Opinion ID: 2251353
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Sufficiency of the Evidence: Habitual Offender Determination

Text: Martin argues that the evidence used to establish his status as an habitual offender is insufficient. He maintains that the State did not establish that he was the same Lester Martin who is named on the docket sheets and fingerprint cards which were introduced by the State. At the habitual offender hearing the State introduced inked fingerprint impressions for a Lester Martin who had been arrested for A & B with intent to kill in 1969 and second degree burglary in 1971. The State also introduced docket sheets for these offenses which indicated that a Lester Martin pleaded guilty to the lesser included offenses of Aggravated Assault and Battery and Entering to Commit a Felony, respectively. A sentence of one to five years was imposed for each conviction. The dates and charges on the arrest cards correspond to the dates and charges on the docket sheets. In addition, Officer Bukowski, who specializes in fingerprint identification and who was the keeper of the records, testified that the fingerprint impression on the arrest cards matched the fingerprint impressions on Martin's fingerprint card for the present charges. There must be supporting evidence to identify appellant as being the same person named in the documents. Coker v. State (1983), Ind., 455 N.E.2d 319. Testimony by a fingerprint expert that a comparison of the fingerprint impressions for the present charges and the prior felonies indicate that they were made from the same person is sufficient. Rhyne v. State (1983), Ind., 446 N.E.2d 970. Moreover, appellant admitted at trial that he had prior convictions for Entering to Commit a felony at age 30 and Aggravated Assault in 1969. These are the same lesser included offenses to which he pleaded guilty and were the prior unrelated felonies reflected in the State's documentation. The State asked the court to recognize Martin's testimony regarding these admissions and it did so. The documentation and fingerprint testimony sufficiently identified appellant as the same Lester Martin who was named in the documents. Judgment affirmed. GIVAN, C.J., and DeBRULER, PIVARNIK and DICKSON, JJ., concur.