Buffa v. Belleque

Petitioner appeals a judgment denying his petition for post-conviction relief. We write only to discuss his claim that his trial counsel was constitutionally inadequate because counsel failed to object to the imposition of departure sentences without a jury determination of the necessary predicate facts. Because we conclude that, at the time of petitioner’s sentencing, reasonable counsel could have believed that such an objection would be without merit, we affirm.

The relevant facts are undisputed. Petitioner was convicted in 2000 of a number of offenses related to burglaries that he committed…