Nebraska District Court Judge Kimberly Miller Pankonin of Omaha, Nebraska, was invited to sit with the Nebraska Supreme Court on December 1, 2022.

Pankonin heard arguments in the case of State of Nebraska v. Karl J. Dailey.  She sat in place of Justice John R. Freudenberg, who was recused from the case.  In this case, the district court affirmed the county court’s conviction and $750 fine after finding the Appellant, the Sheriff of Dawes County, guilty of official misconduct for failing to accept a lawfully committed person into the jail.  On its own motion, the Supreme Court ordered this case to be transferred from the docket of the Court of Appeals to its docket. 

Pankonin also heard arguments in the case of In the Matter of the Trust of Michael A. Hessler, Heidi Shaddick, Amber Rocha, and Brock Hessler v. Lori J. Miller and Robert Hessler, Successor Trustee of the Michael A. Hessler Trust. She sat in place of Chief Justice Michael G. Heavican, who was recused from the case.

In the case, the County Court for Lancaster County determined venue was proper in Scottsbluff County, which is where the trust was registered, as opposed to Lancaster County where the disputed property was located.  After the matter was transferred to Scottsbluff County, the trial court found that Decedent’s Trust overcame the statutory presumption of apportionment of inheritance taxes and ordered that taxes be paid out of Decedent’s Trust.  On its own motion, the Nebraska Supreme Court ordered this case to be removed from the docket of the Nebraska Court of Appeals and transferred this case to its docket. 

Both Court sessions were 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.    

December 1, 2022, oral arguments can be viewed on the Court’s archive.

Reporters:

• Judicial Profile for Judge Kimberly Miller Pankonin
• Background on the Supreme Court
• Justices of the Nebraska Supreme Court

Screenshot from argument session on Nebraska Public Media:

(L to R) Justice Jonathan Papik, Justice Stephanie Stacy, Justice Lindsey Miller-Lerman, Judge Kimberly Pankonin, Justice William Cassel, Justice Jeff Funke, and Justice John Freudenberg during arguments for the “in re Trust of Hessler” case. Recording Court arguments is Allyson Stewart.