S-16-0941 State v. Harold L. Stone (Appellant)
Thayer County District Court, Judge Vicky L. Johnson
Attorneys: Siobhan E. Duffy (Attorney General’s Office) --- Robert B. Creager (Anderson, Creager & Wittstruck, P.C.)
Civil: Sexual assault of child; constitutional challenge; mandatory minimum sentence
Proceedings below: Following a jury trial, Appellant was convicted and sentenced to 15 to 30 years imprisonment on Counts I, II, III & V for first degree sexual assault of a child and 4 to 5 years on Count IV for child abuse.
Issues: 1) The mandatory minimum term of 15 years imprisonment under Neb. Rev. Stat. § 28-319.01(2), based upon Appellant’s age, has no rational basis and violates the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution and Art. I sec. 3 of the Nebraska Constitution, and 2) the imposition of consecutive mandatory minimum sentences was unreasonable and excessive.