S-16-0465, State v. Erick F. Vela
Madison County District Court, Honorable James G. Kube
Attorneys: Patrick P. Carney (Carney Law, P.C.)(Appellant) --- Douglas Peterson and James D. Smith (Attorney General's Office)
Civil: Postconviction
Proceedings below: The district court denied Appellant's motion for postconviction relief without an evidentiary hearing.
Issues: The district court erred in denying postconviction relief without conducting an evidentiary hearing on Appellant's claim 1) that he received ineffective assistance of counsel due to his counsel deterring him from entering a guilty plea early in the case, 2) concerning the relationship of the prosecutor and presiding juror, 3) that he was denied the effective assistance of counsel due to counsel's failure to assign as error on direct appeal the district court's overruling Appellant's Batson challenge, 4) that he was denied effective assistance of counsel due to counsel's failure to allow the State's expert to conduct testing on Appellant to help determine mental retardation (intellectual disability), 5) that he received ineffective assistance of counsel when trial counsel failed to request that a definition of malice be included in the jury instructions for aggravator '29-2523(1)(a), 6) that he received ineffective assistance of counsel when trial counsel failed to offer evidence to negate a finding of malice for aggravator l(a), and 7) that he received ineffective assistance of counsel when trial counsel failed to raise the unconstitutionality of Nebraska's capital sentencing scheme and further failed to argue the same on direct appeal.