The U.S. Supreme Court vacated a Colorado man’s conviction under a habitual criminal statute, directing a state appeals court to reconsider the case in light of a ruling the justices made last year.
A habitual criminal statute enhances the sentence for a person convicted of multiple crimes.
The new U.S. Supreme Court decision came after the court laid down rules in Erlinger v. United States governing how trial courts should evaluate prior convictions in habitual criminal cases.
On June 21, 2024, the high court found in Erlinger that for a conviction under the federal Armed Career Criminal Act (ACCA) to be consistent with the Fifth and Sixth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution, there must be a unanimous jury determination beyond a reasonable doubt that the previous offenses took place on separate occasions….