Opinion
No. 59253-0-I.
October 1, 2007.
Appeal from a judgment of the Superior Court for King County, No. 03-1-00563-7, Brian D. Gain, J., entered December 11, 2006.
Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion.
Larry Rivers appeals the life sentence imposed following his convictions for robbery and kidnapping and a remand for resentencing. He contends that his sentence as a persistent offender violates his constitutional rights because his qualifying convictions were not proved to a jury beyond a reasonable doubt.
Rivers' argument, however, is controlled by authority that is binding on this court. State v. Thiefault, 160 Wn.2d 409, 418, 158 P.3d 158 P.3d 580 (2007) (holding Apprendi v. New Jersey, 530 U.S. 466, 120 S. Ct. 2348, 147 L. Ed. 2d 435 (2000) does not require that prior convictions used to establish persistent offender status be submitted to a jury and proved beyond a reasonable doubt); State v. Smith, 150 Wn.2d 135, 75 P.3d 934 (2003) (holding neither the federal nor state constitutions require the fact of prior convictions be determined by jury). Moreover, we rejected identical arguments in River's first appeal and our resolution of those claims is the law of the case. See State v. Rivers, 130 Wn. App. 689, 128 P.3d 608 (2005), rev. denied, 158 Wn.2d 1008 (2006), cert. denied 127 S. Ct. 1882, 167 L. Ed. 2d 370 (2007); State v. Worl, 129 Wn.2d 416, 424, 918 P.2d 905 (1996) (trial and appellate courts are bound by the holdings of the highest court to consider a prior appeal until they are "authoritatively overruled.")
Affirmed.