Sunday, November 3, 2013

McMillan v. Pennsylvania case brief

McMillan v. Pennsylvania case brief summary
477 U.S. 79 (1986)

CASE SYNOPSIS
Defendants were convicted of felonies under 42 Pa. Cons. Stat. § 9712 and were subject to mandatory minimum sentences when an accused was found by a preponderance of the evidence to have visibly possessed a firearm during the offense. Defendants appealed, challenging the statute under the Sixth Amendment and the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania upheld the statute, and the court granted certiorari.

CASE FACTS
Defendants were convicted of felonies which, under 42 Pa. Cons. Stat. § 9712, carried mandatory minimum sentences of five years' imprisonment if the sentencing judge found by a preponderance of the evidence that the accused visibly possessed a firearm during commission of the offense. The trial judge in each of four consolidated cases held that § 9712 violated the Sixth Amendment and the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.

DISCUSSION

  • The court granted certiorari and affirmed holding that visible possession of a firearm could be treated as a sentencing consideration and not as an element of any offense. 
  • It reasoned that a state need not prove beyond a reasonable doubt every fact which it is willing to recognize as an exculpatory or mitigating circumstance affecting the degree of culpability or the severity of punishment. 
  • Because § 9712 came into existence only after defendants were convicted of an enumerated felony, visible possession was not an element of the offense and due process was satisfied by a preponderance of the evidence standard of proof.

CONCLUSION

The court affirmed the judgment of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.

Recommended Supplements for Criminal Procedure Criminal Procedure: Examples & Explanations, Sixth Edition
Emanuel Law Outline: Criminal Procedure

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