Commonwealth v. Butler

OPINION

ZAPPALA, Justice.

In this direct appeal we are asked to determine whether the Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas properly found the provisions of 42 Pa.C.S. § 9714, which impose an enhanced mandatory sentence when a person is found to be a high risk dangerous offender, to be unconstitutional because the statutory scheme places the burden on the defendant to rebut the presumption that he is a high risk dangerous offender by clear and convincing evidence. For the reasons that follow, we affirm.1

*326On February 18, 1998, at approximately 12:30 p.m., the victim, Marco Rivera, was…