Effect of juvenile conviction on sentencing

[CASE] Can a juvenile adjudication be counted in the determination of a defendant's offender score under the sentencing reform act? King County Superior Court Judge John P. Erlick's memorandum opinion in State v. Tagaloa (King Co. Super. Ct. April 15, 2005) answers no: it would violate the due process protections of the Sixth Amendment and does not constitute a prior conviction under Apprendi v. New Jersey, 530 U.S. 466, 120 S.Ct. 2348 (2000) and Blakely v. Washington, --- U.S. ----, 124 S.Ct. 2531, 2536, 159 L.Ed.2d 403 (2004).

Categories: sentencing, Blakely-v-Washington, Apprendi-v-NJ, juvenile-adjudications, cases