Second Regular Session 114th General Assembly (2006)


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    SENATE ENROLLED ACT No. 338


     AN ACT to amend the Indiana Code concerning criminal law and procedure.

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Indiana:

    SECTION 1. IC 35-43-5-2.5 IS ADDED TO THE INDIANA CODE AS A NEW SECTION TO READ AS FOLLOWS [EFFECTIVE JULY 1, 2006]: Sec. 2.5. A person who knowingly or intentionally possesses, produces, or distributes a document not issued by a government entity that purports to be a government issued identification commits a Class A misdemeanor.
    SECTION 2. IC 35-50-2-1.4 IS ADDED TO THE INDIANA CODE AS A NEW SECTION TO READ AS FOLLOWS [EFFECTIVE JULY 1, 2006]: Sec. 1.4. For purposes of section 15 of this chapter, "criminal gang" means a group with at least five (5) members that specifically:
        (1) either:
            (A) promotes, sponsors, or assists in; or
            (B) participates in; or
        (2) requires as a condition of membership or continued membership;
the commission of a felony or an act that would be a felony if committed by an adult or the offense of battery (IC 35-42-2-1).
    SECTION 3. IC 35-50-2-15 IS ADDED TO THE INDIANA CODE AS A NEW SECTION TO READ AS FOLLOWS [EFFECTIVE JULY 1, 2006]: Sec. 15. (a) This section does not apply to an individual who is convicted of a felony offense under IC 35-45-9-3.
    (b) The state may seek, on a page separate from the rest of a charging instrument, to have a person who allegedly committed a felony offense sentenced to an additional fixed term of imprisonment if the state can show beyond a reasonable doubt that the person knowingly or intentionally:
        (1) was a member of a criminal gang while committing the offense; and
        (2) committed the felony offense at the direction of or in affiliation with a criminal gang.
    (c) If the person is convicted of the felony 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.
    (d) 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 knowingly or intentionally was a member of a criminal gang while committing the felony offense and committed the felony offense at the direction of or in affiliation with a criminal gang as described in subsection (b), the court shall:
        (1) sentence the person to an additional fixed term of imprisonment equal to the sentence imposed for the underlying felony, if the person is sentenced for only one (1) felony; or
        (2) sentence the person to an additional fixed term of imprisonment equal to the longest sentence imposed for the underlying felonies, if the person is being sentenced for more than one (1) felony.
    (e) A sentence imposed under this section shall run consecutively to the underlying sentence.
    (f) A term of imprisonment imposed under this section may not be suspended.
    (g) For purposes of subsection (c), evidence that a person was a member of a criminal gang or committed a felony at the direction of or in affiliation with a criminal gang may include expert testimony pursuant to the Indiana Rules of Evidence that may be admitted to prove that particular conduct, status, and customs are indicative of criminal gang activity. The expert testimony may include the following:
        (1) Characteristics of persons who are members of criminal gangs.
        (2) Descriptions of rivalries between criminal gangs.
        (3) Common practices and operations of criminal gangs.
        (4) Behavior of criminal gangs.
        (5) Terminology used by members of criminal gangs.
        (6) Codes of conduct, including criminal conduct, of particular criminal gangs.
        (7) Types of crimes that are likely to be committed by a particular criminal gang.

SEA 338 _ Concur
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