P. v. Ramirez
Filed 6/5/06 P. v. Ramirez CA5
NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS
California Rules of Court, rule 977(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or ordered published, except as specified by rule 977(b). This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 977.
IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA
FIFTH APPELLATE DISTRICT
| THE PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. ALEJANDRO MERCADO RAMIREZ, Defendant and Appellant. |
F048504
(Super. Ct. No. BF103324)
OPINION |
THE COURT*
APPEAL from a judgment of the Superior Court of Kern County. Lee Phillip Felice, Judge.
Allen G. Weinberg, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant.
Bill Lockyer, Attorney General, Robert R. Anderson, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Mary Jo Graves, Assistant Attorney General, Raymond L. Brosterhous and Judy Kaida, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent.
-ooOoo-
Defendant Alejandro Mercado Ramirez filed this appeal to raise a Blakely[1] challenge to his sentence. Defendant acknowledges that this court is bound by the California Supreme Court's resolution of a similar challenge in People v. Black (2005) 35 Cal.4th 1238 (Black) and states that this appeal was filed to preserve the issue for federal court review.
Based on Black's binding precedent, defendant's sentence is affirmed.
FACTS
Pursuant to a plea bargain, defendant pled no contest to assault with a deadly weapon (Pen. Code, § 245, subd. (a)(1)) and voluntary manslaughter (§ 192, subd. (a)) and admitted the personal knife use allegation (§ 12022, subd. (b)(1)) included in the manslaughter count.
Defendant was sentenced to state prison for a total term of 13 years, consisting of the upper term of 11 years for voluntary manslaughter, one year for the personal knife use enhancement, and a consecutive term of one year (one-third of the middle term) for assault with a deadly weapon.
ISSUE
Did the imposition of consecutive sentences violate defendant's rights under the Sixth and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution to have a jury decide factual issues under the reasonable doubt standard?
APPLICABLE RULE OF LAW
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