S-25-0673 State of Nebraska (Appellee) v. Kevin S. German (Appellant)
Appeal from the District Court for Chase County, Judge Patrick M. Heng
Attorneys: Christopher L. Eickholt (Eickholt Law LLC for Appellant) and Melissa R. Vincent (Nebraska Attorney General’s Office for Appellee)
Criminal: Post-conviction relief
Proceedings Below: Appellant was convicted of second-degree murder, kidnapping, and false imprisonment. He was given a sentence of life imprisonment to be served consecutively with an aggregate prison term of sixty-two years and 6 months (60.5) to eighty-three (83) years. Appellant filed a motion for postconviction relief, which was denied without an evidentiary hearing. Life imprisonment cases are direct appeals to the Nebraska Supreme Court.
Issues: Appellant assigns the following errors: 1) The district court erred by denying Appellant’s request for an evidentiary hearing on the claim that his counsel not advised him to testify; 2) The district court erred by denying Appellant’s request for an evidentiary hearing on the claim that his counsel was ineffective for failing to redact portions of his interview with law enforcement; 3) The district court erred by denying Appellant’s request for an evidentiary hearing on the claim that his counsel failed to appreciate his mental health and medication needs and its impact on his participation in his trial; 4) The district court erred by denying Appellant’s request for an evidentiary hearing on the claim that his counsel failed to adduce evidence regarding a key witness raised in his verified motion for postconviction relief; and 5) The district court erred by denying Appellant’s request for an evidentiary hearing on the claim and also erred by denying Appellant’s verified motion for postconviction relief in that his trial counsel failed to request a jury instruction on the kidnapping charge that required the jury to find whether as was released or liberated alive by Appellant and that appellate counsel was ineffective for failing to argue that the court’s jury instruction inconsistent with State v. Ramsay did not require the jury to find that as was not released or liberated alive by Appellant when it convicted him of the second-degree murder charge.