Commonwealth v. Kirchner

WIEAND, Judge:

Dennis W. Kirchner, appellant, challenges the constitutionality of Section 9712 of the Mandatory Sentencing Act, 42 Pa.C.S. § 9712, which provides that any person convicted *192of certain enumerated offenses shall be sentenced to a minimum term of imprisonment of five years if he or she visibly possessed a firearm during the commission of the offense. Appellant argues that this provision (1) violates state and federal proscriptions against double jeopardy; (2) conflicts with his right of allocution; and (3) is invalid because it does not contain a provision for both a minimum and…