Court Opinion

ID: 9722145
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 09:17:42.256932+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:24:30.872250
License: Public Domain

McCown, J.,
dissenting.
This case extends the harsh doctrine of State v. Country, 194 Neb. 570, 234 N. W. 2d 593, one more degree and makes the injustice of that holding even more obvious. See my dissent in State v. Country, supra, at page 575.
L. B. 23, Laws 1975, the bill dealing with sexual offenses and punishments, was passed by the Legislature and approved by the Governor on May 1, 1975. The defendant, Earthel Crisp, committed the assault with intent to commit rape on May 16, 1975. He was found guilty on July 25, 1975. L. B. 23 became effective in all *836respects on August 24, 1975, and this defendant was sentenced 5 days later on August 29, 1975.
This court now holds that even though the new statute was in effect on the actual date of sentencing, the defendant here must still be sentenced under the harsher provisions of the old law rather than under those of the new law. As I said in my dissent in Country: “If a rule is just and can properly be applied to a certain class of cases, the fact that the number of defendants involved may be small does not justify an injustice to any one of them, nor provide an adequate excuse for denying justice to all of them, however small the number. The fact that it may require a hearing to determine the relevant facts ought not to be an insurmountable roadblock in the pursuit of justice.”