Funke , J. This is an action by appellant John D. Walters (John) to enforce a right of first refusal set forth in a 1998 warranty deed, by which he and his then-spouse (the Walterses) conveyed real property to appellees Douglas M. Lau and Debra L. Lau. The Laus later sold the property to appellees Jay A. Sporer and Melanie Griffith Sporer by a warranty deed, in 2013, without giving John notice of the Sporers' offer. The court granted summary judgment for the Laus and the Sporers...
Kelch , J. INTRODUCTION This case involves the administration of the Republican River Compact. Appropriators Rodney Cappel; Steven Cappel; Cappel Family Farm LLC; C & D Cappel Farms, L.L.C.; and Midway Irrigation, Inc. (collectively the Cappels) appeal the order of the district court for Hitchcock County that dismissed their complaint without leave to amend, upon the motion of the State of Nebraska Department of Natural Resources and Jeff Fassett, its director (collectively the DNR). The...
Kelch , J. INTRODUCTION Kenny S. appeals the adjudication and disposition order of the separate juvenile court of Douglas County. He challenges (1) the sufficiency of the evidence that his children were at risk of harm, (2) the juvenile court's judicial notice of disputed facts and judicial notice of facts within the court's own "knowledge," (3) the constitutionality of Neb. Rev. Stat. 43-247(5) (Reissue 2016) as currently construed, and (4) the dispositional order entered without...
Miller-Lerman , J. NATURE OF CASE Dominique Hairston appeals his convictions in the district court for Douglas County for unlawful discharge of a firearm and use of a weapon to commit a felony. Hairston claims the district court erred when it denied him a new trial based on his allegations of juror misconduct and prosecutorial misconduct. We reject Hairston's claims and affirm his convictions. STATEMENT OF FACTS On July 30, 2015, police officers responded to reports of a shooting in the...
Wright , J. NATURE OF CASE Harold W. Baker was found guilty by a jury of his peers of murdering Jermaine J. Richey and Derek L. Johnson and attempting to murder Demetrion A. Washington and Lamar A. Nedd. He was sentenced by the court to life imprisonment on each of the two first degree murder convictions, 30 to 40 years' imprisonment on each of the two attempted first degree murder convictions, and 25 to 30 years' imprisonment on each of the four use of a firearm to commit a felony...
Wright , J. NATURE OF CASE The defendants in these consolidated appeals assert that the district court erred in denying their motions for absolute discharge. The district court determined that under the plain language of Neb. Rev. Stat. 29-1207(4)(b) (Reissue 2016), the defendants had permanently waived their statutory speedy trial right by requesting continuances that resulted in moving their trial dates from a date within the statutory 6-month period to a date outside the statutory 6-...
Kelch , J. I. NATURE OF CASE William Burdess filed a petition for review of an order made by the Nebraska Tax Equalization and Review Commission (TERC), which affirmed the valuation of the Washington County Board of Equalization (Board) wasteland acres and homesite acres owned by Burdess for tax years 2013 through 2016. On review, Burdess argues that Nebraska law requires that wasteland acres be valued at $0 per acre and that the valuation of his homesite acres is unreasonable because...
Arterburn , Judge . INTRODUCTION Eunice Nyamatore appeals from an order of the district court which granted summary judgment in favor of Barbara J. Schuerman and Omaha Transit Authority (collectively OTA). On appeal, Nyamatore argues the district court erred in granting summary judgment in favor of OTA. She also asserts that the district court erred in finding that equitable estoppel did not apply in this matter. For the reasons set forth below, we affirm. BACKGROUND On June 19, 2015,...
FUNKE , J. INTRODUCTION This is Bryant L. Irish's appeal from the district court's order that denied his request to modify his probation order. We conclude that the court lacked jurisdiction to consider his untimely challenge to its sentencing order through a motion to amend or terminate a term of probation. We therefore dismiss his appeal. BACKGROUND In March 2015, Irish was convicted under Neb. Rev. Stat. 60-6,198 (Cum. Supp. 2016) of proximately causing serious bodily injury to...
Per Curiam . I. INTRODUCTION Marilyn Waldron brought this action pursuant to 42 U.S.C. 1983 (2012), alleging a violation of her Fourth Amendment rights by Lancaster County Deputy Sheriff James Roark when he entered Waldron's home to serve a warrant on Waldron's grandson, Steven Copple. Waldron argues that in doing so, Roark violated the knock-and-announce rule. Waldron also argues that her arrest was unreasonable and unconstitutional because there was no probable cause to arrest her...
Kelch , J. NATURE OF CASE Frenchman-Cambridge Irrigation District (FCID) appeals the district court's order dismissing its petition under Neb. Ct. R. Pldg. 6-1112(b)(6) for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted. Before determining whether the district court's dismissal of the petition was proper, this court must determine whether FCID has standing to challenge the integrated management plans at issue and whether the court has subject matter jurisdiction pursuant to...
STACY , J. This is an appeal from a judgment of the Holt County District Court vacating an arbitration award under the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA). 1 Because we conclude the district court lacked jurisdiction to vacate the arbitration award, we vacate the district court's judgment and dismiss the appeal. I. FACTS Matt Karo and Michael Karo farm together in Holt County, Nebraska. They each obtained federally reinsured crop insurance policies, serviced by NAU Country Insurance Company (...
Wright , J. NATURE OF CASE This case presents an appeal from the denial of the defendant's motion for absolute discharge. The defendant and the State dispute whether defendant's motion to continue the trial date outside the statutory 6-month period constituted a permanent waiver, under Neb. Rev. Stat. 29-1207(4)(b) (Reissue 2016), of the statutory speedy trial right. Alternatively, they dispute what periods of delay were attributable to the State or to the defendant. BACKGROUND On...
Per Curiam . In January 2016, Streck, Inc., filed a complaint against the Ryan Family, L.L.C. (L.L.C.), in the district court for Sarpy County. Streck's complaint alleged the L.L.C. breached a lease agreement containing an option to purchase real property and sought specific performance. The L.L.C. responded and defended the action. In June, a member of the L.L.C. moved to intervene in her own behalf and on behalf of the L.L.C. She appeals from the district court's order denying her motion....
Per Curiam . This case involves an appeal from an order denying intervention in a corporate dissolution action. Because we find the intervenors are seeking only to relitigate matters already decided by the court, we affirm the order denying intervention. I. FACTS 1. PARTIES Streck, Inc., is a Nebraska corporation with its principal place of business in La Vista, Sarpy County, Nebraska. The company manufactures hematology, immunology, and molecular biology products for clinical and...
Funke , J. I. NATURE OF CASE Mary Radford appeals from a county court order concerning the distribution of the Sheila Foxley Radford Trust (Trust). Applying Neb. Rev. Stat. 30-2350 (Reissue 2016), the court ruled that a gift from Sheila Foxley Radford to Mary, which preceded the Trust's restatement but was acknowledged by Mary as an inheritance in a contemporaneous writing, was in satisfaction of Mary's inheritance from the Trust. We find that the county court had insufficient evidence...
Stacy , J. The Nebraska Court of Appeals dismissed this appeal, finding it was not timely filed. On further review, we apply the savings clause of Neb. Rev. Stat. 25-1144.01 (Reissue 2016) and conclude the notice of appeal was timely filed. We there-fore reinstate the appeal and remand the matter to the Court of Appeals for further proceedings. FACTS PROCEEDINGS IN DISTRICT COURT Lindsay International Sales & Service, LLC (Lindsay), sued Jerome Pribil and Michael J. Wegener to collect...
Funke , J. I. NATURE OF CASE Salem Grain Company, Inc. (Salem), appeals an order from the district court for Richardson County dismissing its complaint with prejudice for failure to state a claim upon which relief could be granted. The court found that all appellees were entitled to immunity from Salem's claims under Nebraska's Consumer Protection Act 1 (NCPA) and the Noerr-Pennington doctrine 2 and that Salem's claims of conspiracy and aiding and abetting required an underlying tort...
Miller-Lerman , J. I. NATURE OF CASE Patricia A. Knapp filed an action against Kevin Ruser, in his official capacity, and the Board of Regents of the University of Nebraska in which she asserted claims of discriminatory wage and employment practices based on her sex as well as claims of employment retaliation. Knapp's claims arose from alleged occurrences while she was a supervising attorney for the civil clinical law program at the University of Nebraska College of Law. Knapp appeals the...
Stacy , J. This appeal involves the interplay between Nebraska's lis pendens statute 1 and Nebraska's intervention statutes. 2 The primary question presented is whether the right of an intervenor to offer evidence in a quiet title action is restricted by the lis pendens statute. We conclude it is not, and because the intervenor in this case was not permitted to offer evidence at trial, we reverse the judgment and remand this matter for a new trial. FACTS Jacobsen Land and Cattle...
