Opinion ID: 2078506
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Proof of Felony Conviction

Text: Cavendish claims that the State failed to prove his Tennessee conviction was for a felony. For the purposes of our recidivist statute, a felony is any crime for which the sentence could be more than one year imprisonment. Ind. Code § 35-50-2-1 (Burns 1985 Repl.). The State's exhibits revealed that Cavendish was sentenced to 11 months and 29 days for the Tennessee conviction. No proof was submitted that the sentence could have been longer. Nevertheless, the trial court instructed the jury the conviction was for a felony. Cavendish claims it was the State's burden to prove the Tennessee conviction was for a felony and that the court erred in relieving the State of that burden with its instruction. This author regards the provisions of Ind. Code § 35-50-2-8 (Burns 1985 Repl.) as indicating a legislative intent that all the elements of a recidivist charge, including the felony status of prior convictions, be submitted for determination by the trier of fact. Shelton v. State (1986), Ind., 490 N.E.2d 738. Nevertheless, in the past this Court has concluded that no error occurs when the trial court relieves the State of the burden of proving a prior conviction was for a felony. Seward v. State (1983), Ind., 453 N.E.2d 256. The case at bar illustrates the potential danger of this rule. The record in this case reveals that the court's decision to instruct the jury as it did was erroneously based upon the fact that the Tennessee indictment stated that Cavendish feloniously possessed burglar tools. This is not the test by which Indiana determines whether an earlier judgment was a felony conviction. Ind. Code § 35-50-2-1 (Burns 1985 Repl.). The court erred in instructing the jury that the prior conviction was for a felony when proof of that fact was not before the court. It is true that at the sentencing hearing the court stated it had referred to the Tennessee statutes; however, unlike the record in Shelton, this record is completely devoid of statutory citations, let alone their substance. If it is proper for the court to instruct the jury in a habitual hearing that a prior judgment is a felony conviction, the court's duty is to guide the proceedings with instructions based not on misapprehensions of the definition of a felony but on a proper determination of law substantiated in the record. The determination that Cavendish is a habitual offender is set aside and remanded for a new trial.