S-19-0758, State of Nebraska v. Juan Gonzalez Martinez (Appellant)
Lancaster County District Court, Judge Jodi L. Nelson
Attorneys: Joe Nigro and Jennifer M. Houlden (Lancaster County Public Defender’s Office, for Appellee); Douglas J. Peterson and Nathan A. Liss (Office of the Attorney General, for Appellee)
Criminal: First degree sexual assault
Proceedings below: After a jury trial, defendant was convicted of first degree sexual assault, and district court sentenced him to imprisonment for 30 to 40 years.
Issues: Whether district court erred when it 1) admitted evidence of Appellant’s sexual contact with victim which occurred outside of Nebraska and prior to the charged conduct; 2) admitted a translator’s English language translations of Spanish language statements made by Appellant in telephone calls and text messages; 3) admitted video-recorded statement of Appellant to law enforcement, which statement Appellant asserts was obtained in violation of his Miranda rights; and 4) refusing to allow an investigator who had interviewed a teacher of the victim to testify that the victim had told the teacher that someone other than Appellant had sexually assaulted her; 5) whether there was sufficient evidence to support the conviction; and 6) whether the court imposed an excessive sentence.