Title: Dillard Lee Landis v. State
Citation: N/A
Docket Number: 64S04-9812-CR-776
State: Indiana
Issuer: Indiana Supreme Court
Date: December 29, 1998

ATTORNEY FOR APPELLANT            ATTORNEYS FOR APPELLEE 
 Paul D. Stanko                    Jeffrey A. Modisett Crown Point, Indiana            Attorney General of Indiana 
                             Andrew L. Hedges                             Deputy Attorney General                             Indianapolis, IN 46204 
  
 
 
  IN THE 
 SUPREME COURT OF INDIANA  
 
 
 DILLARD LEE LANDIS, ) ) Appellant (Defendant Below ), ) 64S04-9812-CR-776 ) in the Supreme Court v. ) ) 64A04-9710-CR-438 STATE OF INDIANA, ) in the Court of Appeals ) Appellee (Plaintiff Below ). ) 
 
 
  
 APPEAL FROM THE PORTER SUPERIOR COURT The Honorable Roger V. Bradford, Judge Cause No. 64D01-9608-CF-84 
   
 
 December 29, 1998   SHEPARD, Chief Justice. 
 
     The Court of Appeals correctly held in this prosecution for stalking, Ind. Code § 35-45-10-5(c), that when the State seeks an 
 enhanced penalty based on a prior conviction for stalking, a defendant is entitled to a bifurcated proceeding in which the proof of the prior conviction is submitted to the jury only after it has rendered a guilty verdict on the present offense. Landis v. State, 693 N.E.2d 570 (Ind. Ct. App. 1998). 
     The Attorney General seeks transfer, arguing that the crime of stalking by its nature necessitates proof of repeated or continuing acts. He contends that the prior acts and the conviction should thus be admissible in the State's case-in-chief. We grant transfer. 
     We conclude that the State may present evidence of prior acts that are probative of the crime of stalking (to the extent consistent with the Indiana Rules of Evidence and any other applicable law) but that evidence of any former convictions should be admitted only in the "sentencing hearing" contemplated by Ind. Code § 35-38-1-2(c). 
     With this exception, we summarily affirm the decision of the Court of Appeals. Ind.Appellate Rule 11(B)(3). 
 
 Dickson, Sullivan, Selby, and Boehm, JJ., concur.