State v. Tyma

651 N.W.2d 582, 264 Neb. 712, 2002 Neb. LEXIS 210
CourtNebraska Supreme Court
DecidedOctober 4, 2002
DocketS-01-1070
StatusPublished
Cited by12 cases

This text of 651 N.W.2d 582 (State v. Tyma) 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. Tyma, 651 N.W.2d 582, 264 Neb. 712, 2002 Neb. LEXIS 210 (Neb. 2002).

Opinion

Stephan, J.

Shireen D. Tyma (Tyma) was charged by information in the district court for Hall County with conspiracy to commit murder in the first degree, a Class II felony. The object of the alleged conspiracy was Tyma’s estranged husband, Tim Tyma (Tim). Following a bench trial, Tyma was convicted and sentenced to incarceration for 8 to 15 years. She perfected this direct appeal from her conviction and sentence. We removed the appeal to our docket on our own motion pursuant to our authority to regulate the caseloads of the appellate courts of this state. See Neb. Rev. Stat. § 24-1106(3) (Reissue 1995).

BACKGROUND

Prior to the filing of the information, the county court for Hall County issued three search warrants based upon affidavits submitted by Officer Kelly Williams of the Grand Island Police Department. The first warrant authorized the search of Tyma’s residence in Grand Island and any vehicles registered to Tyma and/or Jasper and Shirley Leago, her parents. The execution of this warrant resulted in the seizure of various items of personal property from the residence, including videotapes, notes, notebooks, and 21 rolls of undeveloped 35-mm film. The second search warrant authorized the search of the Leagos’ residence in Grand Island. Its execution resulted in the seizure of a .38-caliber Smith & Wesson five-shot revolver, serial No. J53212, in a brown holster with four rounds in the cylinder. The third search warrant was accompanied by an order requiring Tyma to submit a handwriting sample, which was subsequently obtained.

*714 After she was charged but prior to trial, Tyma filed a motion to suppress the handwriting sample, all evidence seized from her residence, and any other evidence seized from “any other place in which she had an expectation of privacy.” After conducting an evidentiary hearing, the district court entered an order suppressing the handwriting sample as violative of Neb. Rev. Stat. § 29-3303(3) (Reissue 1995), which provides that in order to obtain a warrant for evidence of “identifying physical characteristics,” the affidavit must affirmatively show that the identified or described individual has refused to voluntarily provide the desired evidence. The court also suppressed all evidence seized from Tyma’s residence based upon its determination that the factual assertions set forth in Williams’ affidavit were not sufficiently corroborated and that the affidavit therefore failed to show probable cause. The court also determined that Tyma lacked standing to challenge the search of the Leagos’ residence and the resulting seizure of the .38-caliber revolver and thus overruled the motion to suppress as to that evidence.

The State perfected an interlocutory appeal of the district court’s ruling on Tyma’s motion to suppress to a single judge of the Nebraska Court of Appeals pursuant to the summary review procedure provided by Neb. Rev. Stat. § 29-824 (Cum. Supp. 2000). In an unpublished opinion, the reviewing judge determined that Williams’ affidavits established probable cause to believe that a crime had been committed and that evidence thereof would be found in Tyma’s residence. State v. Tyma, No. A-00-764, 2000 WL 1673125 (Neb. App. Oct. 31, 2000) (not designated for permanent publication). The judge therefore reversed that part of the district court’s order suppressing the evidence seized at Tyma’s residence. However, the judge affirmed that part of the district court’s order suppressing the handwriting sample for failure to comply with § 29-3303(3) and remanded the cause to the district court for proceedings consistent with the opinion.

Following remand but prior to trial, Tyma filed a motion to dismiss on the ground that her right to a speedy trial had been violated. At a pretrial hearing on July 27, 2001, the State offered a “Waiver of Right to Speedy Trial” executed by Tyma and her attorney, which was received without objection. At the conclusion of the hearing, the court took the motion under advisement.

*715 A bench trial was held on August 1,2001. The State called several witnesses, including Tim, Kenneth Moore, and Leo Purvis. Tim identified Tyma’s handwriting on several documents offered in evidence by the State. Moore and Purvis testified concerning their oral and written communications with Tyma regarding the planned killing of Tim, which we will discuss in greater detail in our analysis of Tyma’s assignment of error challenging the sufficiency of the evidence to support her conviction.

Tyma called two witnesses at trial. Williams, the police officer who had executed the affidavits upon which the search warrants were issued, testified that during the investigation, he asked Purvis on two occasions to “[w]ear a wire” in order to surreptitiously record conversations with Tyma. On the first occasion, no tape recording was made because of a technical malfunction. On the second occasion, a recording was made and subsequently transcribed by Williams. Tyma offered the transcript of that conversation, which was received in evidence.

Jasper Leago testified he had been in possession of the .38-caliber revolver for approximately 25 years before it was seized from his residence pursuant to the search warrant. He stated that he was unaware the weapon had been removed from his home during 1999. He explained that the weapon did not appear to have been moved from the location in the home where he stored it, that he kept the house locked when he was away, and that Tyma did not have keys to the residence. Leago testified that he had never seen the weapon in the possession of Tyma or Moore, but he said that during a conversation with Moore in early 1999, he mentioned the fact that he owned a .38-caliber Smith & Wesson revolver, which he described in some detail.

The record includes a docket entry dated August 21, 2001, stating: “Motion to Dismiss overruled. Defendant found guilty. Sentencing 9/25/01.” The sentence was pronounced from the bench at a sentencing hearing on September 25, 2001, and in a journal entry bearing the same date.

ASSIGNMENTS OF ERROR

Tyma assigns that “the Court of Appeals erred when modifying the lower courts [sic] decision to grant Appellant’s Motion *716 to Suppress in total by ruling that the handwriting samples had not been improperly seized.” She further assigns, restated, that the district court erred in (1) allowing Tim to identify her handwriting, (2) failing to exclude Purvis’ testimony pursuant to Neb. Rev. Stat. § 29-2262.01 (Reissue 1995), (3) finding that she had conspired with Moore and Purvis to murder Tim when no evidence of any agreement between herself and Moore or Purvis was adduced, (4) holding that her right to a speedy trial had not been denied, and (5) finding that her due process rights had not been denied by the conduct of the State.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
651 N.W.2d 582, 264 Neb. 712, 2002 Neb. LEXIS 210, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-tyma-neb-2002.