S-25-0543 State of Nebraska (Appellee) v. Anthony L. Burries (Appellant)
Appeal from the District Court for Douglas County, Judge J. Russell Derr
Attorneys: Natalie M. Andrews (Chandler ׀ Conway, P.C., LLO Appellant) and Nathan A. Liss (Nebraska Attorney General’s Office for Appellee)
Criminal: Post-conviction relief
Proceedings Below: Appellant was convicted of first-degree murder, and district court sentenced him to life imprisonment. He filed a motion for postconviction relief, which the district court denied without an evidentiary hearing. Life imprisonment cases are direct appeals to the Nebraska Supreme Court.
Issues: Appellant assigns the following errors: 1) The trial court erred in denying Appellant’s motion for postconviction relief as the allegations are not generic nor conclusory and in holding that Appellant was required to establish how a different result at trial could have been obtained; 2) The trial court erred in finding that the issue of trial counsel’s failure to present a meaningful challenge to Ms. Hoult’s time of death through a pathology expert is procedurally barred as this failure, if proved, amounts to a constitutional violation, and the results of such opinion were neither known to Appellant at the time of direct appeal nor was such deficiency apparent from the record, and as such, this issue was properly pled, entitling Appellant to further review by the trial court in an evidentiary hearing; 3) Upon de novo review, this Court should find the district court erred in failing to grant Appellant an evidentiary hearing on trial counsel’s failure to call witness, Judith Coburn, as prejudice was clearly set forth sufficiently in the third amended motion for postconviction relief; and 4) The trial court erred in determining the record demonstrated that Appellant was affirmatively entitled to no relief, even if trial counsel was deficient at any time, as the errors alleged in combination establish otherwise on de novo review.