State v. Gayles, A17-1710

• Decision Date: 30 April 2018
• Docket Number: A17-1710
• Citation: 915 N.W.2d 6
• Parties: STATE of Minnesota, Appellant, v. Donyale Damon GAYLES, Respondent.
• Court: Minnesota Court of Appeals

915 N.W.2d 6

STATE of Minnesota, Appellant,

v.Donyale Damon GAYLES, Respondent.

A17-1710

Court of Appeals of Minnesota.

Filed April 30, 2018

Lori Swanson, Attorney General, St. Paul, Minnesota; and Mark A. Ostrem, Olmsted County Attorney, Byron H. Black, Assistant County Attorney, Rochester, Minnesota (for appellant)

Zachary C. Bauer, Meshbesher & Spence, Ltd., Rochester, Minnesota (for respondent)

Considered and decided by Bratvold, Presiding Judge; Larkin, Judge; and Florey, Judge.

FLOREY, Judge

The state appeals a district court’s pretrial denial of a request to submit aggravating sentencing factors to a jury. Because the district court failed to apply the probable-cause standard when determining whether the law and proffered evidence would support an aggravated sentence, we reverse.

FACTS

The state charged respondent Donyale Damon Gayles with three counts of aggravated first-degree sale of a controlled substance; four counts of first-degree sale of a controlled substance; one count of first-degree possession of a controlled substance; and three counts of child endangerment (possession of a controlled substance), after officers orchestrated three controlled purchases of cocaine from respondent. The controlled purchases occurred at respondent’s home. During two of the controlled purchases, children were present in respondent’s home. Officers executed a search warrant of the home and discovered over 180 grams of cocaine and an unattended child.

The state provided notice of its intent to seek an aggravated sentence and an upward departure, citing two aggravating factors: the drug offenses were committed in the presence of a child, and respondent has two or more prior violent-crime convictions and is a danger to public safety. The state thereafter moved for a court determination under Minn. R. Crim. P. 11.04, subd. 2(a), of whether the law and proffered evidence supported an aggravated sentence. Respondent argued that the state could not prove that a child witnessed the drug sales, and that the evidence did not support a finding that he is a danger to public safety.

The district court denied the state’s motion to present aggravating factors to the jury. The district court indicated that "motions for aggravated sentences are not governed by a particular standard," but then stated that it considered the state’s evidence concerning whether the offenses were committed in the presence of children "in the light most favorable to the [s]tate." The district court found that there was no evidence that the children saw, heard, or otherwise witnessed the drug sales during the controlled purchases, and that the fact that children "could" have reached the controlled substances was not sufficient to support an aggravated sentence. The district court also concluded that there was insufficient evidence to present to a jury the issue of whether respondent is a danger to public safety, as his criminal history did not indicate a high frequency of dangerous crimes, and he had demonstrated lengthy periods of noncriminal behavior.

The state appealed.

ISSUE

What standard applies when determining whether to allow the state to present aggravating sentencing factors to a jury under Minnesota Rule of Criminal Procedure 11.04, subdivision 2(a) ?

ANALYSIS

Minn. R. Crim. P. 28.04, subd. 1(1), permits the state to appeal "any pretrial order, including probable cause dismissal orders based on questions of law." In State v. Rourke , the supreme court clarified that the state may be permitted to appeal a district court’s pretrial denial of a request to submit aggravating factors to the jury provided jeopardy has not attached. 773 N.W.2d 913, 923 (Minn. 2009) (citing Minn. R. Crim. P. 28.04, subd. 2 ). In order to appeal the pretrial order, the state "must show ‘how the district court’s alleged error, unless reversed, will have a critical impact on the outcome of the trial.’ " State v. Osorio , 891 N.W.2d 620, 626-27 (Minn. 2017) (quoting Minn. R. Crim. P. 28.04, subd. 2(2)(b) ). The critical-impact requirement is satisfied when a district court’s pretrial decision leads to the dismissal of a charge. State v. Burbach , 706 N.W.2d 484, 487 n.1 (Minn. 2005) ; see State v. Wiltgen , 737 N.W.2d 561, 566 n.3 (Minn. 2007) (noting that the suppression of evidence used to enhance a driving-while-impaired charge satisfied the critical-impact requirement because it directly led to the dismissal of the enhanced charge). For the reasons stated below, the dismissal of a proffered aggravating sentencing factor is akin to the dismissal of an enhanced charge. We therefore consider the merits of the state’s appeal.

We review a district court’s factual findings in a pretrial order for clear error and review its legal determinations de novo. State v. Lugo , 887 N.W.2d 476, 483 (Minn. 2016) ; State v. Gauster , 752 N.W.2d 496, 502 (Minn. 2008). If the facts are not in dispute, we independently review those facts and any legal conclusions drawn therefrom. Lugo , 887 N.W.2d at 484. We "construe and interpret de novo" the Minnesota Rules of Criminal Procedure. State v. Barrett , 694 N.W.2d 783, 785 (Minn. 2005).

The crux of this appeal is whether the district court applied the correct standard when it determined that the state’s proffered evidence was insufficient to support the state’s proposed aggravating factors. The state argues that the district court erred by failing to apply the probable-cause standard. Respondent argues that the district court applied a legally correct standard, but even if the district court should have applied the probable-cause standard, the evidence was insufficient to present the factors to the jury for consideration.

Minn. R. Crim. P. 7.03 requires the state to provide written notice of its intent to seek an aggravated sentence at least seven days before an omnibus hearing. "[T]he state is not limited to factors specified in the Sentencing Guidelines provided the state provides reasonable notice to the defendant and the district court ... of the factors on which the state intends to rely." Minn. Stat. § 244.10, subd. 4 (2016). If the state gives notice of its intent to seek an aggravated sentence, the district court "must determine whether the law and proffered evidence support an aggravated sentence." Minn. R. Crim. P. 11.04, subd. 2(a). The comment to the rule provides that the district court must determine two issues: "whether the proposed grounds legally support an aggravated sentence" and whether "the proffered evidence is sufficient to proceed to trial." Minn. R. Crim. P. 11 cmt. The comment to rule 11 recognizes that rule 11.04, subdivision 2, "does not provide a standard for determining insufficiency of the evidence claims and that is left to case law development." Id. Minnesota appellate courts have not previously addressed the standard a district court must employ in making a pretrial determination of whether aggravating factors may be presented to the jury.

In Apprendi v. New Jersey , the Supreme Court extended the requirement of a jury determination of proof beyond a reasonable doubt to all facts that increase the prescribed range of penalties to which a defendant is exposed for a charged offense. 530 U.S. 466, 490, 120 S.Ct. 2348, 2362-63, 147 L.Ed.2d 435 (2000). The Supreme Court explained that elements of a crime and sentence-enhancement factors are functionally equivalent, and a state may not escape the requirement of a jury determination of the facts used to enhance a sentence by labeling the facts as sentencing factors. Id. at 485, 494 n.19, 120 S.Ct. at 2360, 2365 n.19. The Supreme Court noted that, because a sentence-enhancement factor increases the sentence beyond the maximum authorized statutory sentence, "it fits squarely within the usual definition of an ‘element’ of the offense." Id. at 494 n.19, 120 S.Ct. at 2365 n.19.

In Blakely v. Washington , the Supreme Court applied Apprendi to a case that involved a district court’s deviation from the standard range provided by the state’s sentencing guidelines. 542 U.S. 296, 299, 303, 124 S.Ct. 2531, 2535, 2537, 159 L.Ed.2d 403 (2004). The Supreme Court explained that "[w]hen a judge inflicts punishment that the jury’s verdict alone does not allow, the jury has not found all the facts which the law makes essential to the punishment, and the judge exceeds his proper authority." Id. at 304, 124 S.Ct. at 2537 (quotation omitted). In Washington v. Recuenco , the Supreme Court indicated that, on appeal, the failure to submit a sentencing factor to the jury will be treated the same as an omission of an element. 548 U.S. 212, 220-22, 126 S.Ct. 2546, 2552-53, 165 L.Ed.2d 466 (2006) ("Assigning this distinction constitutional significance cannot be reconciled with our recognition in Apprendi that elements and sentencing factors must be treated the same for Sixth Amendment purposes."). And in Alleyne v. United States , the Supreme Court applied Apprendi ’s holding to any facts that increased the mandatory minimum sentence for a charge. 570 U.S. 99, 103, 133 S.Ct. 2151, 2155, 186 L.Ed.2d 314 (2013). The Supreme Court explained that "any fact that increases the mandatory minimum is an ‘element’ that must be submitted to the jury." Id. The Supreme Court further explained that "the core crime and the fact triggering the mandatory minimum sentence together constitute a new, aggravated crime" and that, by defining the facts that increase the mandatory minimum sentence "to be part of the substantive offense enables the defendant to predict the legally applicable penalty from the face of the indictment." Id. at 113-14, 133 S.Ct. at 2161.

Because the United States Supreme Court has recognized that the facts used to enhance a sentence are elements of "a new, aggravated crime" and "part of the substantive offense," the state argues that probable cause is the correct standard to determine whether aggravating factors may be presented for jury determination, because both the elements of a crime and the...