Anyone have experience proving up prior felonies out of Kentucky? We have had problems getting good documentation. Even the pen packet I received does not have fingerprints, and fails to include some convictions that I know about. Please post if you have invented this wheel. I am trying to habitualize a defendant in an aggravated robbery case.

Thank you.

Every state is different, but hopefully the availability of documentation in Ky is not as bad as Louisiana.

I would suggest writing AND calling the district/county/superior court clerk in the county of the convictions and seeking certified copies of J&S's, along with attempting to obtain fingerprints from the arrest, the offense report or probable cause statement from the arrest, the bonding form and booking photos.

If you have difficulty obtaining cooperation or interest from the clerk, I suggest you call the DA's office in each jurisdiction and throw yourself on the mercy of their investigator or even the elected. If they are so small that they do not have an investigator, then try to find out who investigated your defendant at the county/city level on each case, and perhaps you can interest them in helping you habitualize your defendant. I have had good luck with both of the above tactics.

I went to school in KY and several classmates are now elected DA/CA's. What county are you needing info from?

And what location (corrections unit) did you crook serve time? I did an internship inside a unit of the Kentucky Corrections. Some of my old "bosses" may still be around.....

Put the defendant's mom on the witness stand.

Sometimes the defendant's fingerprints are on the bail bond. Check with the clerk of the convicting courts. Also, if a photograph is included in the pen packet, this could be sufficient for indentification purposes.

I have also obtaioned a custodian of records affidavit with the fingerprints of the defendant from the records custodian of the jail that housed the defendant at the time of his conviction.

Check the defendant's body for tattoos that signify his service in prison. See if he filled out a job application that included a reference to prior prison service. Listen to his jail phone calls and catch one where he brags about prison.