Owens v. State

BOEHM, Justice.

The Indiana habitual offender statute enhances the penalty for crimes by offenders with two prior unrelated felony convictions, but counts only certain offenses as prior felonies. We hold that a conspiracy to deal conviction is not equivalent to a dealing conviction for the purposes of this statute.

Facts and Procedural History

A confidential informant bought twenty dollars worth of crack cocaine from Myron Owens in a controlled buy. The Indianapolis police maintained audio and visual surveillance of the transaction, and arrested Owens at its completion. Owens refused to comply…