S-17-1183 & S-17-1321 State (Appellee) v. Reginald B. Briggs (Appellant)
Douglas County District Court, Judge W. Mark Ashford
Attorneys: Ernest H. Addison, Jr. (Appellant) ---Siobhan E. Duffy (Attorney General’s Office) (Appellee)
Criminal: Sentencing; Manslaughter; Pandering; Habitual criminal
Proceedings below: The trial court found the Appellant guilty of Count I of Manslaughter; Count II, Use of a Deadly Weapon to Commit a Felony; Count III, Possession of a Deadly Weapon by a Prohibited Person; and Count IV, Pandering. Appellant was determined to be a habitual criminal. The trial court sentenced Appellant on Count I to a period of 20 years’ imprisonment; on Count II, to a consecutive period of 40-50 years’ imprisonment; on Count III to a consecutive period of 10 years’ imprisonment; and on Count IV to a consecutive period of 10 years’ imprisonment. Appellant entered a plea of no contest to severed Count V, Pandering, was again determined to be a habitual criminal, and sentenced to serve a concurrent sentence of 10 years’ imprisonment to Counts I – IV.
Issues: Whether the trial court 1) abused its discretion by failing to sever the pandering count involving Teresa Longo from the murder and weapons charges; 2) abused its discretion by sustaining the Appellee’s motion in limine and admitting into evidence Raynette Heidt’s pandering; 3) committed reversible error by overruling and denying the Appellant’s objection and challenge to the jury selection; 4) erred when it denied Appellant’s motion for a mistrial; 5) erred in failing to sustain the Appellant’s motion to dismiss at the close of the state’s case; 6) abused its discretion by denying the Appellant’s motion for a new trial and/or judgment notwithstanding the verdict; 7) erred by determining the Appellant to be a habitual offender; and 8) abused its discretion by imposing an excessive sentence.