State v. Sanchez-Sanchez
Annotate this CaseDefendant entered a straight plea to the charge of conspiracy to commit a first-degree controlled substance crime. At the plea hearing, Defendant waived his right under Blakely v. Washington to have a jury determine whether aggravating factors existed to justify an upward durational department to his sentence. During Defendant’s Blakely court trial to determine whether the alleged aggravating factors existed, the district court did not apply the Minnesota Rules of Evidence. After the trial, the district court concluded that the State proved all three of the aggravating sentencing factors. The court imposed a 240-month sentence, a greater than double upward durational departure from the presumptive sentencing range. The court of appeals affirmed, concluding that the rules of evidence do not apply during a Blakely court trial. The Supreme Court affirmed as modified, holding that the rules of evidence apply in a Blakely court trial, but there was no objection and the error was not plain.
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