State v. Eskew

218 N.W.2d 898, 192 Neb. 76, 1974 Neb. LEXIS 656
CourtNebraska Supreme Court
DecidedJune 6, 1974
Docket39343
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 218 N.W.2d 898 (State v. Eskew) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Nebraska Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Eskew, 218 N.W.2d 898, 192 Neb. 76, 1974 Neb. LEXIS 656 (Neb. 1974).

Opinions

McCown, J.

The defendant was convicted of burglary and adjudged an habitual criminal. He was sentenced to 20 years in the penal complex.

[77]*77The facts which affect the critical issues in this case occurred before the jury was sworn and before any evidence was introduced. A brief chronological reference is advisable. The information was filed on August 2, 1973, and on September 12, .1973, trial was set for September 17, 1973. On September 13, 1973, the defendant filed a motion to order the prosecuting attorney to permit the defendant to inspect and copy items under the provisions of section 29-1912, R. S. Supp., 1972. The motion was framed in the statutory language. On September 17, 1973, the court, after hearing, directed the county attorney to furnish the addresses of certain witnesses and overruled the motion to produce. The complete written court notes on this issue read: “Motion to produce is overruled.”

On September 17, 1973, the jurors for the case now before us were selected but were not then sworn. Instead, additional juries were selected from the same jury panel and at least one other criminal case, State v. Blue, was tried to a jury. That case involved a charge of driving while under the influence and the case was unrelated to the case now before this court. The defendant in the Blue case was acquitted. Later the jury asked to see the judge and prosecutor to explain the basis for its verdict. The court explained to the jury that since the case was over, he could tell them that Blue had had two previous convictions for driving while intoxicated, and had been found not guilty of auto theft at a previous jury term. He stated to the jurors that they probably misunderstood the instructions or had not read them carefully enough. The court pointed out there had been two possible ways to arrive at a guilty verdict. One was the breath test about which the jury was principally concerned, and the other was the testing by the officer. The court indicated that the prosecutor should have stressed the latter point in closing argument and stated that the misunderstanding was normal or par for a jury hearing its first case.

[78]*78On September 20, 1973, the defendant in the case ber fore us filed a motion to quash the jury panel. At the' hearing on the motion the foregoing facts were brought out by testimony. The foreman of the Blue jury had been selected for the Eskew jury and five other Eskew jurors also sat in the Blue case. The foreman of the Blue jury testified that the discussion with the judge and prosecutor did not change his thinking about the Blue decision but “I think' it might have changed the others, on the information we had.” He also stated several jurors wished they had held out longer for a güilty verdict in the Blue case.

Following the hearing on the motion to quash the jury panel, the trial court overruled the motion but authorized additional voir dire of the selected jurors in the Eskew case. Defendant’s counsel waived any further voir dire. The jury which had been previously selected was then sworn and proceeded to hear this case. The defendant was found guilty.

The defendant contends that the Nebraska criminal discovery statutes are remedial in character and that refusal of the benefits of section 29-1912, R. S. S'upp., 1972, denied him a fair trial. Defendant also contends that the comments of the trial judge to the Blue jury after verdict prejudicially affected his right to a fair trial'where the jury was selected from the same jury panel, and some of the jurors were common to both cases.

■ Section 29-1912, R. S. Supp., ,1972, provides: “(1) When, a defendant is, charged ■ with a felony, he may request the court, at any time after the filing of the indictment or information, to order the prosecuting attorney to permit the defendant to inspect and copy or photograph:

■“(a) The defendant’s statement, if any. For purposes of this subdivision statement shall mean a written statement made by the defendant and signed or other[79]*79wise adopted or approved by him, or a stenographic, mechanical, electrical, or other recording, or a transcription thereof which is a substantially verbatim recital of an oral statement made by the defendant to an agent of the prosecution, state, or political subdivision thereof, and recorded contemporaneously with the making of such oral statement;

“(b) The defendant’s prior criminal record, if any;

“(c) The defendant’s recorded testimony before a grand jury;

“(d) The names and addresses of witnesses on whose evidence the charge is based;

“(e) The results and reports of physical or mental examinations, and of scientific tests, or experiments made in connection with the particular case, or copies thereof; and

“(f) Documents, papers, books, accounts, letters, photographs, objects, or. other tangible things of whatsoever kind or nature which could be used as evidence by the state.

“(2) The court may issue such an order pursuant to the provisions of this section. In the exercise of its judicial discretion the court shall consider among other things whether:

“(a) The request is material to the preparation of the defense;

“(b) The request is not made primarily for the purpose of harassing the prosecution' or its witnesses;

“(c) The request, if granted, would not unreasonably delay the trial of the offense and an earlier request by the defendant could not have reasonably been made;

“(d) There is no substantial likelihood that the request, if granted, would preclude a just determination of the issues at the trial of the offense; or

“(e) The request, if granted, would not result in the possibility of bodily harm to, or coercion of, witnesses.

“(3) Whenever the court refuses to grant an order [80]*80pursuant to the provisions of this section, it shall render its findings in writing together with the facts upon which the findings are based.

“(4) * * * 99

Section 29-1916, R. S. Supp., 1972, provides that whenever the court issues an order pursuant to section 29-1912, R. S. Supp., 1972, its order may be conditioned by requiring the defendant to grant the prosecution like access to comparable items or information and shall be deemed to constitute a waiver of the defendant’s privilege of self-incrimination for the purposes of the section.

The defendant’s motion to produce was couched in the language of section 29-1912, R. S. Supp., 1972, and included all six subparagraphs of subsection (1). The trial court advised defense counsel that on the motion to produce he was going to have to be specific. In several instances the court inquired of defendant’s counsel what specific information he wanted and was advised that counsel did not know what material the prosecution had, nor what specific items he was looking for. Nevertheless, in many instances the court failed to inquire of the county attorney whether there was any material of that particular kind in the possession of the prosecution.

The court inquired of the defendant’s counsel as to whether the defendant gave a statement and the response was: “Not that I’m aware of, Your Honor.” The county attorney was not asked whether or not the prosecution had any statement of the defendant in any of the forms described in section 29-1912 (1) (a), R. S. Supp., 1972. Virtually the same thing occurred with respect to the defendant’s criminal record.

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State v. Eskew
218 N.W.2d 898 (Nebraska Supreme Court, 1974)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
218 N.W.2d 898, 192 Neb. 76, 1974 Neb. LEXIS 656, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-eskew-neb-1974.