S-25-0149 In re Interest of Jerel S., State of Nebraska (Appellee) v. Jerel S. (Appellant)
Appeal from the Separate Juvenile Court for Lancaster County, Judge Reggie L. Ryder
Attorneys: Megan E. McDowell (Morrow, Poppe, Watermeier & Lonowski, PC, LLO for Appellant) and Aynsley Davis (Deputy Lancaster County Attorney for Appellee)
Juvenile: Adjudication under Neb. Rev. Stat. § 43-247(2)
Proceedings Below: The trial court adjudicated Appellant under Neb. Rev. Stat. § 43-247(2) for terroristic threats. On its own motion, the Nebraska Supreme Court ordered this case to be transferred from the docket of the Nebraska Court of Appeals to its docket.
Issues: Appellant assigns the following errors: 1) The trial counsel provided ineffective assistance of counsel throughout the proceedings, including at trial, on behalf of the juvenile which violated his due process rights and which precluded him from fundamental fairness in the process to which he was entitled; 2) The trial court abused its discretion in not granting the motion to continue as requested at the commencement of trial when trial counsel provided ample evidence that the continuance was necessary because of trial counsel’s ineffective representation and which prevented the juvenile from having his case presented in a meaningful way and at a meaningful time, as required by due process; 3) The trial court erred in denying the motion to dismiss and in finding the allegations to be true beyond a reasonable doubt despite the conflicting testimony, the violations to the juvenile’s due process rights in the proceedings, and trial counsel’s failure to provide adequate or effective representation to the juvenile.