Tony Grantham v. Aref Fakhoury

MEMORANDUM

Tony Scott Grantham appeals from the denial of his petition for a writ of habeas corpus. The petition arises out of Grant-ham’s plea of no contest to first-degree burglary. In the course of his plea, he admitted that he had a prior felony conviction that qualified as a “strike” under California Penal Code section 667, subdivisions (b)-(i). On the day of his plea, Grantham was sentenced to an agreed-upon sentence of twelve years.

Grantham argues that, under California law, the maximum term of imprisonment that could have been imposed based on his plea of guilty was four years, which, when doubled based on his prior conviction, would have justified a sentence of eight years. Consistent with the holding of the Supreme Court in Cunningham v. California, 549 U.S. 270 , 127 S.Ct. 856 , 166 L.Ed.2d 856 (2007), Grantham claims that the only way his sentence could have been increased from four years to six years (and doubled to twelve years) was a finding of aggravating circumstances, which could only have been made by a jury. Thus, Grantham argues, before he entered his plea of guilty, he should have been advised that he was waiving his right to a jury determination of this…