Oregon v. Ice
Issues
Whether subjecting a defendant to consecutive sentencing for multiple convictions based on determinations made by a trial judge, and not a jury, violates the Sixth Amendment right to a jury trial, based on the U.S. Supreme Court’s rulings in Apprendi v. New Jersey and Blakely v. Washington, which prohibit trial judges from imposing greater punishment than the statutory maximum prescribed for the particular crime of which the defendant has been convicted.
The U.S. Supreme Court in Apprendi v. New Jersey and Blakely v. Washington determined that sentencing decisions that exceed the statutory maximum prescribed for a crime are unconstitutional and violate the Sixth Amendment right to a jury trial if they are based on additional fact finding by the trial judge, rather than the jury. Thomas Eugene Ice was convicted by a jury of six crimes, and under a state statutory scheme, was sentenced by a trial judge to serve sentences for four of the convictions consecutively, meaning one after another, rather than concurrently, in which sentences would have been served at the same time. Ice argued that because his sentence exceeded the statutory maximum for any one of his convictions, and was based on determinations made by the trial judge rather than the jury, it violated the rule established in Apprendi and Blakely and was unconstitutional. The Oregon Supreme Court agreed, and it reversed his conviction. The U.S. Supreme Court considers in this case whether its prior rulings apply to consecutive sentencing based on fact finding determinations made by a judge rather than a jury.
Questions as Framed for the Court by the Parties
Whether the Sixth Amendment, as construed in Apprendi v. New Jersey, 530 U.S. 466 (2000), and Blakely v. Washington, 542 U.S. 296 (2004), is violated by the imposition of consecutive sentences based on the sentencing judge’s determination of a fact (other than a prior conviction) that was not found by the jury or admitted by the defendant.
Thomas Eugene Ice was the manager of an apartment complex. On two occasions, Ice entered an apartment at night and sexually touched an 11 year old girl in her bedroom. State v. Ice, 343 Ore.