S-16-0614, State of Nebraska v. Bashir V. Loding (Appellant)
Douglas County District Court, Judge Gregory M. Schatz
Attorneys: Douglas J. Peterson & Nathan A. Liss (Attorney General's Office) ' Thomas C. Riley & W. Patrick Dunn (Public Defender's Office) (Appellant)
Criminal: 1st degree sexual assault of a child; insufficient evidence; ineffective assistance; excessive sentence
Proceedings Below: Following a jury trial, Appellant was convicted and sentenced to 35 to 50 years imprisonment.
Issues: 1) The district court committed clear error in finding a guilty verdict because evidence was insufficient for a reasonable trier of fact to find the elements of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt, 2) Appellant was denied effective assistance of counsel due to trial counsel's constitutionally deficient representation in the following specific instances: A) a member of counsel that participated in critical stages of the proceedings was not a certified law student or an admitted member of the Nebraska Bar; B) Appellant did not validly consent to representation by a certified law student; and C) trial counsel made prejudicial errors during opening and closing statements, and 3) the sentence imposed by the district court was excessive and, as such, an abuse of discretion.