Opinion

State v. Chambers

  • 233 Neb. 235
  • 444 N.W.2d 667
  • 1989 Neb. LEXIS 359
Court
Nebraska Supreme Court
Filed
Aug 25, 1989
Status
Published
Author
White
On the bench
Hastings, Boslaugh, White, Caporale, Shanahan, Grant, Fahrnbruch
Cited by
13 cases
Authority
More cited than 9.9%

reversible error of improper admission of evidence does not bar retrial if all evidence, whether erroneously admitted or not, supports the action for the trial court or jury

How later courts described this case

  • reversible error of improper admission of evidence does not bar retrial if all evidence, whether erroneously admitted or not, supports the action for the trial court or jury
  • involving stopwatch used to measure time

Written by the judges who cited it.

The opinion

White, J.,

concurring in part, and in part dissenting.

The majority cites Burks and Lockhart for the proposition that mere trial error does not bar retrial if all the evidence, whether erroneously admitted or not, supports the action of the *243 trial court or jury. Both cases are based upon the 5th and 14th amendments to the U.S. Constitution and thus comprise federal constitutional law.

I believe the better approach would be to follow this court’s decision in State v. Palmer, 224 Neb. 282 , 399 N.W.2d 706 (1986), where we considered whether the remaining evidence was sufficient, absent the procedural or “trial error.” Although in Palmer we did not explicitly base our ruling on Neb. Const, art. I, § 12, today’s decision overrules Palmer .

I would reverse and dismiss.

This is a copy of a public record, reproduced as it was published. It is not legal advice, and it may not be the version a court would rely on. Check the official source before you cite it.

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