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State of Nebraska v. Douglas P. Jennings. Nebraska Speedy Trial
Nebraska Revised Statute 29-1207 requires that a defendant be brought to trial within six months, subject to some exceptions. The defendant in this Douglas County case was charged with stalking in August 2018. A warrant was issued three days later, but the defendant wasn't arrested for nine months. He moved for a complete discharge in the county court, and this was denied. He appealed to the district court where it was again denied. He then appealed to the Nebraska Supreme Court.
On appeal, his assignment of error was that "the county court erred" in failing to dismiss. The state argued that this was improper, since he was appealing from the district court. The court agreed that it would have been more precise to frame the error as the district court's improper affirmance, but the specification of error was sufficient.
On the merits, the Supreme Court agreed that the charge should have been dismissed under the speedy trial statute. The state had argued that the defendant had been out of state for some time prior to his arrest, but there was no evidence that the state had attempted to arrest him, that the defendant was aware of the warrant, or the amount of time of the defendant's absence.
For these reasons, the Supreme Court reversed.
308 Neb. 835 (Apr. 2, 2021).
Please see the original opinion for the court's exact language.
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Richard P. Clem is an attorney and continuing legal education (CLE) provider in Minnesota. He has been in private practice in the Twin Cities for 25 years. He has a J.D., cum laude, from Hamline University School of Law in St. Paul and a B.A. in History from the University of Minnesota. His reported cases include: Asociacion Nacional de Pescadores a Pequena Escala o Artesanales de Colombia v. Dow Quimica de Colombia, 988 F.2d 559, rehearing denied, 5 F.3d 530 (5th Cir. 1993), cert. denied, 510 U.S. 1041 (1994); LaMott v. Apple Valley Health Care Center, 465 N.W.2d 585 (Minn. Ct. App. 1991); Abo el Ela v. State, 468 N.W.2d 580 (Minn. Ct. App. 1991).
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