S-25-0134 State of Nebraska (Appellee) v. Joshua W. Nolan (Appellant)
Appeal from the District Court for Douglas County, Judge Marlon A. Polk
Attorneys: Michael J. Wilson (Berry Law Firm for Appellant) and Nathan A. Liss (Asst. Attorney General for Appellee)
Criminal: Post-conviction relief
Proceedings Below: Appellant was convicted of first-degree murder and use of a deadly weapon to commit a felony. He was sentenced to consecutive terms of life imprisonment and ten (10) years to ten (10) years in prison. Appellant filed a motion for post-conviction relief, which the district court denied after an evidentiary hearing. Life imprisonment cases are direct appeals to the Nebraska Supreme Court.
Issues: Appellant assigns the following errors: 1) At both the hearing on Appellant’s motion to suppress in-court identifications and trial, Appellant received prejudicial ineffective assistance when trial counsel failed to call an eyewitness identification expert because three eyewitnesses’ identifications suffered from several impairing factors that required explanation using expert testimony; and 2) Appellate counsel provided prejudicial ineffective assistance when he failed to raise, on direct appeal, prejudicial ineffective assistance that occurred when trial counsel failed to sufficiently investigate, and present the testimony of, eyewitness Gwendolyn Anderson.