Opinion ID: 1966978
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 14

Heading: Stipulation Concerning Deposition Testimony

Text: During Miller's deposition, the State and defense counsel stipulated that if Miller were unavailable to testify at trial, admissible portions of Miller's deposition could be read to the jury as a substitute for his live testimony. This stipulation was made because Miller was undergoing chemotherapy treatments and there was a real possibility that he could be very ill at the time of trial. A few days before Miller was scheduled to testify for the defense, he informed Nesbitt's counsel that he was undergoing chemotherapy and was very ill. Miller's doctor recommended that he remain in the hospital, and Miller did not subsequently testify in person. Pursuant to the stipulation, select portions of Miller's deposition were read to the jury by Nesbitt's counsel as a part of his case in chief. Nesbitt now claims that his trial counsel had no authority to enter into a stipulation that usurped his constitutional right to confront Miller and that counsel was ineffective for entering into the stipulation, because, if required to testify in person, Miller would have provided exculpatory and impeachment evidence which would have made a difference on [sic] the outcome of this case. Nesbitt, however, does not identify in his motion the substance of such evidence. In a motion for postconviction relief, the defendant must allege facts which, if proved, constitute a denial of his or her rights under the U.S. or Nebraska Constitution, causing the judgment against the defendant to be void or voidable. State v. Dean, 264 Neb. 42, 645 N.W.2d 528 (2002). Because Nesbitt makes no factual allegations regarding the nature of the evidence favorable to his case which he contends that Miller could have supplied if testifying in person, he has not alleged a basis for postconviction relief in this regard.