Opinion ID: 2222266
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: Habitual Offender Charge

Text: The defendant contends that the information charging him with habitual offender status was defective for failure to expressly charge that the prior criminal offenses were felonies. Count II charged the defendant in part as follows: On or about the 11th day of September, 1975, in the Marion County Criminal Court, Div. II, Marion County, Indiana, Harold I. Logston Jr. was convicted and sentenced for the Commission of a Felony While Armed, to wit: Robbery; and that on September 10, 1979, in the Superior Court of Shelby County, Indiana, Harold I. Logston Jr. was convicted and sentenced for the offense of Theft; and that on or about June 2, 1981, in the Marion County Superior Court, Criminal Division, Room 4, Marion County, Indiana, Harold I. Logston was convicted and sentenced for the offense of reckless homicide. In Parrish v. State (1983), Ind., 453 N.E.2d 234, this Court found adequate a habitual offender charge that did not allege the prior offenses were unrelated and that did not designate which court within an identified county imposed each of the prior convictions. In Erickson v. State (1982), Ind., 438 N.E.2d 269, we refused to find a habitual offender charge defective for lack of specificity. While the habitual offender charge is not a separate offense, it is subject to the rules governing the charging of criminal offenses and must be sufficiently specific to advise a defendant of the conduct with which he is charged so that he may prepare his defense. Anderson v. State (1982), Ind., 439 N.E.2d 558; Griffin v. State (1982), Ind., 439 N.E.2d 160. Absence of detail is fatal only if the phraseology misleads the defendant or fails to give him notice of the charges against him. Little v. State (1986), Ind., 501 N.E.2d 447. In the present case, the defendant was not misled. The habitual offender charge described the prior offenses with sufficient certainty to enable the defendant to prepare and present his defense. We find no error on this issue.