Miller-Lerman, J. NATURE OF CASE Lorna Rader sustained a compensable injury while she was employed by Speer Auto. The Nebraska Workers' Compensation Court filed an "Award" on March 30, 2007, and after Rader filed a petition to modify, the compensation court filed a "Further Award" on April 10, 2009. Rader filed another petition to modify on June 29, alleging that her "injury had materially and substantially worsened since April 10, 2009, necessitating a modification of the April 10, 2009...
Connolly, J. SUMMARY This workers' compensation appeal presents a jurisdictional issue: Did the appellant, Aurora Cooperative (Co-op), appeal from a final order In a bifurcated proceeding, the trial court determined that the appellee, John Jacobitz, was injured in the scope of his employment. Although the court had reserved the issue of benefits for later determination, the Co-op appealed. Our case law has been inconsistent on the finality of workers' compensation orders when an employer...
Connolly, J. SUMMARY Following a bench trial, the district court found Nathan J. Brauer guilty of sexually assaulting a child in the third degree. 1 The record shows that Brauer poked a child in the penis, over his clothes, using two fingers. The touch was brief, and it happened a single time. The sole issue on appeal is whether there was sufficient evidence to conclude beyond a reasonable doubt that Brauer's touch was "sexual contact," which is limited to conduct that can be "reasonably...
Wright, J. I. NATURE OF CASE This case presents the issue whether Dowayne Peterson suffered a loss of personal property due to theft, as defined in his homeowner's insurance policy. The question presented in this appeal is whether there is a material issue of fact in dispute. Peterson contracted with a "shipper agent" to move his household goods and personal property from Nebraska to Florida. Individuals contacted by the shipper agent took possession of Peterson's property and demanded...
Stephan, J. Pursuant to a plea agreement, Gregory D. Fester II pled guilty to two counts of second degree murder and one count of use of a weapon to commit a felony. He was sentenced to two terms of life imprisonment on the murder convictions and to a term of 10 to 20 years in prison on the weapon conviction, the sentences to be served consecutively. On direct appeal, we rejected his claim that these sentences were excessive. 1 Fester then filed a motion for postconviction relief, which...
Cassel, J. INTRODUCTION A municipal building inspector denied an application for a building permit because the construction documents were not prepared by a registered design professional. The city's appeals board upheld the denial, but in an error proceeding initiated by the landowners, the district court reversed. The city now appeals. Because the building code mandated preparation of the documents by a registered design professional "where required" 1 by Nebraska statutes, our decision...
Miller-Lerman, J. NATURE OF CASE Tyrese A. Phillips appeals his convictions in the district court for Douglas County for second degree murder and use of a deadly weapon to commit a felony. Phillips generally claims that the court erred when it allowed a witness to assert his Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination and failed to grant the witness use immunity, thereby preventing testimony that Phillips asserts was helpful to his defense. He claims in the alternative that the court...
McCormack, J. NATURE OF CASE This case is before this court on further review of the decision of the Nebraska Court of Appeals. 1 Robert C. Taylor pled guilty in the district court for Lancaster County to driving under the influence (DUI). The Court of Appeals affirmed the conviction and found that at the enhancement hearing, the State had met its evidentiary burden in establishing Taylor's prior DUI convictions. We granted Taylor's petition for further review. BACKGROUND On May 20, 2011,...
CASSEL, J. INTRODUCTION Matthew A. Fox appeals the denial of his motion for post-conviction relief without an evidentiary hearing. He asserted three claims of ineffective assistance of counsel, two at the trial stage and one at the appellate stage. Because (1) the jury instructions, taken as a whole, correctly stated the elements of the crime, (2) Fox failed to identify an expert who would have opined differently on Fox's sanity, and (3) the arguments omitted by appellate counsel lacked any...
Connolly, J. I. SUMMARY Arlene A. Easter sold crop insurance for First Express Services Group, Inc. (First Express). In 2009, however, Arlene resigned from First Express and went to work for her son, Mark T. Easter, a part owner of a competing agency. When she resigned, Arlene took a First Express customer list and transferred many of First Express' customers to Mark's agency. When First Express discovered this, it sued Arlene for breach of contract and it sued Arlene, Mark, and Mark's agency...
Heavican, C.J. I. INTRODUCTION Following a jury trial, the district court convicted Antwan L. Jones of first degree murder, use of a deadly weapon to commit a felony, and possession of a deadly weapon by a prohibited person. Jones appeals, arguing the district court erred in overruling Jones' motions to suppress eyewitness identifications. Jones also argues the district court failed to articulate its findings in overruling the motions to suppress. We affirm. II. BACKGROUND Dejuan Johnson...
Heavican, C.J. I. INTRODUCTION The district court, acting as an intermediate court of appeals under the Administrative Procedure Act, affirmed the decision of the director of the Department of Insurance. At issue on appeal is the appropriate experience modifier (XMod) to be used when calculating the premium owed by Gridiron Management Group, LLC (Gridiron), for its workers' compensation insurance. We affirm the decision of the district court. II. BACKGROUND In 2007, Gridiron purchased...
Syllabus by the Court Wright, J. I. NATURE OF CASE Darrin D. Smith was charged with one count of murder in the first degree, four counts of assault in the second degree, and five counts of use of a deadly weapon to commit a felony. His codefendant, Jeremy D. Foster, was charged with the same counts, and the two were tried jointly. The jury convicted both Smith and Foster on all counts, and they were each sentenced to life imprisonment plus 96 to 150 years. Smith and Foster perfected timely...
Wright, J. I. NATURE OF CASE Jeremy D. Foster was charged with one count of murder in the first degree, four counts of assault in the second degree, and five counts of use of a deadly weapon to commit a felony. His codefendant, Darrin D. Smith, was charged with the same crimes, and the two were tried jointly. A jury convicted both Smith and Foster on all counts, and they were each sentenced to life imprisonment plus 96 to 150 years. Smith and Foster perfected timely separate appeals to this...
Miller-Lerman, J. NATURE OF CASE This case has previously been before this court. See Butler Cty. Sch. Dist. v. Freeholder Petitioners, 283 Neb. 903 , 814 N.W.2d 724 (2012) (East Butler I). The underlying case stems from petitions filed by freeholders, the appellees, before the Saunders County freeholder board (the Board) in which they successfully sought to move their property from the Prague Public School District (Prague District) to the Wahoo Public School District (Wahoo District)....
Stephan, J. Kaylene M. Rieger entered a guilty plea to one count of false reporting. She was sentenced by the county court for Sarpy County to probation for 18 months. As a condition of probation, she was directed to have no contact with her husband without the court's permission. The district court affirmed the sentence, and Rieger then perfected this timely appeal. We conclude that the broad prohibition on Rieger's contact with her husband is an unreasonable infringement upon Rieger's...
Cassel, J. INTRODUCTION The biological parents of two children in the care and custody of the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) each filed a notice of appeal from an order of the separate juvenile court of Douglas County. The order found that DHHS was no longer required to supply reasonable efforts in support of reunification and that the primary permanency objectives for the children should be changed from reunification. Both parents failed to include in their...
Wright, J. I. NATURE OF CASE Service Employees International Union (AFL-CIO) Local 226 (Local 226) appeals from the finding of the Commission of Industrial Relations (CIR) that Douglas County School District 001 (District) did not commit a prohibited practice under the version of the Industrial Relations Act (IRA) then in effect, Neb.Rev.Stat. 48-801 to 48-838 (Reissue 2010). Local 226 argues that the District unilaterally changed its vacation accrual policy, declared the issue...
Heavican, C.J. I. INTRODUCTION Shawn T. Strasburg filed an action under the Federal Employers' Liability Act (FELA), 45 U.S.C. 51 et seq. (2006), against Union Pacific Railroad Company (Union Pacific). Strasburg alleged that he was injured in the course of his employment and that his injuries were caused by Union Pacific's negligence. A jury trial was held, and a verdict was entered for Strasburg in the amount of $1,032,375.43. Following trial, the district court allowed Union Pacific to...
MCCORMACK, J. NATURE OF CASE The sentencing order for the defendant's prior conviction of driving under the influence allowed him to drive with an ignition interlock permit and device. The defendant failed to obtain an ignition interlock permit or device, however, before driving. He was convicted of the felony offense of driving with a revoked license in violation of Neb.Rev.Stat. 60-6,197.06(1) (Reissue 2010). The defendant argues that in State v. Hernandez, 1 we held that 60-6,197.06(...
