20 results for 'judge:"Cassel"'.
J. Cassel finds the county court properly found the inheritance taxes were correctly paid by the trust. The decedent's girlfriend was bequeathed a house and his children sued, contesting the trust paid their $710 in taxes, as well as the girlfriend's $94,627. The trust’s language provided clear direction that inheritance taxes be paid by the trust, rather than by the individual beneficiaries. Affirmed.
Court: Nebraska Supreme Court, Judge: Cassel , Filed On: May 10, 2024, Case #: S-23-472, Categories: Tax, Trusts, Wills / Probate
J. Cassel finds the district court properly declared the land holdings company's tax deed void. The company purchased the tax certificate after the property owner failed to pay delinquent taxes. The owner filed suit after his attempt to redeem the property was denied, alleging a failure to comply with notice requirements, and seeking to quiet title in his name. The company failed to comply with notice requirements that “[p]ersonal or residence service” allows for certified mail service only in limited circumstances. Affirmed.
Court: Nebraska Supreme Court, Judge: Cassel , Filed On: April 5, 2024, Case #: S-23-360, Categories: Property, Tax, Due Process
J. Cassel finds the district court improperly overruled the school district's motion for summary judgment. The district claims it has immunity from the wrongful discharge suit filed by the former employee who was terminated after it was discovered she had provided incorrect ID information in order to cover up a previous arrest. The district's decision to terminate her employment falls within the discretionary function exemption of the Political Subdivisions Tort Claims Act. Reversed.
Court: Nebraska Supreme Court, Judge: Cassel , Filed On: March 22, 2024, Case #: S-23-490, Categories: Education, Employment, Tort
J. Cassel finds the county court improperly granted the journalists' request for a writ of mandamus. The journalists sought public record emails to or from agency staff members containing keywords “nitrate,” “nutrient,” “fertilizer” or “nitrogen,” which resulted in a charge of more than $44,000. Though the journalists were authorized to challenge the fee, relevant statute allows a public body to impose a special service charge for time spent by non-attorney employees in excess of 4 cumulative hours reviewing requested public records for a statutory basis to withhold one or more of the records in whole or in part. Vacated in part.
Court: Nebraska Supreme Court, Judge: Cassel , Filed On: March 15, 2024, Case #: S-23-155, Categories: Public Record
J. Cassel finds the trial court properly overruled defendant's motion for absolute discharge of his felony offense on speedy trial grounds. Though defendant contends his waiver of speedy trial rights applies only to a continuance granted solely at the request of the defendant and not the state, this argument has no merit. Affirmed.
Court: Nebraska Supreme Court, Judge: Cassel , Filed On: February 23, 2024, Case #: S-23-356, Categories: Speedy Trial, Due Process
Want access to unlimited case records and advanced research tools? Create your free CasePortal account now. No credit card required to register.
Try CasePortal for Free
[Consolidated.] J. Cassel finds the county court properly determined the sanitation district cannot levy a special assessment on property adjacent to, but not located within, its boundaries. A particular statute argued by the district authorizing a levy where exempt property has been “specially benefitted” by the district applies only to “property by law not assessable," and not to that outside the district. No reversible error is found as to the district's making a condemnation taking of part of the property or the jury's award to the owner for that taking. Affirmed.
Court: Nebraska Supreme Court, Judge: Cassel , Filed On: February 16, 2024, Case #: S-22-688 , Categories: Administrative Law, Municipal Law, Property
J. Cassel, on review from the court of appeals, finds the court properly affirmed the trial court's overruling of the father's motion to vacate a protection order. Although the father challenges the appeals court’s evidentiary ruling excluding an affidavit, part of it was inadmissible, and he failed to offer the admissible portion. Affirmed.
Court: Nebraska Supreme Court, Judge: Cassel, Filed On: January 19, 2024, Case #: S-23-195, Categories: Evidence, Due Process, Restraining Order
J. Cassel finds the district court properly entered summary judgment in favor of the counterclaimant property owners in this boundary dispute. Although the claimant owner says an original government survey shows her property extending to the other side of a river, the survey showed the boundary to be associated with the banks of the river. Affirmed.
Court: Nebraska Supreme Court, Judge: Cassel , Filed On: January 5, 2024, Case #: S-23-072, Categories: Evidence, Property
J. Cassel finds the trial court properly convicted defendant for first-degree murder based on sufficient evidence. Witness testimony, as well as fingerprint and DNA evidence, link defendant to the scene of the shooting. Furthermore, the trial court properly sustained the state's oral motion to continue due to new evidence of defendant's cell phone, which had been seized in a different investigation. Affirmed.
Court: Nebraska Supreme Court, Judge: Cassel , Filed On: January 5, 2024, Case #: S-23-225, Categories: Evidence, Ineffective Assistance, Murder
J. Cassel finds the trial court improperly excluded evidence of a purported prior will signed by the decedent in a will contest. The will is relevant and admissible under a hearsay exception. It may weigh on determinations regarding testamentary capacity and undue influence, and the record does not indicate the trial court weighed the evidence properly. Reversed.
Court: Nebraska Supreme Court, Judge: Cassel , Filed On: December 1, 2023, Case #: S-22-979, Categories: Evidence, Wills / Probate
J. Cassel finds the trial court properly convicted defendant for firearm possession by a prohibited person and unlawful discharge of a firearm. Eyewitness testimony, along with the discover of a gun and shell casings found in defendant's apartment, support the convictions. Affirmed.
Court: Nebraska Supreme Court, Judge: Cassel , Filed On: November 17, 2023, Case #: S-22-810, Categories: Evidence, Firearms
J. Cassel finds the district court properly dismissed this suit brought by the prison inmate regarding the computation of her tentative mandatory release date. The court sentenced defendant to life for a murder committed as a juvenile, imposing a consecutive sentence of two to five years for a firearm use conviction. Later, the court imposed a consecutive sentence of one year for assault by a confined person. The murder sentence was vacated following a decision involving juvenile offenders and changed to 60 to 80 years. The inmate’s complaint, challenging confinement duration, fails to state a claim. Also, in failing to challenge the validity of a rule, the sovereign immunity waiver does not apply. Affirmed.
Court: Nebraska Supreme Court, Judge: Cassel, Filed On: October 27, 2023, Case #: S-22-719, Categories: Juvenile Law, Murder, Sentencing
J. Cassel finds the trial court properly convicted defendant for possession of meth and drug paraphernalia. Officers responded to a call from an auto parts store involving reports of a customer who “could barely stand up.” Upon engaging the customer, officers noted that she seemed “fidgety” and unstable. After asking about drugs and if they could search her vehicle, the subject replied, “If you absolutely need to... If you really need to go look, more power to you.” The subsequent search yielding the drugs was undertaken with consent and defendant’s motion to suppress was properly denied. Affirmed.
Court: Nebraska Supreme Court, Judge: Cassel, Filed On: October 20, 2023, Case #: S-22-867, Categories: Drug Offender, Search
J. Cassel finds the Nebraska Department of Natural Resources properly dismissed the resources district and a citizens group’s objections to the Platte to Republican Basin High Flow Diversion Project’s application seeking to divert surface water from an over-appropriated river. The groups’ allegations do not demonstrate that they have or will suffer an injury in fact, and so they fail to establish standing. Affirmed.
Court: Nebraska Supreme Court, Judge: Cassel, Filed On: October 6, 2023, Case #: S-23-028, Categories: Environment, Water, Agency
J. Cassel finds the trial court properly dismissed the department of correctional service's inmate's tort claim. The inmate filed separate cases alleging negligent medical care, one of which was removed to federal court, then remanded. The case was then dismissed as untimely, having not been filed within 6 months of the dismissal of an earlier, nearly identical case. The second instant case, which had been dismissed for failure to comply with presentment provisions, was remanded after the Nebraska Supreme Court found it to be in compliance. The trial court then found that both actions “alleged the same cause of action based on the same operative facts” and that the first resulted in a final judgment on the merits. The claim was properly dismissed as barred by claim preclusion. Affirmed.
Court: Nebraska Supreme Court, Judge: Cassel , Filed On: September 22, 2023, Case #: S-22-822, Categories: Tort, Due Process, Prisoners' Rights
J. Cassel finds the Nebraska Court of Appeals improperly found the driver’s action for damages a nullity, being that the original complaint was filed against the other driver’s closed estate; the other driver died of unrelated causes. The first amended complaint was filed after the driver’s application to reopen the estate was granted and the administrator was reappointed, validly commencing a proceeding within the limitations period. Reversed and remanded with directions.
Court: Nebraska Supreme Court, Judge: Cassel, Filed On: July 21, 2023, Case #: S-21-1041, Categories: Vehicle, Damages, Due Process
J. Cassel finds the trial court properly convicted and sentenced defendant for unspecified felony and misdemeanor offenses. Though defendant claims she was not advised as to the terms of her post-release supervision, the record shows that she was advised by the court and that her attorney received the sentencing order with certificate of service. That the order was unsigned amounts to nonprejudicial, plain error. Defendant also fails to allege any specific deficient performance by counsel. Affirmed.
Court: Nebraska Supreme Court, Judge: Cassel, Filed On: July 7, 2023, Case #: S-22-864, Categories: Ineffective Assistance, Sentencing
J. Cassel finds the district court improperly found in favor of the hybrid popcorn seed grower in this dispute over rent to be paid on its leased property. The lease is susceptible of at least two reasonable interpretations and is ambiguous regarding minimum rent. The district court erred in entering partial summary judgment because the court should not have settled the meaning of the contract. Issues at trial were then based on a flawed premise. Reversed and remanded.
Court: Nebraska Supreme Court, Judge: Cassel, Filed On: June 16, 2023, Case #: S-22-488, Categories: Agriculture, Landlord Tenant, Contract
J. Cassel finds the district court properly added restrictions to the developmentally disabled patient’s treatment plan, who, in his court-ordered custody and treatment, still presents an ongoing threat of harm due to his sexual interest in children. The least restrictive alternative for treatment was found to be a shared living provider environment with no other participants and all-day supervision, including the monitoring of all electronic or telephonic communications. The court revoked internet access entirely, adding the requirement that the patient wear a GPS monitor, which he appeals. The added conditions conform to law, are supported by competent evidence and are not arbitrary, capricious or unreasonable. Affirmed.
Court: Nebraska Supreme Court, Judge: Cassel, Filed On: June 9, 2023, Case #: S-22-652, Categories: Civil Rights, Health Care, Commitment
J. Cassel finds the trial court, on remand for resentencing, properly sentenced defendant for two murder convictions and one attempted murder conviction to consecutive sentences “amounting to a life sentence.” No evidence shows that the court failed to consider relevant mitigating factors. A full evidentiary hearing was held prior to resentencing, giving defendant an opportunity to present mitigating factors. The record shows that the court read and reviewed all evidence. The court explicitly stated that all evidence was weighed and the sentences were based upon relevant factors. Affirmed.
Court: Nebraska Supreme Court, Judge: Cassel, Filed On: June 2, 2023, Case #: S-22-568, Categories: Evidence, Murder, Sentencing