Is a defendant entitled to a jury trial to determine the facts upon which the court relied to sentence him to an aggravated sentence?

Defendant contends the trial court violated his Sixth Amendment right to have a jury determine the facts upon which the court relied to sentence him to the aggravated term, citing Blakely v. Washington (2004) 542 U.S. 296, 124 S.Ct. 2531, 159 L.Ed.2d 403. The contention fails for reasons that follow.

Applying the Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution, the United States Supreme Court held in Apprendi v. New Jersey (2000) 530 U.S. 466, 120 S.Ct. 2348, 147 L.Ed.2d 435 that other than the fact of a prior conviction, any fact that

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increases the penalty for a crime beyond the statutory maximum must be tried to a jury and proved beyond a reasonable doubt. (Id. at p. 490, 120 S.Ct. at p. 2362, 147 L.Ed.2d at p. 455.) For this purpose, the statutory maximum is the maximum sentence that a court could impose based solely on facts reflected by a jury's verdict or admitted by the defendant; thus, when a sentencing court's authority to impose an enhanced sentence depends, upon additional fact findings, there is a right to a jury trial and proof beyond a reasonable, doubt on the additional facts. (Blakely v. Washington, supra, 542; U.S. at pp. 302-304,124 S.Ct. at pp. 2536-2538, 159 L.Ed.2d at pp. 413-414.)