CRIMINAL LAWAND PROCEDURE
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(1) the person has been convicted of two
(2) prior unrelated felonies;
(2) at least one (1) of the prior unrelated
felonies is not a Level 6 felony or a Class
D felony; and
(3) if the person is alleged to have com-
mitted a prior unrelated:
(A) Level 5 felony;
(B) Level 6 felony;
(C) Class C felony; or
(D) Class D felony;
not more than ten (10) years have elapsed between
the time the person was released from imprison-
ment, probation, or parole (whichever is latest) and
the time the person committed the current offense.
(d) A person convicted of a Level 6 felony is
a habitual offender if the state proves beyond a rea-
sonable doubt that:
(1) the person has been convicted of three
(3) prior unrelated felonies; and
(2) if the person is alleged to have com-
mitted a prior unrelated:
(A) Level 5 felony;
(B) Level 6 felony;
(C) Class C felony;
(D) Class D felony;
not more than ten (10) years have elapsed between
the time the person was released from imprison-
ment, probation, or parole (whichever is latest) and
the time the person committed the current offense.
(e) The state may not seek to have a person
sentenced as a habitual offender for a felony
offense under this section if the current offense is
a misdemeanor that is enhanced to a felony in the
same proceeding as the habitual offender pro-
ceeding solely because the person has a prior
unrelated conviction. However, a prior unrelated
felony conviction may be used to support a habit-
ual offender determination even if the sentence for
the prior unrelated offense was enhanced for any
reason, including an enhancement because the
person had been convicted of another offense.
(f) Aperson has accumulated two (2) or three
(3) prior unrelated felony convictions for pur-
poses of this section only if:
(1) the second prior unrelated felony con-
viction was committed after commission of
and sentencing for the first prior unrelated
felony conviction;
(2) the offense for which the state seeks to
have the person sentenced as a habitual
offender was committed after commission
of and sentencing for the second prior
unrelated felony conviction.
(3) for a conviction requiring proof of
three (3) prior unrelated felonies, the third
prior unrelated felony conviction was com-
mitted after commission of and sentencing
for the second prior unrelated felony con-
viction.
(g) A conviction does not count for purposes
of this section as a prior unrelated felony convic-
tion if:
(1) the conviction has been set aside; or
(2) the conviction is one for which the
person has been pardoned.
(h) If the person was convicted of the felony
in a jury trial, the jury shall reconvene for the
sentencing hearing. If the trial was to the court or
the judgment was entered on a guilty plea, the
court alone shall conduct the sentencing hearing
under IC 35-38-1-3. The role of the jury is to
determine whether the defendant has been con-
victed of the unrelated felonies. The state or the
defendant may not conduct any additional inter-
rogation or questioning of the jury during the
habitual offender part of the trial.
(i) The court shall sentence a person found to
be a habitual offender to an additional fixed term
that is between:
(1) six (6) years and twenty (20) years,
for a person convicted of murder or a Level
1 through Level 4 felony; or
(2) two (2) years and six (6) years, for a
person convicted of a Level 5 or Level 6
felony.
Any additional term imposed under this subsec-
tion is nonsuspendible.
(j) Habitual offender is a status that results in
an enhanced sentence. It is not a separate crime
and does not result in a consecutive sentence.
The court shall attach the habitual offender
enhancement to the felony conviction with the
highest sentence imposed and specify which felony
count is being enhanced. If the felony enhanced
by the habitual offender determination is set aside
or vacated, the court shall resentence the person
and apply the habitual offender enhancement to the
