State v. Smart

OPINION

EASTAUGH, Justice.

I. INTRODUCTION

The question presented in these two cases is whether the right to a jury trial announced in Blakely v. Washington 1 should be retroactively applied to two state defendants, Troy Smart and Henry Douglas, whose sentences were final before June 24, 2004, when Blakety was decided. Blakely requires that any fact-except a fact admitted by the defendant or the fact of a prior conviction-necessary to increase a sentence above the statutory presumptive maximum be proved to a jury beyond a reasonable doubt. We decline to give Blakely full retroactivity. We…