State v. Thomas

This appeal requires us to consider a challenge to a mandatory extended-term sentence imposed on a repeat drug offender pursu ant to N.J.S.A. 2C:43-6(f). Defendant frames the issue as whether his Sixth Amendment rights were violated when the court, and not a jury, made the determination that his prior convictions supported the finding of two recidivism-based aggravating factors, which led to the court’s imposition of a sentence above the presumptive for the extended-term range. As part of our consideration of defendant’s sentencing claim, we also necessarily address the constitutionality of…