S-24-0289 State of Nebraska (Appellee) v. Michael E. Goynes, Jr. (Appellant)
Appeal from the District Court for Douglas County, Judge Peter C. Bataillon
Attorneys: Jason E. Troia (Dornan, Troia, Howard, Breitkreutz, Dahlquist & Klein PC LLO for Appellant) and Melissa R. Vincent (Asst. Attorney General for Appellee)
Criminal: Postconviction relief
Proceedings below: Appellant was convicted of first-degree murder, use of a deadly weapon (firearm) to commit a felony, and possession of a deadly weapon by a prohibited person, and he was sentenced to life imprisonment plus an additional sixty-five (65) to seventy-five (75) years in prison. His conviction and sentence were affirmed in State v. Goynes, 303 Neb. 129, 927 N.W.2d 346 (2019). Appellant filed for postconviction relief, and the district court granted the State’s motion to dismiss. Life imprisonment cases are direct appeals to the Nebraska Supreme Court.
Issues: Appellant makes the following assignments of error: 1) The district court erred in denying Appellant postconviction relief on the issue of his trial counsel’s failure to preserve his objection to the cell phone evidence; 2) The district court erred in denying Appellant an evidentiary hearing on the issue of his trial counsel not subjecting the State’s case to meaningful adversarial testing; 3) The district court erred in denying Appellant an evidentiary hearing on the issue of his trial counsel failing to present a defense; 4) The district court erred in denying Appellant an evidentiary hearing on his trial counsel’s failure to call his alibi witness; 5) The district court erred in denying Appellant postconviction relief.