Opinion ID: 2023701
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Motion to Dismiss the Habitual Charge

Text: After the jury convicted the defendant on the two drug charges, the trial proceeded to the habitual offender stage. The jury was unable to reach a verdict on the habitual charge and the court then declared a mistrial. Before a new trial could be held on the habitual charge, the defendant filed a motion to dismiss the habitual offender count. The defendant acknowledges that our precedent permits the retrial by a second jury on a habitual offender charge when the first jury cannot reach a verdict. Murphy v. State, 499 N.E.2d 1077, 1084 (Ind.1986). The defendant urges us to overturn our precedent, arguing that the plain language of the statute requires the same jury deciding the underlying felony charges to also decide the habitual charge and, consequently, the defendant cannot be retried if the jury is unable to reach a verdict. We decline.