State v. Case, 937 N.W.2d 216

Trevor S. Case, an inmate in the Lancaster County Jail, was charged with Class IIIA felony assault by a confined person after a Feb. 16, 2018 fight with cellmate Kenneth Burley.
Surveillance video showed Case leave his cell and approach Burley; correctional staff intervened and both were restrained; Burley suffered visible injuries.
A jail telephone recording made Feb. 19, 2018 (admitted at trial) included Case saying, “I went for him.”
At trial Case testified he approached to confront Burley about tapping his cell door, claimed Burley made a threatening jab, and asserted self-defense; the State presented witnesses and the video contradicting that Case was forced to remain in his cell.
Case objected to admission of the phone recording as a late discovery disclosure under Neb. Rev. Stat. § 29-1912; the court overruled the objection and Case did not request a continuance.
The court refused Case’s proposed self-defense instruction; a jury convicted Case and he was sentenced to 365 days’ jail plus 12 months postrelease supervision. Case appealed.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Refusal to give self-defense instruction	Court should refuse instruction because Case left his cell and initiated the confrontation, so he unjustifiably placed himself in harm’s way	Case argued any evidence of self-defense requires an instruction (he was threatened; Burley made a jab)	Instruction properly refused; evidence did not support a legally cognizable theory of self-defense because Case initiated contact
Admission of jail phone recording (discovery)	Recording either not subject to §29-1912 or, if belatedly disclosed, remedy was a continuance not exclusion	Recording was produced the day before trial in violation of discovery and should have been excluded	No reversible error — Case waived remedy by not requesting a continuance after the court overruled his objection
Sufficiency of evidence to convict	Video, witness testimony (Burley, officers), and Case’s own statement support that he intentionally/knowingly/recklessly caused bodily injury	Case contended he acted in self-defense and lacked culpable intent	Evidence sufficient; viewing evidence most favorably to State a rational jury could find elements beyond a reasonable doubt

State v. Bigelow, 303 Neb. 729, 931 N.W.2d 842 (2019) (jury-instruction standards and independent appellate review)
State v. Kinser, 252 Neb. 600, 567 N.W.2d 287 (1997) (trial court must give self-defense instruction only when there is any evidence supporting a legally cognizable theory of self-defense)
State v. Urbano, 256 Neb. 194, 589 N.W.2d 144 (1999) (placing oneself unjustifiably in harm’s way can negate a lawful claim of self-defense)
State v. Marshall, 253 Neb. 676, 573 N.W.2d 406 (1998) (voluntarily confronting others when one could avoid danger undermines self-defense)
State v. Smith, 284 Neb. 636, 822 N.W.2d 401 (2012) (self-defense is an affirmative statutory defense requiring reasonable good-faith belief and immediate necessity)
State v. Stubbendieck, 302 Neb. 702, 924 N.W.2d 711 (2019) (standard for appellate review of sufficiency of evidence)