Douglas County District Court, Judge Marlon A. Polk
Attorney for Appellant/Cross-Appellee: Beth Beninato (Douglas County Attorney’s Office)
Attorney for Appellee/Cross-Appellant: Natalie M. Andrews (Douglas County Public Defender’s Office)
Criminal: Sexual Assault of a Child; Sentencing
Action Taken by Trial Court: The trial court consolidated four separate criminal cases with six separate counts into one jury trial. At the conclusion of the State’s case, the trial court granted Appellee’s motion for judgment of acquittal as to the charge initially filed for one of the cases. The other charges were submitted to the jury and the jury returned a guilty verdict as to each count. The trial court sentenced Appellee to a mandatory minimum term of 15 to 16 years imprisonment as to each of the five counts and ordered the sentences to run concurrently.
Assignments of Error on Appeal: Did the trial court abuse its discretion in sentencing Dunbar to the mandatory minimum on each count and ordering the sentences to run concurrently?
Assignments of Error on Cross-Appeal: Did the trial court abuse its discretion in joining the separate cases? Did the trial court err in failing to give curative instructions or grant the motion for mistrial on the basis of alleged prosecutorial misconduct?