P. v. Hylton

Filed 5/26/06  P. v. Hylton CA1/5

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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  This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 977.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

FIRST APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION FIVE

            Jonathan Ray Hylton appeals from a four-year sentence imposed by the trial court following his guilty plea.  We affirm.

Factual and Procedural Background

            In December 2004, defendant set fire to an upstairs apartment he was renting in a two-story house.  Defendant was charged by information with arson of an inhabited structure (Pen. Code, § 451, subd. (b)).  The information was amended to charge defendant with unlawfully causing a fire of an inhabited structure (Pen. Code, § 452, subd. (b)).  Defendant pled guilty to that charge; the arson charge was dismissed.  The trial court imposed a sentence of four years in prison, which is the upper term.

Discussion

            Defendant argues that his Sixth Amendment rights were violated under Blakely v. Washington (2004) 542 U.S. 296, 301, because in imposing the upper term the trial court relied on facts neither admitted by defendant nor found true by a jury beyond a reasonable doubt.  On June 20, 2005, the Supreme Court held that the imposition of the upper term under California's determinate sentencing scheme does not violate a defendant's Sixth Amendment rights under Blakely.  (People v. Black (2005) 35 Cal.4th 1238, 1244.)  Accordingly, we deny defendant's Blakely claim.

Disposition

            The judgment is affirmed.

                                                                        GEMELLO, J.

We concur.

JONES, P.J.

SIMONS, J.

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