State v. Coomes, 309 Neb. 749

Charges (assault I and assault III) were filed Aug 9, 2018; jury trial Sept 12, 2019 produced a not-guilty on assault III and a mistrial on assault I.
Speedy-trial clock restarted on the Sept 12, 2019 mistrial; without exclusions the State had to retry by Mar 12, 2020.
Multiple continuances followed: Oct 22–Jan 17 (delay attributable to Coomes due to injury); court removed retained counsel (Worthman) and replacement counsel was appointed at the Feb 11, 2020 hearing.
Replacement counsel sought time to review files; the court scheduled status hearings Mar 10 and Apr 7; parties later agreed trial dates (set for Aug 17–18, 2020).
Coomes moved for absolute discharge (Aug 10, 2020); district court denied (Sept 28, 2020), finding 163 excludable days (including Jan 17–Apr 7) and that the State’s speedy-trial deadline had not expired; Coomes appealed and the Nebraska Supreme Court affirmed.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether the court impermissibly shifted burden by asking defense to present evidence first	Court’s procedure was proper; State may rely on evidence in the record	Court required Coomes to present first, shifting burden	No plain error; order of proof did not shift burden and no prejudice shown
Whether the State failed its burden because it offered no evidence at the hearing	State may rely on judicial admissions and evidence offered by defendant	State’s failure to present its own evidence means it did not prove excludable time	State may rely on evidence admitted from defendant; no plain error in relying on that evidence
Whether district court erred in finding "good cause" to exclude time after Jan 17, 2020	Time after Feb 11 was excludable for good cause (new counsel needed time); Apr 7–May 12 also excludable by consent	None of the post–Jan 17 time should be excluded	Jan 17–Feb 11 not excludable; Feb 11–Apr 7 excludable for good cause; Apr 8–May 12 excludable as continuance with defense consent; overall no statutory violation

State v. Jennings, 308 Neb. 835, 957 N.W.2d 143 (2021) (burden of proof on State for exclusions under § 29-1207)
State v. Chapman, 307 Neb. 443, 949 N.W.2d 490 (2020) (method for computing the 6-month speedy-trial period)
State v. Dockery, 273 Neb. 330, 729 N.W.2d 320 (2007) (mistrial restarts speedy-trial clock)
State v. Kolbjornsen, 295 Neb. 231, 888 N.W.2d 153 (2016) (definition of "good cause" as substantial reason)
State v. Lovvorn, 303 Neb. 844, 932 N.W.2d 64 (2019) ("period of delay" synonymous with "period of time")
State v. Mortensen, 287 Neb. 158, 841 N.W.2d 393 (2014) (defendant may waive statutory speedy-trial rights by conduct such as filing motions that delay trial)