Czech v. Allen, 318 Neb. 904

Victoria A. Czech, as personal representative of Brett Allen Torres’ estate, sued Keith L. Allen for wrongful death and conscious suffering after Allen shot and killed Torres; Allen was previously convicted of first-degree murder for the same incident.
Czech obtained prejudgment attachment of Allen’s assets, alleging Allen might conceal or remove assets needed for a future judgment.
Allen, initially proceeding pro se, raised several defenses including self-defense and sought (belatedly) a jury trial, a change of venue, and to exclude evidence of his criminal convictions.
The district court denied Allen’s motion for change of venue and his motion in limine, granted Czech’s summary judgment motion as to liability, and sent the question of damages to the jury, who awarded Czech $130,000.
Allen filed two appeals: the first during trial (S-23-1037), and the second after the adverse judgment (S-24-047). The Supreme Court consolidated the appeals.

Issue	Czech’s Argument	Allen’s Argument	Held
Motion for Change of Venue	Publicity did not prevent a fair trial; Allen failed to show pervasive prejudice	Pretrial publicity made impartial jury impossible	No abuse of discretion in denying change of venue; Allen provided no evidence of prejudicial publicity
Motion in Limine to Exclude Conviction Evidence	Convictions were final and relevant for liability; Allen’s objection unpreserved	Convictions not final; unduly prejudicial	Allen failed to preserve this claim for appeal by not objecting to evidence when offered
Grant of Partial Summary Judgment on Liability	Criminal convictions establish liability; burden is lower in civil case	Genuine dispute over whether convictions were final; improper to rely on convictions	Affirmed; record insufficient to review claim, Allen failed to ensure necessary evidence was in record
Order of Prejudgment Attachment	Moot after judgment; order was ancillary remedy	Due process and statutory violations; lacked notice and standing	Moot; attachment order superseded by final judgment
Denial of Writ of Habeas Corpus ad Testificandum	Witness testimony not relevant; late motion	Witness was key and exclusion was prejudicial	No abuse of discretion; motion was untimely and not supported by prior efforts
Motion to Stay Trial Pending Appeal	No appeal was perfected/divested jurisdiction	Once appeal filed, trial court lost jurisdiction	Appeal not perfected (not from final order); trial court retained jurisdiction

State v. Allen, 314 Neb. 663 (affirming Allen’s criminal conviction, confirming convictions were final for use in civil case)
In re Hessler Living Trust, 316 Neb. 600 (summarizing appellate standards and jurisdiction)
Keystone Ranch Co. v. Central Neb. Pub. Power & Irr. Dist., 237 Neb. 188 (addressing requirement for appellate record to include summary judgment evidence)
Irvin v. Dowd, 366 U.S. 717 (due process and juror impartiality/fair trial)
JCB Enters. v. Nebraska Liq. Cont. Comm., 275 Neb. 797 (burden on appellant to provide record supporting error assigned)