Cite as: 506 U. S. 20 (1992)
Opinion of the Court
Amendment because it does not require the government to carry the entire burden of proof by clear and convincing evidence when a transcript of the prior plea proceeding is unavailable.
I
In May 1986, the Commonwealth charged respondent Ricky Harold Raley with robbery and with being a persistent felony offender in the first degree.* The latter charge was based on two burglaries to which respondent had pleaded guilty in November 1979 and October 1981. Respondent never appealed his convictions for those crimes. He nevertheless moved to suppress them in the persistent felony offender proceeding, arguing that they were invalid under Boykin because the records did not contain transcripts of the plea proceedings and hence did not affirmatively show that respondent's guilty pleas were knowing and voluntary.
The trial court held a hearing according to procedures set forth in Commonwealth v. Gadd, 665 S. W. 2d 915 (Ky. 1984), and Dunn v. Commonwealth, 703 S. W. 2d 874 (Ky. 1985), cert. denied, 479 U. S. 832 (1986). In Gadd, the Supreme Court of Kentucky observed that the persistent felony offender statute requires that the prosecution prove only the fact of a previous conviction beyond a reasonable doubt; the Commonwealth need not also show that the conviction was validly obtained. 665 S. W. 2d, at 917. But, citing Burgett v. Texas, 389 U. S. 109 (1967), the court also held that defend-*"A persistent felony offender in the first degree is a person who is more than twenty-one (21) years of age and who stands convicted of a felony after having been convicted of two (2) or more felonies." Ky. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 532.080(3) (Michie 1990). The applicable penalty depends upon the nature of the offense for which the defendant presently stands convicted. A defendant convicted both of second-degree robbery (the crime to which respondent ultimately pleaded guilty) and of being a first-degree persistent felony offender faces a mandatory sentence of 10 to 20 years. §§ 515.030, 532.080(6)(b). A first-degree persistent felony offender is also ineligible for probation or parole until he has served at least 10 years. § 532.080(7).
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