Court Opinion

ID: 9735447
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 18:15:38.351293+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:26:57.987083
License: Public Domain

DeBRULER, Justice,
concurring in result.
In the charge elevation and habitual offender phase of appellant's trial the State used appellant's June 14, 1988 class D felony conviction for auto theft to elevate Count II from a class D to a class C felony and Count III from a class A misdemeanor to a class D felony, as part of the circumstances aggravating both those sentences, and as one of the two prior convictions required for the thirty year habitual offender enhancement. I concur in the decision reached in this case but would not have this vote construed as sanctioning the use of a prior felony conviction for charge elevation, aggravation, and habitual offender enhancement. The question of whether or not this use is lawful I deem to be unresolved in Indiana and an issue not raised in this case.
DICKSON, J., concurs.