S-25-0759 State of Nebraska (Appellee) v. Tyrice J. Coleman (Appellant)
Appeal from the District Court for Douglas County, Judge Todd O. Engleman
Attorneys: Thomas C. Riley, Douglas A. Johnson, Kylie O. McDonald, and Cassandra J. Harper (Senior Certified Law Clerk) (Douglas County Public Defender’s Office for Appellant) and Melissa R. Vincent (Nebraska Attorney General’s Office for Appellee)
Criminal: Life imprisonment for first-degree murder
Proceedings Below: Appellant was convicted of first-degree murder and use of a deadly weapon (firearm) to commit a felony. He was sentenced to consecutive terms of eighty (80) years to life imprisonment for first-degree murder and forty (40) to fifty (50) years in prison for use of a deadly weapon to commit a felony. Life imprisonment cases are direct appeals to the Nebraska Supreme Court.
Issues: Appellant assigns the following errors: 1) The district court abused its discretion in overruling Appellant’s motions in limine. a. The district court erred in admitting testimony involving Exhibit #75.3.1, a video of Appellant holding the alleged murder weapon, because the video was irrelevant and unduly prejudicial; b. The district court erred in admitting the STRmix DNA report, along with the testimony around the report, because the report was irrelevant and unduly prejudicial; 2) The evidence presented at trial was insufficient and lacked the probative value to sustain a guilty verdict because no rational trier of fact would have found Appellant guilty of the crimes charged; and 3) The district court abused its discretion by imposing an excessive sentence.