Court Opinion

ID: 9519576
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-07 01:18:58.839282+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T12:44:30.570086
License: Public Domain

Newton, J.,
concurring in finding of guilt and dissenting from reduction of sentence.
I concur with the opinion of Carter, J., that, under the circumstances attendant upon this case, the failure to try defendant more promptly was not prejudicial and is not indicative of an abuse of discretion nor was the sentence excessive.
The opinion of McCown, Spencer, and Sinith, JJ., holds forth at considerable length on a critique of present Nebraska law. It complains that our law does not specifically provide that the sentencing court may give credit for time spent in jail where a minimum sentence is required. The criticism is not pertinent and is completely unwarranted. Defendant received a sentence of 1 year in the Nebraska Penal and Correctional Complex on a charge of breaking and entering. The statute, section 28-532, R. R. S. 1943, provides that in such cases the defendant may be either fined or imprisoned in the county jail for not to exceed 6 months, in lieu of being sentenced to the Nebraska Penal and Correctional Complex. This certainly allows sufficient latitude to give credit for “jailtime.”
Further complaint is made regarding section 29-1202, R. R. S. 1943, which fixes 2 terms of court as the maximum period over which a defendant may be held prior to trial. Again, the criticism is not pertinent. It is conceded in the opinion that this court is free to determine minimum time limits on a factual case-by-case basis. These criticisms are patent efforts to solicit legislative action. They constitute a direct and calculated invasion of the legislative field and, as such, a willful violation of the tripartite division of governmental powers pro*200vided in the Constitution of Nebraska. This court may well exercise restraint upon the executive and legislative branches of government, but the only practical restraint upon the judiciary is that imposed by a sense of propriety and good conscience and a faithful adherence to constitutional principles. Abuse of judicial powers can only promote a lack of confidence in the courts and the eventual destruction of our constitutional system of government.
The proponents of the opinion are in an anomalous and contradictory position. After adopting the position that the defendant should be discharged on the theory that his right to a speedy trial was unlawfully denied, they join in the opinion of Boslaugh, J., requiring the imposition of a 2-month jail sentence. One position or the other is necessarily incorrect.
To sustain their position, the proponents of the opinion cite United States v. Ewell, 383 U. S. 116, 86 S. Ct. 773, 15 L. Ed. 2d 627 (1966), wherein the court said: “This guarantee (of speedy trial) is an important safeguard to prevent undue and oppressive incarceration prior to trial, to minimize anxiety and concern accompanying public accusation, and to limit possibilities that long delay will impair the ability of an accused to defend himself.” None of these considerations are here applicable. Undue incarceration before trial and concern over public accusation would be very material to an innocent person wrongfully accused, but scarcely so to one who is guilty when the court takes the period of incarceration into consideration in fixing sentence. There is not the slighest hint or contention that defendant’s ability to defend himself was impaired. Indeed, he offered no evidence whatever in his own behalf.
The contention that the sentence was excessive is likewise without merit. It has long been the rule of this court that the punishment of a statutory offense is left to the discretion of the trial court, to be exercised within prescribed limits, and a sentence imposed within such *201limits will not be disturbed unless there appears to be an abuse of discretion. See Thompson v. State, 159 Neb. 685, 68 N. W. 2d 267. The sentence imposed was well within the limits prescribed by statute. The four members of this court who have insisted upon modifying the sentence imposed of 1 year in the Penal and Correctional Complex do not even contend that there has been an abuse of discretion. They simply say, in effect, we would have imposed a lighter sentence and since we have the power to do so, we herewith modify the sentence with or without legal justification.
At the time of imposing sentence, the trial court was well aware that he had four alternatives: Probation, a fine, a jail sentence, or a sentence to the Penal and Correctional Complex. It was dealing with a young man who had not before been convicted of a felony, but who was not exactly a first offender. Defendant owed a number of fines imposed for various misdemeanors. Still more serious, he was wanted in two other counties on breaking and entering charges. Under such circumstances, can it reasonably be contended that he should have been placed on probation or punishment limited to a fine or a short sentence to the county jail? Instead, the court sentenced him to the minimum of 1 year in the Nebraska Penal and Correctional Complex and in so doing, stated: “It now becomes my function and duty to impose sentence upon you. In imposing sentence I’ve given full consideration to the record, to the offense charged against you, your age, your background, your prior criminal record, which, I know, shows no prior felony convictions; I’ve given consideration, full consideration, to the record showing the date of your arrest, your incarceration and the time of your incarceration in the County Jail of this county, up until the time of your release on bail on May 16th of this year; I’ve given full consideration to the amount of bail that has been set for you, whether or not it might be con*202sidered excessive, or, whatever it might be; I’ve given consideration to all these things.”
It is apparent that the court felt this young man merited a heavier sentence but reduced it to 1 year to allow for the time spent in jail prior to trial. This was the only manner in which the court could give credit for “jailtime” and the court having availed itself of the opportunity there was no prejudice sustained by reason of defendant’s stay in jail prior to trial and no abuse of discretion. For this court to now reduce the sentence further amounts to giving “double time” or a double allowance for the time in jail. It amounts to a subversion of the law without regard to the record before the court and to an encroachment upon the powers and prerogatives of the Board of Pardons and Paroles. I reiterate that the reduction of this sentence is an unjustified assertion of naked judicial power and a violation of the legal principles applicable in such situations.
White, C. J., and Carter, J., join with Newton, J., in the above.