, 2006, the trial court entered an amended judgment of sentence, retaining the
original minimum and maximum sentences, but awarding 380 days’ jail credit. Defendant
appeals by delayed leave granted. We affirm. We decide this appeal without oral argument in
accordance with MCR 7.214(E).
Having won the sentencing credit he sought, defendant now challenges his sentence
solely by asserting that the trial court erred in scoring several of the guidelines variables on the
basis of information neither proved to a jury beyond a reasonable doubt, nor admitted by
defendant as part of his plea. We disagree. Defendant relies on Blakely v Washington, 542 US
296; 124 S Ct 2531; 159 L Ed 2d 403 (2004), in which the United States Supreme Court held
that “every defendant has the right to insist that the prosecutor prove to a jury all facts legally
essential to the punishment.” Id. at 313. However, our Supreme Court recently reiterated that
“‘the Michigan system is unaffected by the holding in Blakely . . . .’” People v Drohan, 475
Mich 140, 164; 715 NW2d 778 (2006), quoting People v Claypool, 470 Mich 715, 730 n 14; 684
NW2d 278 (2004). The Court elaborated, “a defendant does not have a right to anything less
than the maximum sentence authorized by the jury’s verdict, and, therefore, judges may make
certain factual findings to select a specific minimum sentence from within a defined range.”
Drohan, supra at 159. Therefore, defendant’s reliance on Blakely, supra, is misplaced.
Although defendant summarily asserts that Drohan “was wrongly decided,” we are clearly
bound by the decision and its sound reasoning. Boyd v WG Wade Shows, 443 Mich 515, 523;
505 NW2d 544 (1993). Defendant fails to demonstrate that the sentencing court improperly
considered anything other than the facts and circumstances of the crime and the history of the
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criminal, as determined from various legitimate sources. See People v Potrafka, 140 Mich App
749, 751-752; 366 NW2d 35 (1985).
Affirmed.
/s/ Patrick M. Meter
/s/ Peter D. O’Connell
/s/ Alton T. Davis
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