State v. Betancourt-Garcia, 317 Neb. 174

Rosario Betancourt-Garcia was convicted in Nebraska of kidnapping, use of a firearm to commit a felony, and conspiracy to commit kidnapping after his nephew was kidnapped and held in 2003.
Betancourt was arrested in Texas and did not go to trial until more than a decade after the offense.
Betancourt asserted an alibi defense at trial, claiming he was in Texas at the time; various witnesses were discussed as potential alibi corroborators, but ultimately did not testify.
On direct appeal, Betancourt’s arguments of ineffective assistance were rejected or not considered because they were not properly raised; resentencing occurred after a sentencing error was found.
Betancourt filed for postconviction relief, arguing ineffective assistance of both trial and appellate counsel for failing to properly pursue and present an alibi/misidentification defense.
The district court corrected two sentencing errors but denied relief regarding ineffective assistance claims stemming from counsel’s handling of the proposed defenses. Betancourt appealed.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Ineffective assistance of trial counsel for not calling alibi/misidentification witnesses	Counsel should have subpoenaed, deposed, or otherwise obtained testimony from witnesses who could corroborate Betancourt's alibi or misidentification	The witnesses could not place Betancourt in Texas on the relevant date and were unwilling to testify; strategic not to call them	Not ineffective; counsel's decision was reasonable, so no relief
Ineffective assistance of appellate counsel for not raising the above issue	Appellate counsel should have raised ineffectiveness of trial counsel on direct appeal	No merit to appealing failure to call unhelpful, unwilling witnesses	No prejudice; substantiates denying relief
Right to evidentiary hearing on additional 16 claims of ineffective assistance	District court erred by denying hearings on other ineffective assistance claims	Most claims were insufficient or already addressed; one claim (related to resentencing) received hearing and relief	Other claims either resolved or barred by law-of-the-case doctrine

Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668 (U.S. 1984) (sets out the standard for ineffective assistance of counsel: deficient performance and prejudice)
State v. Lang, 202 Neb. 9 (Neb. 1978) (failure to investigate witnesses constitutes deficient performance if testimony could support a defense)
State v. Davis, 310 Neb. 865 (Neb. 2022) (explains limits on use of prior inconsistent statements as impeachment and not substantive evidence)
State v. Betancourt-Garcia, 295 Neb. 170 (Neb. 2016) (prior proceedings in the Betancourt-Garcia case)
State v. Betancourt-Garcia, 299 Neb. 775 (Neb. 2018) (prior proceedings in the Betancourt-Garcia case)