S-24-0113 State of Nebraska (Appellee) v. Anthony J. Garcia (Appellant)
Appeal from the District Court for Douglas County, Judge Leanne M. Srb
Attorneys: Jerry M. Hug (Hug & Jacobs, LLC for Appellant) and Stacy M. Foust (Nebraska Attorney General’s Office for Appellee)
Criminal: Capital punishment and motion for new trial
Proceedings below: Appellant was convicted of four counts of first-degree murder, four counts of use of a weapon to commit a felony, and one count of attempted burglary. He was sentenced to death for each of the four murder convictions, nineteen (19) to twenty (20) years in prison for two of the use of a weapon convictions, forty-nine (49) to fifty (50) years in prison for the remaining use of a weapon convictions, and twenty (20) months to five (5) years in prison for the attempted burglary conviction. After his convictions, Appellant filed a motion for new trial, which the district court denied. Capital punishment cases are direct appeals to the Nebraska Supreme Court.
Issues: Appellant makes the following assignments of error: 1) The district court’s finding that the motion for new trial based on newly discovered evidence should be denied was an abuse of discretion; and 2) Appellant received ineffective assistance of counsel in violation of the Appellant’s 6th and 14th amendment rights to effective assistance of counsel where trial counsel failed to timely file the motion for new trial based upon newly discovered evidence.