In re Taylor

Jason Dan Taylor petitions for writ of habeas corpus, claiming the trial court failed to take a Valid waiver of his right to a jury trial before the court determined he had sustained prior serious felony convictions within the meaning of the three strikes law. (Pen. Code, § 667, subds. (b)-(i).)

Taylor asserts the United States Supreme Court decision in Apprendi v. New Jersey (2000) 530 U.S. 466 [ 120 S.Ct. 2348 , 147 L.Ed.2d 435 ] (Apprendi) entitles him to relief because his right to a jury adjudication of the alleged prior convictions is now a right of constitutional dimension. Bearing on this question is the recent California Supreme Court case of People v. Epps (2001) 25 Cal.4th 19 [ 104 Cal.Rptr.2d 572 , 18 P.3d 2 ]. We hold that the right to a jury trial to determine the fact of a prior conviction derives solely from California statutory law.

Factual and Procedural Background

In 1997, Taylor was prosecuted on an information that alleged, in addition to the substantive crimes, two prior burglary convictions, qualifying as serious felonies under the three strikes law. (§ 667, subd. (d).)

After the jurors began their deliberations, but before they reached their…