S-19-0652 State v. Jeffrey Hessler (Appellant)

Scotts Bluff County District Court, Judge Andrea D. Miller

Attorneys: James D. Smith, Solicitor General (Attorney General’s Office) --- Jerry M. Hug (Appellant)

Civil: Postconviction

Proceedings below: The district court denied Appellant’s motion for postconviction relief without an evidentiary hearing.

Issues: 1. Nebraska’s capital sentencing scheme violates Hurst v. Florida and the Sixth and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution. 2. Nebraska's capital sentencing scheme, which permits a three-judge panel, rather than a jury, to impose a death sentence, violates the Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution.