Malice in Wonderland
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Authors
Stenberg, Don
Issue Date
1997
Volume
30
Issue
Type
Journal Article
Language
Keywords
Alternative Title
Abstract
INTRODUCTION|In State v. Myers, the Nebraska Supreme Court expanded its power to include the drafting and enforcement of common law crimes. In Myers, the jury convicted the defendant, Myers, of second degree murder. His charge, jury instructions, and conviction were all in the language of section 28-304 of the Nebraska Revised Statutes as enacted by the Nebraska Legislature. Section 28-304 provides "[a] person commits murder in the second degree if he causes the death of a person intentionally, but without premeditation." On appeal, neither Myers nor the State of Nebraska took any exception to this statute under which he was charged and under which the jury was instructed.|Yet, a majority of the Nebraska Supreme Court ignored the errors assigned by the parties and instead resolved the case on the ground that "plain error" infected the proceedings before the state trial court. The "error" was that Myers' jury had been instructed in the language of the statute defining the crime of second degree murder exactly as enacted by the Nebraska Legislature over a decade before...
Description
Citation
30 Creighton L. Rev. 15 (1996-1997)
Publisher
Creighton University School of Law