Criminal Procedure - State v. Smith: Right to Counself and Evidence of Prior DWI Convictions in Enhancement Proceedings

Abstract

FIRST PARAGRAPH(S)|In State v. Smith, the Nebraska Supreme Court considered whether the trial court had erred in admitting and relying upon court transcripts as evidence of prior driving while intoxicated (DWI) convictions in sentencing an alleged third time violator of Nebraska's DWI statute. Under the Nebraska DWI statute in effect at the time of Smith's conviction, first and second DWI offences were class IIIA and I misdemeanors, respectively, while a third offense was a felony with punishment of up to five years in prison, a $10,000 fine, or both. The issues before the court were: (1) whether the state, in charging Smith as a third DWI offender, had met its burden of proving two prior DWI convictions by providing two court transcripts, both of which were silent as to whether, at the time of the convictions, the defendant had either been represented by counsel or had waived this right; and (2) whether the defendant's objection to the introduction of the transcripts during the enhancement proceeding constituted a collateral attack on the prior judgments. By holding that: (1) the state had not met its burden of proof; and (2) the objection was not a collateral attack the Nebraska Supreme Court overruled two prior Nebraska cases, and brought Nebraska law in this area in line with recent pronouncements of the Supreme Court of the United States...