On a question of law, an appellate court is obligated to reach a conclusion independent of the determination reached by the court below. In cases where the district court sits as an intermediate appellate court, the district court reviews the county court judgment for error appearing on the record made in the county court. A sentence imposed within statutory limits will not be disturbed on appeal absent an abuse of discretion by the trial court. The power to impose a sentence for the commission of a crime against the State is entrusted to the sentencing court and not to an appellate court. An abuse of discretion takes place when the sentencing court's reasons or rulings are clearly untenable and unfairly deprive a litigant of a substantial right and a just result.
Courts are well advised to rely upon the statutory guidelines for imposing sentences.
Mitigating considerations are relevant when a sentence is appealed as excessive, but only on the question of whether the sentencing court abused its discretion and not as justification for a lesser sentence which the appellate court would have imposed. An appellate court may not vacate a sentence of imprisonment imposed by a trial court simply because the defendant possesses redeeming qualities which might lead other trial courts, or the appellate court, to render a more lenient sentence. An appellate court, including a district court reviewing a county court sentence, has extremely limited review of sentences. In this case, we discuss the role of the district court in reviewing sentences pronounced by the county court. Hopkins bought a six-pack of beer and a bottle of malt liquor, and she and Hunn drank some of the beer while at Hopkins' residence in Lincoln, Nebraska.