S-23-0342 State of Nebraska (Appellee) v. Jmaun D. Haynie (Appellant)
Appeal from the District Court for Douglas County, Judge James M. Masteller
Attorneys: Thomas C. Riley and Leslie E. Cavanaugh (Douglas County Public Defender’s Office for Appellant) and P. Christian Adamski (Asst. Attorney General for Appellee)
Criminal: Speedy Trial
Proceedings below: Appellant was convicted of first-degree murder, use of a firearm in the commission of a felony, second-degree assault, and use of a firearm in the commission of a felony, and he was given consecutive sentences of life imprisonment, fifteen (15) to twenty-five (25) years in prison, ten (10) to twenty (20) years in prison, and fifteen (15) to twenty (20) years in prison, respectively. 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’s motion for mistrial after a family member of the victim, Franco Vazquez, threatened from the public gallery to shoot members of Appellant’s family and after a friend or family member sat in the front row of the public gallery, displaying a T-shirt displaying Vazquez’s picture and the words “In Memory/Rest in Peace;” 2) The district court erred in not polling the jury to determine whether the display of the t-shirt memorializing Franco Vazquez affected their ability to be impartial and when it failed to admonish the jury to disregard such displays; 3) The district court erred when it failed to give the Appellant’s proposed jury instruction regarding the case law which makes clear that evidence of mere presence, acquiescence or silence is not enough to show the defendant aided and abetted; and 4) There was insufficient evidence to support a verdict of guilty as there was no evidence to support a finding of intent to aid and abet a robbery by the Appellant.