S-21-0144 State of Nebraska v. Jake J. McGovern
Hall County District Court, Hon. Mark J. Young
Attorneys: Austin N. Relph (Office of the Attorney General) and Sarah A. Hinrichs (Hall County Attorney’s Office, for the State); Jonathan Hendricks (Dowding, Dowding, Dowding, & Urbom Law Offices, for Appellee/Cross-Appellant)
Criminal: Search and seizure; Sentencing
Proceedings below: The district court found McGovern guilty of first-degree sexual assault, third-degree sexual assault, and “record[ing] [a] person in [a] state of undress.” Following sentencing, the State appealed. McGovern responded and filed a cross-appeal.
Issues on appeal: Whether the district court 1) erred in finding that the warrant to search for photos, videos, and metadata on McGovern’s cell phone after its discovery near the voyeur’s escape path had been sufficiently particular and supported by probable cause; 2) erred in overruling McGovern’s motion to suppress evidence obtained pursuant to a warrant to search McGovern’s cell phone when the existence of that evidence had become known during a prior illegal search; and 3) imposed an excessively lenient sentence.