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''Ewing v. California'', , is one of two cases upholding a sentence imposed under California's three strikes law against a challenge that it constituted cruel and unusual punishment in violation of the Eighth Amendment. As in its prior decision in ''Harmelin v. Michigan'', , the United States Supreme Court could not agree on the precise reasoning for upholding the sentence. Nevertheless, with the decision in ''Ewing'' and the companion case ''Lockyer v. Andrade'', , the Court effectively foreclosed criminal defendants from arguing that their noncapital sentences were disproportional to the crime they had committed. Ewing was represented in the Court by Quin Denvir. The Attorney General of California argued for the State of California. Michael Chertoff argued on behalf of the United States as amicus curiae. ==Facts== Viewed separately from his criminal history, the crime Gary Ewing committed in this case is relatively benign. In 2000 he stole three golf clubs worth $399 each from the pro shop of the El Segundo Golf Course in El Segundo, California. He slipped them down the leg of his pants, and a shop employee called the police when he noticed Ewing limping out of the pro shop.〔538 U.S. 11, 17-18〕 Ewing was charged with and convicted of felony grand theft of personal property.〔538 U.S. 11, at 19〕 Under California law, felony grand theft is a "wobbler," meaning that both the prosecutor and the trial judge have discretion to reduce the seriousness of the crime to a misdemeanor.〔538 U.S. 11, at 17〕 Although Ewing asked the trial court to exercise its discretion in this way, thus making him ineligible for sentencing under the three strikes law, the trial judge declined to do so. Ewing's extensive criminal history did not persuade the judge to be lenient in this regard.〔538 U.S. 11, at 19-20〕 Ewing committed his first crime in 1984 when he was 22 years old. He pleaded guilty to theft, and received a six-month suspended sentence. In 1988 he was convicted of felony grand theft auto and sentenced to a year in jail and three years' probation. In 1990, he was convicted of petty theft and sentenced to 60 days in jail and three years' probation. In 1992, he was convicted of battery and sentenced to 30 days in jail. In the first nine months of 1993 he was convicted of burglary, possession of drug paraphernalia, appropriating lost property, unlawful possession of a firearm, and trespassing. In October and November 1993, he committed his most serious crimes to date—a string of burglaries and robbery at apartment complexes in Long Beach, California, where he made off with money, electronics, and credit cards. In December 1993 he was arrested on the premises of another Long Beach apartment complex, where police found a knife used in the prior robbery, along with a glass cocaine pipe, on his person. He was convicted this time of one count of first-degree robbery and three counts of residential burglary, and sentenced to nine years in prison. He was paroled in 1999, ten months before he stole the golf clubs from the pro shop in El Segundo.〔538 U.S. 11, at 18-19〕 At sentencing on the golf club theft, the judge used the 1993 burglaries and robbery to impose the 25-to-life sentence under California's three strikes law.〔538 U.S. 11, at 20〕 Ewing appealed his conviction to the California Court of Appeal, which rejected his challenge that the 25-year sentence was grossly disproportional to the crime. The California Supreme Court denied review.〔538 U.S. 11, at 20〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Ewing v. California」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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