Opinion ID: 1615671
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 9

Heading: Due Process Claim: Alleged Denial of Life Interest

Text: On appeal, Reeves claims, as he alleged in district court in his second postconviction petition, that upon remand from the U.S. Supreme Court, this court improperly resentenced him in Reeves III. Reeves claims generally that this court resentenced him in Reeves III and that in so doing, denied him the proper trial level sentencing and appellate review required under Nebraska's statutory death penalty sentencing scheme. Reeves argues, in effect, that he had a life interest in connection with his resentencing in Reeves III and that his challenge is, therefore, equivalent to a claim that he was denied due process in the imposition of the death penalty in Reeves III. In response, the State argues that new sentences were not imposed in Reeves III, but, rather, Reeves III simply reaffirmed the death sentences imposed by the trial court which were earlier affirmed in Reeves I and Reeves II, and no appeal lies from a mere reaffirmation of existing sentences. The State asserts that Reeves' claim challenging the methodology in Reeves III is procedurally barred. We determine that Reeves III was a resentencing for Clemons v. Mississippi, 494 U.S. 738, 110 S.Ct. 1441, 108 L.Ed.2d 725 (1990), and Nebraska statutory purposes and that Reeves' claim is not procedurally barred. We further conclude that the methodology in resentencing Reeves in Reeves III denied Reeves of due process.