S-21-1036 State of Nebraska (Appellee) v. January T. Wheeler (Appellant)
Appeal from the District Court for Lancaster County, Judge Lori A. Maret
Attorneys: Melissa R. Vincent (Asst. Attorney General for Appellee) and Timothy S. Noerrlinger (Naylor Rappl Law Firm for Appellant)
Criminal: Insufficient Evidence, Impeachment, Excessive Sentence, Ineffective Assistance of Counsel, and Possession of a Firearm by a Prohibited Person.
Proceedings below: Following a jury trial, Appellant was found not guilty of First Degree Assault and Use of a Weapon to Commit a Felony, but he was found guilty of and convicted of Possession of a Weapon by a Prohibited Person. Appellant was sentenced to twenty (25) to thirty (30) years in prison. After the Court of Appeals affirmed the conviction and sentence in a Memorandum Opinion, Appellant filed a Petition for Further Review by this Court, which was granted and this matter was transferred to Supreme Court docket.
Issues: Appellant makes the following assignments of error: 1) The lower court committed erred in entering a guilty verdict unsupported by sufficient admissible evidence; 2) The lower court erred by not allowing appellant’s counsel to impeach certain witnesses with extrinsic evidence; 3) The lower court abused its discretion by imposing an excessive sentence; and 4) Appellant received ineffective assistance of trial counsel for: Failure to Object to Improper 404 Evidence that Appellant was previously seen with a gun by Brandon Wagner and Kristian Hespen; Failure to Object to Wagner’s testimony about the appellant’s character for possession of a firearm; Failure to Offer in Cellular Phone Records to Impeach Brandon Wagner; Failure to Call Desiree Allen, Michael Carmen and Jinny Greer at trial and Failure to Properly Impeach Brandon Wagner.