S-24-0664 State of Nebraska (Appellee) v. Raymond Mata, Jr. (Appellant)
Appeal from the District Court for Scotts Bluff County, Judge Leo P. Dobrovolny
Attorneys: Peder Bartling (Attorney at Law for Appellant), Sylvia Irvin (Pro hac vice for Appellant), and Austin N. Relph (Asst. Attorney General for Appellee)
Criminal: Post-conviction relief
Proceedings Below: Appellant was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment for kidnapping and convicted and sentenced to death for first-degree, premeditated murder. See State v. Mata, 266 Neb. 668, 668 N.W.2d 448 (2003) and State v. Mata, 275 Neb. 1, 745 N.W.2d 229 (2008). Appellant filed for post-conviction relief, which the district court denied. Capital punishment cases are direct appeals to the Nebraska Supreme Court.
Issues: Appellant assigns the following errors: 1) The district court erred in finding that Appellant waived any conflicts of his trial and appellate counsel; 2) The district court erroneously dismissed Appellant second post-conviction relief motion on procedural grounds and erred in sustaining objections to the admission of evidence at an evidentiary hearing. After erroneously denying the admission of relevant evidence, the court incorrectly rejected Appellant’s argument that his postconviction counsel had conflicts of interest, thus making his second post-conviction relief motion the first meaningful opportunity to raise his claims for relief; and 3) The district court erred by not granting Appellant an evidentiary hearing on the merits of his claims