Justia Nebraska Supreme Court Opinion Summaries

The Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the district court reversing the judgment of the county court dismissing the complaint brought by North Star Mutual Insurance Company without prejudice, holding that North Star violated the rule against claim splitting when it filed a subrogation action in its own name, without joining its insured.Julie Blazer, who was insured with North Star, was driving her vehicle when she was struck by a pickup truck driven by Travis Stewart. After paying Balzer insurance benefits as a result of the accident North Star filed suit against Stewart. North Star brought the negligence action in its own name as a subrogee of Blazer but did not join Blazer as a party. The county court dismissed the complaint without prejudice for lack of standing. The district court reversed. The Supreme Court reversed, holding that the allegations of the complaint were insufficient to demonstrate that North Star had standing to commence this action in its own name. View "North Star Mutual Insurance Co. v. Stewart" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court affirmed as modified the provisions of a district court order that found Mark Becher in contempt for failure to pay various expenses following his divorce from Sonia Becher, holding that the court's order is modified slightly but that Mark's remaining assignments of error were without merit.On appeal, Mark argued that the district court erred in (1) finding him in contempt for failure to pay for a portion of the children's 2016 medical expenses, real estate taxes, and a wilderness therapy program and requiring Mark to pay for his share of those expenses as part of a purge plan; (2) requiring him to pay for his share of the children's future medical expenses as part of the purge plan; (3) assessing interest; and (4) ordering him to pay Sonia's attorney fees. The Supreme Court affirmed as modified, holding (1) the portion of the order regarding contempt findings and purge provisions related to the children's 2016 medical expenses and future medical expenses must be deleted; and (2) there was no merit to Mark's remaining assignments of error. View "Becher v. Becher" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the probate court appointing the decedent's mother as personal representative, ordering that letters of personal representative be issued to her, and issuing such letters even though the mother had not yet accepted the appointment, holding that the court's issuance of letters was an unauthorized action.More than three years following the decedent's death, the estate was opened for the purpose of serving a lawsuit against the decedent. The court appointed the mother as personal representative for the purpose of receiving service of the civil action and, that same day, issued letters of personal representative to the mother even though the mother had not accepted the appointment. The Supreme Court reversed, holding that the issuance of letters of personal representative was an unauthorized action without the appointee's qualification. View "In re Estate of Severson" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court affirmed the order of the Department of Motor Vehicles revoking Appellant's operator's license, holding that there was no error.Following a second hearing, the hearing officer recommended an order revoking Appellant's operator's license. The district court affirmed. On appeal, Appellant argued, among other things, that the district court erred in finding that the Department had jurisdiction to revoke Appellant's operator's license because the submitted report was not properly sworn to by the arresting officer. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding that the district court did not err in affirming the Department's revocation of Appellant's operator's license. View "Pope v. Department of Motor Vehicles" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court affirmed Defendant's convictions and sentences for first degree murder and use of a deadly weapon, not a firearm, to commit a felony, holding that there was no merit to Defendant's appeal.On appeal, Defendant argued that the district court erred in finding that he did not prove his insanity defense and that he received ineffective assistance of counsel during the trial proceedings. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding (1) the district court did not err in finding that Defendant was not insane at the time he killed the victim; and (2) trial counsel was not ineffective for stipulating to the underlying facts of the murder. View "State v. John" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court affirmed the order of the district court that granted summary judgment in favor of highway construction contractors and subcontractors (collectively, contractors) in this action alleging negligent maintenance of a construction site, holding that the contractors were entitled to summary judgment.Officer Curtis Blackbird died on duty when his police cruiser crashed into a parked crane and a portion of Highway 94 that was closed for construction. Plaintiff brought this action against the contractors, alleging negligence. The district court granted summary judgment for the contractors. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding that there was no triable issue of fact, and therefore, the district court properly granted summary judgment in favor of the contractors. View "Porter v. Knife River, Inc." on Justia Law

The Supreme Court vacated the order of the district court, which established the paternity of Franklin M. as to the parties' two children and decided issues regarding custody and child support, holding that the district court erred as a matter of law when it applied an improper standard regarding removal.Franklin filed a complaint for paternity, custody, and support seeking to establish custody and support for two children he had with Lauren C. The district court found the Franklin and Lauren were the biological parents of the two children and decided issues regarding child support and custody. The Supreme Court remanded the cause, holding that the district court (1) applied an improper standard regarding removal; and (2) erred when it awarded shared legal and physical custody to Franklin. View "Franklin M. v. Lauren C." on Justia Law

The Supreme Court reversed the order of the district court concluding that the statute of limitations for negligence, as set forth in Neb. Stat. Ann. 25-207, begins to run on the date of a plaintiff's injury, holding that that court erred in granting summary judgment in favor of a tire repair company on the grounds that it was barred by the statute of limitations.A pickup truck owned by a construction company was involved in an accident that occurred when the right rear tire of the vehicle suffered a tread separation, resulting in a roll-over. Employees of the company that were passengers in the pickup truck at the time of the accident brought a negligence suit against the tire repair company that mounted the tire. The tire repair company moved for summary judgment based on the four-year statute of limitations. Because the action was brought more than four years after installation of the tire but within four years of the accident the district court granted the motion. The Supreme Court reversed, holding that Employees' cause of action for ordinary negligence accrued at the time of the accident and not at the time the tire company installed the tire. View "Susman v. Kearney Towing & Repair Center, Inc." on Justia Law

The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the district court dismissing the complaint brought by Noah's Ark Processors, LLC seeking a declaration that Noah's was not bound by a business agreement it entered into with UniFirst Corporation, holding that this appeal was without merit.After Noah's notified UniFirst that it was terminating their business agreement UniFirst commenced an arbitration proceeding seeking damages. In its complaint, Noah's sought a declaration that it was not bound by the agreement or the arbitration provision. The court dismissed the complaint and directed Noah's to participate in arbitration, determining that Noah's was equitably estopped from contesting that it was bound by the agreement. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding that there was no merit to any of the arguments presented on appeal. View "Noah's Ark Processors v. UniFirst Corp." on Justia Law

The Supreme Court affirmed in part and dismissed in part the order of the district court overruling Defendant's motion for absolute discharge, holding that the district court did not err in determining that Defendant was not entitled to absolute discharge on statutory speedy trial grounds.Defendant was charged with one count of first degree sexual assault. Defendant later filed a motion for absolute discharge, arguing that the State violated his statutory and constitutional rights to a speedy trial and that the district court erred by finding that continuances of trial in response to the COVID-19 pandemic were for good cause. The Supreme Court held (1) Defendant was not entitled to absolute discharge on statutory speedy trial grounds; and (2) this Court lacked appellate jurisdiction to review Defendant's claim that he was entitled to absolute discharge on constitutional speedy trial grounds. View "State v. Abernathy" on Justia Law