State v. Pierce

In the companion appeal of State v. Thomas, 188 N.J. 137, 902 A.2d 1185 (2006), we held that a sentencing court may find as fact the existence of a prior conviction for purposes of determining a defendant’s statutory eligibility for extended-term sentencing under a mandatory sentence-enhancing statute. We found that the non-qualitative assessment involved in that fact-finding was permissible under Sixth Amendment principles set forth in Apprendi v. New Jersey, 530 U.S. 466, 120 S.Ct. 2348, 147 L.Ed.2d 435 (2000) and Blakely v. Washington, 542 U.S. 296, 124 S.Ct. 2531, 159 L.Ed.2d 403 (2004).

In…