Opinion ID: 2093417
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 8

Heading: During Prior Investigation of Sexual Assault of C.G.

Text: As his third assignment of error, Dreimanis asserts on further review that the Court of Appeals erred when it found that Dreimanis was not entitled to a Denno hearing regarding statements he made to police during the investigation of the prior sexual assault involving C.G. This assignment of error is without merit. In connection with its analysis of Dreimanis' claim that the trial court should have afforded him a Denno hearing in the instant case, which involves E.W., regarding statements he made in connection with the investigation of the previous case involving C.G., the Court of Appeals stated as follows: Whether the statements Dreimanis made during the course of that investigation [of the victim C.G.] were voluntary was resolved by his guilty plea in that case. The voluntary entry of a guilty plea or a plea of no contest waives every defense to a charge, whether the defense is procedural, statutory, or constitutional.... Dreimanis cannot now raise an issue he long ago waived. State v. Dreimanis, 8 Neb.App. 362, 371, 593 N.W.2d 750, 757 (1999). The Court of Appeals further observed that it was not required to decide the issue of whether Dreimanis was entitled to a Denno hearing in the instant case regarding the statements he made during the prior investigation involving C.G. because Dreimanis had not preserved that issue for appellate review. The Court of Appeals stated: Dreimanis never raised this issue during pretrial proceedings and never sought a Denno hearing [related to the previous investigation of the case involving the victim C.G.].... Because Dreimanis did not object on the basis of whether his statements in the investigation of the sexual assault on [C.G.] were voluntary, and such issue is not apparent from the context, the matter was not preserved for appellate review. Id. at 371, 593 N.W.2d at 757. A review of the record indicates that Dreimanis' objections to the admission of his statements made in the course of the investigation of the prior case involving C.G., as well as all other evidence of the prior conviction, was limited to relevance and rule 404. Dreimanis did not attack the voluntariness of his statements regarding the C.G. investigation in the trial of the instant case, and no such objection is apparent from the context. Because such challenge was not made at the trial level, it has not been preserved for appeal. See State v. Schrein, 244 Neb. 136, 504 N.W.2d 827 (1993). Further, we make no comment on the propriety of the collateral attack based on Jackson v. Denno, 378 U.S. 368, 84 S.Ct. 1774, 12 L.Ed.2d 908 (1964), proposed by Dreimanis on appeal. We agree with the Court of Appeals that Dreimanis did not preserve this issue for appellate review and accordingly reject Dreimanis' third assignment of error.