State v. Dat, 318 Neb. 311

Dilang N. Dat was convicted by a jury of assault by a confined person following an altercation with another inmate, Tilian Tilian, at the Hall County jail.
Dat was represented by appointed counsel, but at pretrial expressed dissatisfaction and made an equivocal request for self-representation, which the court denied, citing involuntariness ("duress").
At trial, the prosecution presented surveillance footage and a corrections officer’s testimony to prove bodily injury, though there was no visible injury to the victim.
Defense counsel sought to subpoena a witness (another corrections officer) during trial, after the statutory deadline for subpoenas, and the court quashed the subpoena as untimely.
Dat raised claims on appeal regarding denial of self-representation, sufficiency of evidence of bodily injury, the quashing of the subpoena and alleged ineffective assistance of counsel.
The Nebraska Supreme Court affirmed the conviction and found no reversible error or abuse of discretion.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Denial of Self-Representation	Dat argued the court violated his right by refusing his waiver	State said Dat’s waiver was not voluntary due to "duress"	No error; waiver was not knowing, voluntary, and intelligent
Sufficiency of Evidence of Bodily Injury	Dat claimed no proof of "bodily injury" absent visible injury	State argued bodily injury includes pain/impairment without marks	Evidence sufficient; visible injury not required
Quashing of Untimely Witness Subpoena	Dat argued there was good cause to shorten service deadline	State argued defense could have subpoenaed witness earlier	No abuse of discretion; untimely subpoena appropriately quashed
Ineffective Assistance (re: subpoena)	Dat claimed prejudice from counsel’s failure to serve subpoena	State argued no prejudice given sufficient evidence	No prejudice; outcome would not have changed

State v. Anderson, 317 Neb. 435 (standard for reviewing evidence sufficiency favoring prosecution)
State v. Warlick, 308 Neb. 656 (standard for determining voluntariness of counsel waiver)
State v. Clark, 315 Neb. 736 (review of ineffective assistance of counsel on direct appeal)
State v. Briggs, 317 Neb. 296 (requirements for raising and reviewing ineffective assistance claims on direct appeal)
State v. Brown, 317 Neb. 273 (evidence may be proved by direct or circumstantial means)