State v. Al-Zubaidy

559 N.W.2d 774, 5 Neb. Ct. App. 327, 1997 Neb. App. LEXIS 8
CourtNebraska Court of Appeals
DecidedJanuary 14, 1997
DocketA-96-012
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 559 N.W.2d 774 (State v. Al-Zubaidy) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Nebraska Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Al-Zubaidy, 559 N.W.2d 774, 5 Neb. Ct. App. 327, 1997 Neb. App. LEXIS 8 (Neb. Ct. App. 1997).

Opinions

Irwin, Judge.

I. INTRODUCTION

Kamil H. Al-Zubaidy appeals from his convictions of attempted first degree murder, second degree assault, and two counts of use of a weapon in the commission of a felony. Appellant challenges the district court’s refusal to instruct the jury on attempted second degree murder and attempted manslaughter as lesser-included offenses of attempted first degree murder and the district court’s refusal to allow appellant to present extrinsic evidence to impeach one of the State’s witnesses. Because we find that the evidence presented did not warrant a lesser-included offense instruction and because appellant failed to provide the witness to be impeached an opportunity to deny or explain the alleged impeachment, we affirm.

II. BACKGROUND

On December 9, 1994, appellant’s wife, Anita Al-Zubaidy, told him she was leaving him and took the couple’s infant son to the home of one of Anita’s friends, Ann Brown. On the evening of December 9, appellant returned home from work, found Anita had left, and telephoned Brown’s home looking for Anita. Appellant eventually went to Brown’s home to speak to Anita, and Anita refused to allow appellant into the home. At [329]*329some point the police were called, and appellant left the residence before the police arrived.

James Fritts testified that appellant came to Fritts’ apartment on December 10, 1994, looking for Anita. Fritts informed appellant that he had not seen Anita. Appellant asked Fritts to call a phone number looking for Anita, which Fritts agreed to do. According to Fritts, Brown answered the phone and then gave the phone to Anita. Fritts testified that appellant wanted to speak to Anita, but that Anita told Fritts she did not wish to speak to appellant. Fritts then hung up the phone.

Fritts testified that appellant dialed a number on Fritts’ telephone, did not seem to get any answer, and then hung up the phone and began crying. Fritts testified that appellant told him that the problems between appellant and Anita were being caused by Brown. Fritts testified that appellant then said that “he knew where [Brown] worked and that Monday [December 12, 1994] he was going to kill her.” Fritts told appellant that he needed to be patient, but appellant “just insisted that he was going to kill Ann Brown.”

After appellant left Fritts’ apartment, Fritts called Brown’s home again and spoke to Brown. Fritts informed Brown that appellant had left Fritts’ apartment and was acting very threatening toward Brown and was threatening to kill her. Anita testified that she and Brown then began calling friends, trying to find somewhere to go, although they were unable to find anyone at home. Anita testified that her brother then called, saying that appellant was at her parents’ home and that appellant wanted to speak to her. According to Anita, appellant was on the phone and sounded “very angry,” so she hung up on him.

Anita testified that appellant and one of appellant’s friends arrived at Brown’s home at approximately 10:30 p.m. on December 10, 1994. Anita spoke to appellant’s friend through the front window while Brown called the 911 emergency service from the kitchen. Anita testified that Brown’s son, Tierney, and several of his friends were also at the home, in the basement. According to Anita, she heard Brown “screaming into the phone, oh my God, he’s coming through the back door and he’s got a knife.”

[330]*330Anita testified that she then observed appellant stabbing Brown in the chest, arm, and wrist with a knife. Brown’s daughter Seana tried to pull appellant off Brown, and appellant stabbed Seana in the shoulder. Anita testified that she next observed Tierney and one of his friends grabbing appellant and attempting to get appellant out of the home. Brown ran through the home to her bedroom. Anita testified that she checked on Brown, then went across the street to use a neighbor’s phone, because Brown’s phone had been pulled off of the wall.

According to Anita,

[t]here was blood splattered everywhere. The kitchen was just all covered with blood. And there was blood in the living room all over the walls from when Seana ran through. And there was blood back in Ann’s bedroom. There was blood all over the living room carpet from when the paramedics were working on Ann.

Both Brown and Seana testified substantially in accordance with Anita concerning the events of December 9 and 10, 1994. Additionally, Tierney and one of his friends, Daniel Watson, testified on behalf of the State. Tierney and Daniel testified that Tierney pulled appellant off of Seana, that Tierney and Daniel chased him outside, and that Tierney and his friends began hitting the car appellant was in with a baseball bat and other objects. Daniel testified that he used a towel to grab hold of the knife and take it from appellant during the struggle. Finally, two police officers who had responded to a call to the scene testified for the State.

Appellant testified that the events of December 10, 1994, were far different from those testified to by the State’s witnesses. According to appellant, Fritts told appellant that Brown was the cause of the problems between appellant and Anita. Appellant denied intending to kill Brown and denied telling Fritts that he was going to kill Brown. Appellant testified that he went to Brown’s on December 10 to take some of their child’s belongings to Anita.

Appellant testified that he had always before entered Brown’s home through the back door, so he went immediately to the back door on December 10, 1994. Appellant testified that the door was locked when he first arrived, but that “[a] guy [331]*331came from the basement,” opened the door, and began yelling, “[H]ere he is, here he is.” Appellant testified that he then entered the kitchen and that Brown began yelling, “[C]ome here and kill him, come here and kill him.” According to appellant, Brown hit him in the forehead with the telephone. Appellant testified that a group came from the basement and began to “strike” and attack him. Appellant also testified that one of the males in the group stabbed him in the shoulder.

Appellant then testified that he saw a knife on a table in the kitchen and grabbed it to defend himself. Appellant testified that he attempted to flee, but was grabbed by Brown and Seana, and that he had to stab them in order to get away from the home. Finally, appellant testified that he suffered no cuts or bruises from being hit in the head with the phone and that he did not need stitches for the “stab” wound in his shoulder.

Appellant offered the testimony of another witness, John Ways, whom appellant had met while in custody awaiting trial. Appellant proposed to question Ways concerning a conversation Ways allegedly had with Seana wherein Seana told Ways that “people in the house,” including her brother’s friends, had jumped appellant and that appellant had grabbed a knife from a table while they were beating him. Appellant offered this testimony as extrinsic evidence of a prior inconsistent statement to impeach Seana’s testimony at trial. The State argued that Seana was out of the jurisdiction, in Michigan, and that she would therefore have no opportunity to explain or deny the alleged prior inconsistent statement. The court refused to allow Ways to testify.

After the conclusion of the evidence, a jury instruction conference was held.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

State v. Wheeler
Nebraska Court of Appeals, 2022
State v. Owens
589 N.W.2d 867 (Nebraska Court of Appeals, 1999)
State v. Al-Zubaidy
570 N.W.2d 713 (Nebraska Supreme Court, 1997)
State v. Schmidt
562 N.W.2d 859 (Nebraska Court of Appeals, 1997)
State v. Howard
560 N.W.2d 516 (Nebraska Court of Appeals, 1997)
State v. Al-Zubaidy
559 N.W.2d 774 (Nebraska Court of Appeals, 1997)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
559 N.W.2d 774, 5 Neb. Ct. App. 327, 1997 Neb. App. LEXIS 8, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-al-zubaidy-nebctapp-1997.