Nebraska District Court Judge Rachel A. Daugherty of Aurora, Nebraska, was invited to sit with the Nebraska Supreme Court on November 3, 2021.

Daugherty heard arguments in the cases of State v. Gnanaprakasam and State v. Abernathy; both cases criminal cases relating to the defendant’s right to a speedy trial. She sat in place of Chief Justice Mike Heavican, who was recused from the cases. The Court session was held in the Supreme Court Courtroom of the Nebraska State Capitol in Lincoln.

Seven justices make up the Nebraska Supreme Court: Chief Justice Mike Heavican and six associate justices. On occasion, a justice must recuse him or herself from a case, and a judge from a district court or the Court of Appeals is asked to sit with the Supreme Court.    

The November 3, 2021, oral arguments can be viewed on the Court’s archive: https://supremecourt.nebraska.gov/courts/supreme-court/oral-argument-archive

Reporters:

• Judicial Profile for Judge Rachel Daugherty
• Background on the Supreme Court  
• Justices of the Nebraska Supreme Court 

Cases:

S-21-0246 State of Nebraska v. Samraj Gnanaprakasam 

S-21-0016 State of Nebraska v. Kyle S. Abernathy   

Screen shot from argument session on Nebraska Public Media

[Journalists: if the screen shot is too small, you may want to click on the argument session and snip one of the final two arguments where Judge Daugherty is participating --https://supremecourt.nebraska.gov/courts/supreme-court/oral-argument-archive]

PHOTO:  (L to R) Justice Jonathan Papik, Justice Stephanie Stacy, Judge Rachel Daugherty, Justice William Cassel, Justice Jeff Funke, and Justice John Freudenberg with Justice Lindsey Miller-Lerman participating via video conferencing. Arguing before the Court is defense attorney Jennifer Miralles. Recording Court arguments is Nate Dobbs.