Sec. 14. (a) As used in this section, “sex offense” means a felony conviction under IC 35-42-4-1 through IC 35-42-4-9 or under IC 35-46-1-3.

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Terms Used In Indiana Code 35-50-2-14

  • Conviction: A judgement of guilt against a criminal defendant.
  • Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
  • felony conviction: means a conviction, at any time, with respect to which the convicted person might have been imprisoned for more than one (1) year. See Indiana Code 35-50-2-1
  • Judgment: means all final orders, decrees, and determinations in an action and all orders upon which executions may issue. See Indiana Code 1-1-4-5
  • Plea: In a criminal case, the defendant's statement pleading "guilty" or "not guilty" in answer to the charges, a declaration made in open court.
  • Trial: A hearing that takes place when the defendant pleads "not guilty" and witnesses are required to come to court to give evidence.
     (b) The state may seek to have a person sentenced as a repeat sexual offender for a sex offense described in subsection (a) by alleging, on a page separate from the rest of the charging instrument, that the person has accumulated one (1) prior unrelated felony conviction for a sex offense described in subsection (a).

     (c) After a person has been convicted and sentenced for a felony described in subsection (a) after having been sentenced for a prior unrelated sex offense described in subsection (a), the person has accumulated one (1) prior unrelated felony sex offense conviction. However, a conviction does not count for purposes of this subsection, if:

(1) it has been set aside; or

(2) it is a conviction for which the person has been pardoned.

     (d) If the person was convicted of the sex offense in a jury trial, the jury shall reconvene to hear evidence in the enhancement hearing. If the trial was to the court, or the judgment was entered on a guilty plea, the court alone shall hear evidence in the enhancement hearing.

     (e) A person is a repeat sexual offender if the jury (if the hearing is by jury) or the court (if the hearing is to the court alone) finds that the state has proved beyond a reasonable doubt that the person had accumulated one (1) prior unrelated felony sex offense conviction.

     (f) The court may sentence a person found to be a repeat sexual offender to an additional fixed term that is the advisory sentence for the underlying offense. However, the additional sentence may not exceed ten (10) years.

As added by P.L.214-1999, SEC.4. Amended by P.L.71-2005, SEC.15; P.L.6-2006, SEC.9, P.L.140-2006, SEC.37, and P.L.173-2006, SEC.37; P.L.125-2009, SEC.8; P.L.142-2020, SEC.86.

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