Apprendi Doesn't Require Jury to Find that Prior Crimes Occurred Separately for ACCA

U.S. v. Harris, -- F.3d --, 2006 WL 1314654 (10th Cir. 5/15/06) - Apprendi does not require a jury determination of whether prior serious drug crimes or violent felonies were committed on separate occasions so as to fall under the enhanced penalty of the Armed Career Criminal Act, 18 U.S.C. § 924(e). It is inherent in the fact of a prior conviction under Apprendi whether the defendant has the requisite number of convictions under the ACCA, whether a particular conviction was for a violent felony, and whether the prior convictions happened on different occasions from one another; consequently these are matters for determination by the sentencing court. The district court had sufficient evidence from Mr. Harris's admissions and court records from prior crimes to conclude that they were committed on separate occasions and "Harris's failure to object to the PSR created a factual basis for the court to enhance his sentence under the ACCA." Finally, Booker does not preclude a court from imposing a statutory minimum sentence established by Congress based on a defendant's record of prior convictions.