State of Minnesota v. Korwin Lucio Balsley, 10 N.W.3d 671

Korwin Lucio Balsley was convicted of second-degree criminal sexual conduct for a 2015 offense, discovered and reported in 2021.
After the sexual assault but before it was reported, Balsley committed an unrelated second-degree assault in 2016, a predatory crime, resulting in a 2017 conviction.
At Balsley's sentencing for the sexual assault, the district court found the 2017 assault was a “previously committed” predatory crime, qualifying Balsley for an enhanced sentence as an engrained offender under Minn. Stat. § 609.3455, subd. 3a.
Balsley appealed, arguing that the statute requires the prior predatory crime to have occurred before the commission (not just before the sentencing) of the current offense.
The Minnesota Supreme Court granted review after the court of appeals affirmed the sentencing enhancement.

Issue	Balsley's Argument	State's Argument	Held
Definition of “previously committed” for sentence enhancement under § 609.3455, subd. 3a	The prior predatory crime must occur before the commission of the current offense	The prior crime only needs to occur before the sentencing (fact-finder's determination)	The statute refers to crimes committed before sentencing, not before the current offense's commission

State v. Jackson, 749 N.W.2d 353 (Minn. 2008) (standard of review for departures from sentencing guidelines).
State v. Franklin, 861 N.W.2d 67 (Minn. 2015) (present tense in sentencing statutes anchors determination to time of sentencing, not earlier events).
State v. Galvan-Contreras, 980 N.W.2d 578 (Minn. 2022) (statutory words interpreted in context).
State v. Robinson, 921 N.W.2d 755 (Minn. 2019) (importance of context in statutory interpretation).
State v. Allison, 999 N.W.2d 835 (Minn. 2024) (plain language applies when statute is unambiguous).