S-25-0646 State of Nebraska (Appellee) v. Michael E. McLemore (Appellant)
Appeal from the District Court for Douglas County, Judge J. Russell Derr
Attorneys: Michael E. McLemore (Self-represented Appellant) and Zachary B. Pohlman (Nebraska Attorney General’s Office for Appellee)
Criminal: Post-conviction relief
Proceedings Below: Appellant was convicted of first-degree murder and use of a weapon to commit a felony, and he was sentenced to life in prison for the first-degree murder charge and twenty (20) years in prison for the use of a weapon to commit a felony charge. Appellant filed a motion for postconviction relief, which the district court 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 abused its discretion in dismissing Appellant’s verified motion for postconviction relief, without an evidentiary hearing, challenging the constitutionality of Neb. Rev. Stat. § 29-3001 et seq. “as applied” to the facts of Appellant’s case which occurred prior to its enactment on August 27, 2011; Appellant’s rights under the Due Process clause and Equal Protection clause of the 5th and 14th Amendments and Neb. Const. Art. 1, § 3; and 2) The district court has repeatedly abused its discretion by developing fictitious orders on Appellant’s prior motions to include Appellant’s third verified motion for postconviction relief filed on July 7, 2020; Appellant’s verified motion for new trial filed December 10, 2019; Appellant’s second verified motion for new trial filed April 28, 2022, violating the 5th and 14th amendments to Due Process and Equal Protection under the Constitution of the United States and Neb. Const. Art. 1, § 3.