Opinion ID: 2165289
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: facts of the underlying offenses

Text: On the afternoon of June 13, 2001, Mata was driving on Highway 71 near Scottsbluff, Nebraska, when a Nebraska State Patrol trooper pursued Mata's speeding pickup. A lengthy high-speed chase ensued, during which Mata fired numerous shots from the pickup at both officers and civilians. Mata eventually stopped in Scottsbluff. The Court of Appeals' direct appeal opinion summarized the evidence as follows: [T]he evidence shows a wild and dangerous car chase, part of which was conducted after Mata's pickup had been damaged, including the front tires to the point that he was driving virtually on the rims. During the course of that car chase, Mata fired at law enforcement officers and civilians. He was in possession of three handguns. At least 24 spent casings were found inside the pickup. Witnesses identified the silver handgun as being stuck out the window and fired by Mata. We do not think it an exaggeration to characterize the evidence against Mata as overwhelming. [2] A jury convicted Mata of 22 offenses, including four counts of discharging a firearm at an occupied motor vehicle, eight counts of terroristic threats, eight counts of use of a firearm to commit a felony for each of the underlying terroristic threats felonies, fleeing to avoid arrest, and misdemeanor willful reckless driving. The district court sentenced Mata to a combined prison sentence of 18 to 36 years with credit for 122 days served. The Court of Appeals issued its decision on August 6, 2002. Leonard Tabor, Mata's trial counsel and counsel for direct appeal, sent Mata a letter on August 7. It stated that you can appeal this to the Supreme Court or ask that the Court of Appeals review it. The letter, however, also stated that in Tabor's opinion, it is quite obvious that the Court of Appeals is not going to redo their decision and I seriously doubt that the Supreme Court would take it seriously. On August 13, 2002, Mata wrote a letter to Tabor saying that he wanted to exhaust all of the state and federal remedies and requesting that Tabor file the petition for further review on his behalf. Tabor filed a petition for further review with this court on September 6, and we overruled it because it was untimely filed. Tabor moved to reconsider, but we denied the motion.