S-25-0885 State of Nebraska (Appellee) v. Sebastian L. Dunbar (Appellant)
Appeal from the District Court for Nuckolls County, Judge Morgan R. Farquhar
Attorneys: Robert W. Kortus and Brooklyn G. Terrill (Nebraska Commission on Public Advocacy 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, use of a firearm to commit a felony, negligent child abuse resulting in no injury, and strangulation. Appellant was given a sentence of life imprisonment to be served consecutively with a sentence of forty-eight (48) to fifty (50) years in prison. Life imprisonment cases are direct appeals to the Nebraska Supreme Court.
Issues: Appellant assigns the following errors: 1) The district court clearly erred and abused its discretion in overruling the relevancy objection in respect to Heather Kregoski’s testimony about the gas station incident which included improper character evidence or other acts evidence; 2) The district court erred in overruling Appellant’s motion for a new trial based on newly discovered evidence pursuant to Neb. Rev. Stat. § 29-2101 (Reissue 2016); 3) The district court plainly erred in awarding credit for time-served against an individual sentence instead of the aggregate sentence; 4) The district court plainly erred and abused its discretion in respect to Count III by imposing a felony sentence for a misdemeanor offense; 5) Trial counsel was Constitutionally ineffective in violation of the 6th and 14th Amendments of the United States Constitution and Article I, §§ 3 and 11 of the Nebraska Constitution in respect to the State’s evidence of Appellant’s character presented by Heather Kregoski’s testimony about the gas station incident which included improper character evidence or other acts evidence. Defense counsel rendered deficient performance by failing to properly object at trial, move to strike, and/or move for mistrial before and following improper admission of this evidence; and 6) Trial counsel was Constitutionally ineffective in violation of the 6th and 14th Amendments of the United States Constitution and Article I, §§ 3 and 11 of the Nebraska Constitution in respect to prosecutorial misconduct in the State’s initial closing arguments by the deficient performance of failing to object and move for a mistrial to improper arguments that disparaged the defense bar in general, repeatedly referenced Appellant and defense counsel as persons who lie and/or evade the truth, and improperly shifted the burden of proof.