S-16-1120 State v. Felipe German Mora (Appellant)
Lancaster County, Judge Jeffre Cheuvront
Attorneys: Shawn Elliott (Public Defender’s Office for Appellant) --- Nathan A. Liss (Attorney General’s Office)
Criminal: Three counts of first degree sexual assault of a child (Class IB felony); one count 3rd degree sexual assault of a child, (Class IIIA felony)
Proceedings below: After a jury trial, Appellant was found guilty of the charges. He was sentenced to an aggregate period of 60 years to life in prison with a mandatory minimum of 30 years in prison.
Issues: I. The district court erred by permitting the State to introduce hearsay statements of the alleged victim based on the medical purpose hearsay exception to the hearsay rule. II. The district court erred by permitting the State to introduce the hearsay statements of the alleged victim based on the excited utterance exception to the hearsay rule. III. The district court erred in accepting the jury, s guilty verdicts and adjudging him guilty as there was insufficient evidence to convict him of those charges. IV. Appellant was denied the right to the effective assistance of counsel pursuant to the Sixth Amendment of the United States Constitution and Article I, Section 11 of the Nebraska Constitution in that his trial counsel failed to adequately communicate with his client to prepare a defense and to explore with him his options concerning the case. V. Appellant was denied the right to the effective assistance of counsel- pursuant to the Sixth Amendment of the United States Constitution and Article I, Section 11 of the Nebraska Constitution in that his trial counsel failed to properly advise him about his right to testify, and wrongly recommended that he not testify in his own defense. VI. Appellant was denied the right to the effective assistance of counsel pursuant to the sixth Amendment of the United States constitution and Article t, section 11 of the Nebraska Constitution in that his trial counsel failed to have the penile swab re-tested and failed to retain an expert witness to refute the State's DNA evidence. VII. Appellant was denied the right to the effective assistance of counsel pursuant to the Sixth Amendment of the United States constitution and Article I, section 11 of the Nebraska constitution in that his trial counsel failed to explore his desire to call character witnesses on his behalf and to call said witnesses at trial. VIII. The district court imposed an excessive sentence.