Opinion ID: 2128105
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 7

Heading: District Court Had Jurisdiction Regardless of the Indian Status of Wabashaw or His Victim

Text: Wabashaw's counsel stated during oral argument that we did not have a sufficient record to determine jurisdiction because the record failed to state whether Wabashaw is an Indian. We determine that regardless of whether Wabashaw is an Indian, the court had jurisdiction. Public Law 280 gives Nebraska jurisdiction over offenses committed by or against Indians in the areas of Indian country. [8] The robbery occurred in Indian country. Therefore, if either Wabashaw or his victim is an Indian, Nebraska has jurisdiction. [7] The only other possibility is that neither Wabashaw nor his victim is an Indian. Yet even in that scenario, Nebraska has jurisdiction because when a non-Indian commits a crime against another non-Indian in Indian country, jurisdiction rests in the state. [9] Under all possible permutations, the court had jurisdiction. So, we can resolve the jurisdictional issue despite the record's lack of information regarding Wabashaw's Indian status.