Opinion ID: 1805482
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: divestment of jurisdiction

Text: This court has held that a district court is divested of subject matter jurisdiction over a particular case when an appeal of that case is perfected to an appellate court. Sports Courts of Omaha v. Meginnis, 242 Neb. 768, 497 N.W.2d 38 (1993); State v. Horr, 232 Neb. 380, 441 N.W.2d 139 (1989); State v. Spotted Elk, supra . Consequently, once Beverlin perfected his first appeal, the district court no longer had the authority to vacate the first sentence and resentence him. The Court of Appeals mistakenly relied upon Blankenship to create an unwarranted exception to the above-stated rule. If a sentence is invalid, `it is of no effect and the court may then impose any sentence which could have been validly imposed in the first place.' State v. Beverlin, 3 NCA at 719. The Court of Appeals interpreted this statement to mean that since it is the sentence which is the judgment, an invalid sentence is not a judgment which is appealable. This interpretation is not warranted under the facts of Blankenship. In Blankenship, the district court determined, on its own motion, that the sentence it had originally imposed was invalid; vacated it; and imposed another. There was no notice of appeal filed until after the second sentence had been imposed. This court found that the district court could correct an original sentence which was invalid by imposing a sentence which could have validly been imposed in the first place. Furthermore, the court in Blankenship cited State v. Shelby, 194 Neb. 445, 232 N.W.2d 23 (1975), in support of its holding. In Shelby, this court held that an erroneous or invalid sentence could be set aside and replaced by a valid one by the district court during the period of time that it retained jurisdiction over the defendant. Here, the district court no longer retained jurisdiction over the subject matter because Beverlin had already perfected the appeal of the first sentence. See, Sports Courts of Omaha v. Meginnis, supra ; State v. Horr, supra ; State v. Spotted Elk, supra .