State v. Brown

OPINION

PELANDER, Presiding Judge.

¶ 1 In this special action, petitioner State of Arizona challenges two presentence orders the respondent judge entered in the underlying criminal case, in which real party in interest Jonathan McMullen pled guilty to reckless manslaughter. Based on Apprendi v. New Jersey, 530 U.S. 466, 120 S.Ct. 2348, 147 L.Ed.2d 435 (2000), and Ring v. Arizona, 536 U.S. 584, 122 S.Ct. 2428, 153 L.Ed.2d 556 (2002) (Ring II), the respondent judge first ordered that the state would have to prove, in a jury trial and beyond a reasonable doubt, any aggravating circumstances…