Aimee1
01-02-2005, 10:34 PM
Court overturns portion of drug sentencing law
Paul Davenport
Associated Press
Dec. 24, 2004 12:00 AM
It's unconstitutional for Arizona to require time behind bars for drug offenders just because they'd also been charged at some point with a violent crime even if not convicted, a state court ruled.
The Court of Appeals struck down part of a drug sentencing law approved by Arizona voters as Proposition 200 in the 1996 general-election ballot.
The law included provisions to allow only probation and treatment for first-time, non-violent drug offenders, but the part overturned in the ruling this week went in the other direction.
Under the overturned provision, a drug offender would become ineligible for probation if the offender had a criminal record of having been indicted for a violent crime.
A three-judge Court of Appeals panel said the provision was unconstitutional because it would stem from a grand jury indictment based on a relatively low standard of proof called "probable cause."
That runs afoul of recent U.S. Supreme Court rulings that the Sixth Amendment right to jury trial requires jury findings based on a high standard of proof - beyond a reasonable doubt - to impose punishments more severe than the normal maximum, the ruling said.
The provision also is unconstitutional because it discards the presumption of innocence, violating constitutional protections for due process under the law, the ruling said.
The same part of the 1996 law also prohibited probation for a drug offender who had been convicted of a violent crime, but the Court of Appeals said that was permissible.
The Court of Appeals ruling came in a Maricopa County Superior Court case in which Melissa Jean Gomez was sentenced to prison terms on two drug possession charges. She would have been eligible for probation except for the fact that she'd been charged in 1994 with manslaughter.
Court papers said Gomez was not tried on the manslaughter charge because the state had it dismissed on grounds that there was no reasonable likelihood of conviction.
The Court of Appeals upheld Gomez's convictions but sent her case back to trial court for resentencing under its ruling.
http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/1224drugsentencing24.html
Paul Davenport
Associated Press
Dec. 24, 2004 12:00 AM
It's unconstitutional for Arizona to require time behind bars for drug offenders just because they'd also been charged at some point with a violent crime even if not convicted, a state court ruled.
The Court of Appeals struck down part of a drug sentencing law approved by Arizona voters as Proposition 200 in the 1996 general-election ballot.
The law included provisions to allow only probation and treatment for first-time, non-violent drug offenders, but the part overturned in the ruling this week went in the other direction.
Under the overturned provision, a drug offender would become ineligible for probation if the offender had a criminal record of having been indicted for a violent crime.
A three-judge Court of Appeals panel said the provision was unconstitutional because it would stem from a grand jury indictment based on a relatively low standard of proof called "probable cause."
That runs afoul of recent U.S. Supreme Court rulings that the Sixth Amendment right to jury trial requires jury findings based on a high standard of proof - beyond a reasonable doubt - to impose punishments more severe than the normal maximum, the ruling said.
The provision also is unconstitutional because it discards the presumption of innocence, violating constitutional protections for due process under the law, the ruling said.
The same part of the 1996 law also prohibited probation for a drug offender who had been convicted of a violent crime, but the Court of Appeals said that was permissible.
The Court of Appeals ruling came in a Maricopa County Superior Court case in which Melissa Jean Gomez was sentenced to prison terms on two drug possession charges. She would have been eligible for probation except for the fact that she'd been charged in 1994 with manslaughter.
Court papers said Gomez was not tried on the manslaughter charge because the state had it dismissed on grounds that there was no reasonable likelihood of conviction.
The Court of Appeals upheld Gomez's convictions but sent her case back to trial court for resentencing under its ruling.
http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/1224drugsentencing24.html