¶ 1 In this opinion, we hold that the United States Supreme Court’s opinion in
Blakely v. Washington,
PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND
¶ 2 In August of 2000, after a jury trial, petitioner Orlando Cain Febles was convicted of one count of aggravated assault, a class three dangerous felony, and one count of burglary in the first degree, a class two dangerous felony. The trial judge sentenced him to concurrent but aggravated prison terms of fifteen years for aggravated assault and twenty-one years for burglary. On appeal, this court affirmed the convictions and sentences. State v. Febles, 1 CA-CR 01-0126 (Ariz.App. Jan. 31, 2002) (mem.decision). Febles did not seek further review, and this court issued the mandate on March 21, 2002. 1
¶3 In February of 2002, Febles commenced post-conviction relief proceedings. After reviewing Febles’ ease, appointed counsel filed a notice that he could not find any viable issues to raise. Febles then filed a pro se petition for post-conviction relief. Fe-bles raised claims of ineffective assistance of both trial and appellate counsel. He also argued that the Portillo 2 instruction given at his trial was unconstitutional and that the State denied him his right to a speedy trial. The State responded and argued that Febles had presented no colorable claims.
¶4 Before ruling on Febles’ petition, the superior court allowed Febles to file a supplemental petition. In his supplemental petition, Febles raised an Apprendi claim. He argued that the superior court violated his Sixth Amendment right to a jury trial when it aggravated his sentences based on facts not proven to a jury beyond a reasonable doubt. The State responded and argued that the claim was precluded. The State noted that Febles was sentenced in January of 2001, after the Apprendi decision. Because Febles had not raised the claim at sentencing or on direct appeal, the State argued that it was waived and urged the superior court to summarily dismiss it. In a minute entry setting forth its reasons, the superior court concluded that “Defendant has failed to present a colorable claim for post-conviction relief’ and summarily dismissed the proceeding.
¶ 5 Febles then filed a motion for rehearing. He argued in part that the superior court failed to address all of his claims. Specifically, he argued that the superior court did not address his claim of ineffective assistance of appellate counsel because his attor
ney
Defendant claims that the Court failed to address all issue[s] raised in his pro per petition. The Court disagrees.
All issues not specifically addressed are denied. The Court found that the Petition was without merit. This finding, coupled with the dismissal of the Petition, implicitly, if not explicitly, denies all relief requested.
Febles timely petitioned this court for review. 3
¶ 6 Before we considered Febles’ petition for post-conviction relief, Blakely was decided. We granted Febles’ motion to stay this matter and to remand it to the superior court to allow Febles to supplement his petition with a Blakely claim. Febles presented his Blakely claim, and the superior court summarily dismissed it. The superior court found that Blakely was not retroactive. Because Febles’ convictions and sentences were final before Blakely, the superior court denied relief. We allowed Febles to supplement his petition for review. In the supplemental petition, Febles argues Blakely is retroactive to the date that Apprendi was decided and his convictions and sentences were not final at that time. As such, he argues he is entitled to relief. Because resolution of the ineffective assistance of appellate counsel claim depends in part on the resolution of whether Blakely is retroactive, we first address the Blakely claim to convictions already final on direct review.
DISCUSSION
¶ 7 For the reasons stated below, we find that Blakely announced a new constitutionally based rule of criminal procedure that has no retroactive application. 4
A. Retroactivity of Blakely
¶ 8 Retroactivity is a question of law, and we review questions of law de novo.
State v. Stroud,
¶ 9 The first step in our analysis is to determine when the defendant’s conviction became final. A conviction is final when “a judgment of conviction has rendered, the availability of appeal exhausted, and the time for a petition for certiorari elapsed or a petition for certiorari finally denied.”
Towery,
¶ 10 The next step is to determine whether
Blakely
announced a new rule of criminal procedure. As noted in
Beard,
a reviewing court must determine “whether the rule later announced in
[Blakely]
was
dictated
by then-existing precedent
[Apprendi ]
[and] apparent to all reasonable jurists.”
Beard,
542 U.S. at -,
¶ 11 Although
Apprendi
and the cases it relied on support the Court’s decision in
Blakely,
they did not dictate or compel that decision.
Blakely
extended the Court’s earlier holding in
Apprendi
that other than the fact of a prior conviction, “any fact that increases the penalty for a crime beyond the prescribed statutory maximum must be submitted to a jury, and proved beyond a reasonable doubt.”
Apprendi,
the “statutory maximum” for Apprendi purposes is the maximum sentence a judge may impose solely on the basis of the facts reflected in the jury verdict or admitted by the defendant. In other words, the relevant “statutory maximum” is not the maximum sentence a judge may impose after finding additional facts, but the maximum he may impose without any additional findings.
Blakely,
542 U.S. at -,
Unlike Apprendi and Ring II, this ease does not present a situation in which a judge-made factual finding, not found by the jury or admitted in a plea agreement, will expose the defendant to a sentence exceeding the statutory maximum. Regardless of how many aggravating circumstances the respondent judge might find under § 13-702(C), the maximum sentence McMullen could receive under § 13-702.01 would be 12.5 years, in accordance with both the applicable statutes and the plea agreement.
Id.
at 333, ¶ 27,
¶ 12 Other jurisdictions had reached the same conclusion. In fact, all federal appellate courts, and those state courts that addressed the issue, agreed that
Apprendi
did not apply to facts used to increase a sentence if they did not result in a sentence longer than the statutory maximum.
5
Thus,
Blakely
¶ 13 Additionally, the fact that four Justices dissented from the majority in
Blakely
supports our conclusion that the
Blakely
holding was not apparent to all reasonable jurists.
See Beard,
542 U.S. at -,
¶ 14 The final step in the analysis is to determine whether the new rule announced in
Blakely
falls within one of the two narrow exceptions to the general rule of non-retroactivity. The
Teague
bar on retroactive application of new rules of criminal procedure has two exceptions. The first exception does not apply because it only relates to new rules that forbid punishment of certain conduct and rules that prohibit a certain category of punishment for a class of defendants because of their status offense.
Beard,
542 U.S. at -,
¶ 15 The second exception is for watershed rules of criminal procedure that implicate the fundamental fairness and accuracy of the proceeding.
Beard,
542 U.S. at -,
We have repeatedly emphasized the limited scope of the second Teague exception, explaining that it is clearly meant to apply only to a small core of rules requiring observance of those procedures that ... are implicit in the concept of ordered liberty. And, because any qualifying rule would be so central to an accurate determination of innocence or guilt [that it is] unlikely that many such components of basic due process have yet to emerge, it should come as no surprise that we have yet to find a new rule that falls under the second Teague exception.
Beard,
542 U.S. at -,
¶ 16 “[W]atershed rules of criminal procedure implicating the fundamental fairness and accuracy of the criminal proceeding ... [are] clearly meant to apply only to a small core of rules requiring observance of those procedures that ... are implicit in the concept of ordered liberty.”
Graham v. Collins,
¶ 17 Thus,
Schriro
instructs that the Sixth Amendment right to have a jury find any fact that increases a sentence, as opposed to a judge finding such a fact, cannot apply retroactively. Because such a right does not so improve the accuracy of the criminal proceeding, it cannot be said to “alter our understanding of the
bedrock procedural elements
essential to the fairness of a proceeding.”
United States v. Sanders,
B. Ineffective Assistance of Appellate Counsel
¶ 18 We turn now to Febles’ claim of ineffective assistance of appellate counsel. Ineffective assistance of appellate counsel is a cognizable Rule 32 claim.
State v. Herrera,
¶ 19 Appellate counsel is responsible for reviewing the trial record and for evaluating and selecting the most promising issues to present on appeal.
Herrera,
¶ 20 A strong presumption exists that Febles’ appellate counsel provided effective assistance.
State v. Valdez,
¶21
Apprendi
was decided on June 26, 2000. Appellate counsel filed the opening brief in Febles’ direct appeal on July 17, 2001. There is no question that counsel could have raised an
Apprendi
claim. However, even if counsel had raised an
Apprendi
claim, Febles has not demonstrated, nor could he, that the outcome of the appeal would have been any different. Although Febles’ sentences were aggravated, they did not exceed the statutory maximum.
10
As set forth in section A of this opinion,
Apprendi
was widely understood then to apply only if the sentence imposed exceeded the statutory maximum. In
State v. Gross,
The defendant was found guilty by a jury of committing two class 4 felonies. Those verdicts exposed the defendant, who had one prior felony conviction, to a sentencing range between 2.25 years and 7.5 [aggravated] years in prison. See A.R.S. § 13-702(A) (2001); A.R.S. § 13-702.01(0, (D) (2001). The additional finding by the trial court that the defendant was on release status exposed the defendant to a maximum sentence on each count of 9.5 years in prison, which exceeded the statutory maximum for the offense. The plain language in Apprendi requires that the defendant’s release status be submitted to the jury and proved beyond a reasonable doubt.
Id.
at 44, ¶ 9,
¶ 22 After Gross was decided, this court held that “the fact of drug-sale income greater than $25,000 [under A.R.S. § 13-3410(A) ] must be found by a jury beyond a reasonable doubt.”
State v. Nichols,
¶23 In
State v. Flores,
¶24 Counsel’s failure to predict future changes in the law, and in particular the
Blakely
decision, is not ineffective because “[cjlairvoyance is not a required attribute of effective representation.”
United States v. Gonzalez-Lerma,
¶25 Febles has not demonstrated either that his appellate counsel was ineffective for failing to raise the Apprendi claim or that the outcome of his appeal would have been different had the claim been raised. Thus, his claim is not colorable, and the superior court properly denied relief.
CONCLUSION
¶26 Blakely is a new rule of criminal procedure. Because it does not fall under either exception to the rule of non-retroactivity, it applies only to cases not yet final on direct review when it was decided.
¶ 27 Febles failed to present any evidence that appellate counsel’s failure to raise an Apprendi claim fell below prevailing professional norms. He also failed to demonstrate that had the Apprendi claim been raised, the outcome of his appeal would have been different. Therefore, the superior court did not abuse its discretion when it denied relief. Accordingly, we deny the relief requested in both the original and supplemental petitions for review.
Notes
. See Ariz. R.Crim. P. 31.23(a) (directing the appellate court to issue the mandate when the time for filing any further motion or petition on direct review expires).
.
State v. Portillo,
. Febles presents several claims in his petition for review. We only address the ineffective assistance of appellate counsel claim in this opinion because the superior court's orders denying the petition for post-conviction relief clearly identify the remaining issues. The superior court also correctly ruled upon each issue in a fashion that will allow any court in the future to understand the resolution.
State v. Whipple,
.
Blakely
applies to all cases not yet final on direct review the day
Blakely
was decided, even if the defendant was sentenced before the decision.
State v. Miranda-Cabrera,
.
See, e.g., United States v. Casas,
.
Ring v. Arizona,
.
See State v. Sepulveda,
.
DeStefano v. Woods,
.
See Green v. United States,
. At the time Febles committed the offenses, the maximum sentence for a dangerous class two felony was twenty-one years and for a dangerous class three felony, fifteen years. Ariz.Rev.Stat. ("A.R.S.”) § 13-604(1) (Supp.1995).
