State v. Jaeger, 311 Neb. 69

Background

School computer technician found hundreds of child-pornography images/videos on Roger Jaeger’s laptop; law enforcement executed a search, interviewed Jaeger at school, and the police report states he was Mirandized before questioning.
Jaeger pleaded no contest to four counts of possession of child pornography pursuant to a plea agreement; the court ordered a presentence investigation (PSI) and psychosexual evaluation and later sentenced him to concurrent 10–20 year terms and sex-offender registration.
Jaeger’s direct appeal (raised by trial counsel) challenged sentence as excessive and was summarily affirmed by the Court of Appeals.
Jaeger, pro se, filed a verified postconviction motion alleging multiple instances of ineffective assistance of counsel (failure to investigate Miranda timing, coercive advice about possible federal prosecution, failure to move to recuse the judge, sentencing advocacy failures, appellate-counsel failures) and a Fifth Amendment challenge to use of PSI/psychosexual statements at sentencing.
The district court denied the motion without an evidentiary hearing, treating an additional unverified response by Jaeger as nonoperative; Jaeger appealed to the Nebraska Supreme Court, which affirmed.

Issues

Issue	Jaeger’s Argument	State/Defense Argument	Held
Whether an evidentiary hearing was required on counsel’s alleged failure to investigate timing of Miranda advisement	Counsel failed to investigate and would have moved to suppress; but for the failure Jaeger would not have pled	Motion lacked specific facts showing custodial interrogation or that suppression would succeed; conclusory claims insufficient	Denied: no evidentiary hearing warranted—motion too vague and did not allege facts showing Miranda applied or suppression was meritorious
Whether plea was involuntary due to counsel’s advice about possible federal prosecution (and thus ineffective assistance)	Counsel misled/coerced Jaeger by saying case could go federal or more charges if plea rejected	Advice that federal prosecution was possible is not illegal; Jaeger alleged no factual showing counsel’s advice was outside competent range	Denied: plea not shown involuntary; allegations insufficient to show deficient performance
Whether counsel was ineffective for failing to move to recuse the trial judge	Counsel refused to pursue recusal despite alleged patterns of bias by the judge	Alleged facts (rulings, administrative actions) do not show objective bias; judicial rulings alone rarely suffice	Denied: allegations fail to overcome presumption of judicial impartiality; no deficiency in not moving to recuse
Whether counsel was ineffective at sentencing (poor advocacy, misstatements, failing to object to shackling) and whether the court violated Fifth Amendment by using PSI/psychosexual statements	Counsel misadvocated and knew Jaeger would receive prison; PSI/psychosexual statements violated Fifth Amendment	Record shows active advocacy for probation; sentencing claims could have been raised on direct appeal; Fifth Amendment claim not pled as ineffective assistance and is procedurally barred	Denied: record refutes lack of advocacy; sentencing errors either procedurally barred or insufficiently alleged
Whether counsel on direct appeal was ineffective for not consulting Jaeger or raising requested issues	Appellate counsel excluded Jaeger’s input and ignored issues Jaeger wanted raised	Jones v. Barnes allows counsel to select issues; Jaeger did not specify which omitted issues were meritorious	Denied: unsupported, conclusory allegations; failure to identify specific omitted issues defeats claim

Key Cases Cited

State v. Munoz, 309 Neb. 285 (standard for de novo review of denials without evidentiary hearing)
State v. Britt, 310 Neb. 69 (postconviction motion must contain factual allegations that, if proved, show constitutional infringement)
State v. Henderson, 301 Neb. 633 (postconviction allegations must be sufficiently specific)
Jones v. Barnes, 463 U.S. 745 (1983) (appellate counsel not required to raise every nonfrivolous issue)
State v. Thorpe, 290 Neb. 149 (2015) (operative verified postconviction motion controls; other filings cannot substitute)
State v. Abdulkadir, 293 Neb. 560 (ineffective-assistance standard: deficient performance and prejudice)
State v. Reames, 308 Neb. 361 (when same counsel at trial and on direct appeal, postconviction is first opportunity to raise trial counsel ineffectiveness)
State v. Dean, 264 Neb. 42 (2002) (conclusory claims that fail to identify specific omitted appellate issues do not warrant an evidentiary hearing)