Sec. 1. (a) Evidence of a final judgment that:
(1) is entered after a trial or upon a plea of guilty; and
(2) adjudges a person guilty of a crime punishable by death or imprisonment of more than one (1) year;
shall be admissible in a civil action to prove any fact essential to sustaining the judgment, and is not excluded from admission as hearsay regardless of whether the declarant is available as a witness.
(b) The pendency of an appeal may be shown but does not affect the admissibility of evidence under this section.