Ind. Supreme Court Hears Buffet Robber's Appeal

(Indianapolis, Ind.) - The Indiana Supreme Court is hearing arguments Monday of a man convicted in Dearborn Superior Court.

Jerrell White was arrested after acting as the getaway driver when accomplice Michael Hills went into the Lawrenceburg Golden Corral restaurant and ripped out a cash register, ran off with it, and pried the cash from the register before ditching it near a local riverboat casino on September 13, 2009.

White, 30, was originally charged with Robbery, Theft and Receiving Stolen Property – all felonies. Months later, prosecutors added a charge of being a Habitual Offender after discovering he had committed a prior felony in Nebraska when he was 15-years-old.

A three day Dearborn Superior Court I jury trial in which he represented himself resulted in White being convicted of the Receiving Stolen Property, Theft and Habitual Offender charges, while he was acquitted of the Robbery charge.

White was sentenced to three years in prison for the Theft and Receiving Stolen Property charges, to be served concurrently with an enhanced four-and-a-half year sentence for the habitual offender charge.

White appealed his habitual offender conviction to the Indiana Court of Appeals, who ruled in  June that the state put White in double jeopardy by not presenting sufficient evidence that he was tried and convicted in Nebraska adult court for the offense when he was 15-years-old.

White has since been released from the Indian Department of Corrections on parole.

The state is arguing to the Supreme Court that they should be allowed to retry White on the habitual offender enhancement.

Hills, 30, was convicted for his role in the Golden Corral robbery in March 2010. He was released from prison in March of this year.