State v. Jennings, A-17-024

On June 9, 2016, police responded to a report of tools stolen from a rental property; the next day officers stopped a vehicle driven by Allen R. Jennings, Sr., and recovered tools identified by the victim.
Jennings was charged by amended information with attempted burglary (Class IIIA felony) and operating a motor vehicle during a revocation period (Class IV felony).
Jennings pleaded guilty to both counts and the district court accepted the pleas after canvass and factual basis.
The district court sentenced Jennings to 3 to 3 years imprisonment plus 18 months postrelease supervision for attempted burglary, and 2 to 2 years imprisonment plus 12 months postrelease supervision for the vehicle offense, with terms to run consecutively.
On appeal the only assignment of error was that the sentences were excessive; the Court of Appeals instead found the sentences invalid as indeterminate in light of statutory sentencing changes and also noted the court failed to include a 15-year license revocation required by statute for the vehicle offense.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether the court abused its discretion by imposing the challenged sentences	Jennings: sentence is excessive (argues district court abused discretion)	State: sentences were within statutory ranges under § 28-105	Court: did not reach abuse-of-discretion argument; vacated sentences because they were invalid under § 29-2204.02 (indeterminate sentences were not permitted)
Whether Jennings’s sentences were invalid as indeterminate despite identical minimum and maximum terms	Jennings: not argued separately	State: not directly argued; sentencing form used ranges of same min/max	Court: a sentence phrased as "not less than X nor more than X" is an indeterminate sentence and § 29-2204.02 requires determinate sentences for Class III/IIIA/IV felonies; thus sentences invalid
Whether the failure to order 15‑year license revocation was error	Not argued by Jennings	State: requirement exists in § 60-6,197.06	Court: district court failed to revoke license for 15 years as required; remand for resentencing must include this revocation
Remedy when sentence is contrary to statutory authority	Jennings seeks resentencing	State: discretion to remand for lawful sentence	Court: vacated sentences and remanded for resentencing consistent with § 28-105, § 29-2204.02, and § 60-6,197.06

State v. Artis, 296 Neb. 606 (Supreme Court of Nebraska) (explains that a sentence phrased as a minimum and maximum, even if identical, is an indeterminate sentence)
State v. Artis, 296 Neb. 172 (Supreme Court of Nebraska) (same principle reaffirmed regarding indeterminate sentences)
State v. Frederick, 291 Neb. 243 (Supreme Court of Nebraska) (court may remand for imposition of a lawful sentence on direct appeal)
State v. Kantaras, 294 Neb. 960 (Supreme Court of Nebraska) (plain error standard for correcting obvious trial error)