State v. Robinson, 843 N.W.2d 672

Robinson was convicted of first-degree murder, use of a deadly weapon to commit a felony, and possession of a deadly weapon by a felon for the 2001 Daniel Lockett shooting.
Direct appeal affirmed some convictions and vacated the life-without-parole murder sentence, remanding for proper resentence.
Robinson pursued postconviction relief in March 2008, asserting ineffective assistance of trial counsel.
The district court partially denied claims without an evidentiary hearing and granted an evidentiary hearing on other claims.
An evidentiary hearing was held December 11, 2009; the February 18, 2010 order denied remaining postconviction claims after review.
Robinson appealed, but timing issues and clerk-negligence later affected which orders remained within the appeal scope.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Timeliness of appeal from March 16, 2009 order	Robinson sought review of denial without a hearing.	March 16 denial could be appealed; timely appeal required.	Appellate jurisdiction limited; cannot review March 16 denial due to untimely appeal.
Merits of postconviction claims denied after evidentiary hearing	Claims had merit; trial counsel ineffective.	Claims lacked deficient performance or prejudice under Strickland.	District court properly denied postconviction relief after independent review.
Five witnesses and whether counsel deficient for not calling them	Witnesses would have aided defense; prejudice shown.	Counsel's strategic decisions not deficient; no prejudice shown.	No deficient performance or prejudice; no reversible error.
Whether failure to allow Robinson to testify impacted trial fairness	Pretrial strategy deprived him of testimony.	Counsel advised against testifying; decision was strategic.	Not ineffective assistance; did not render trial unfair.
Cumulative error claim	Multiple small errors collectively unfair.	No single or cumulative error undermined integrity of trial.	Cumulative claims did not merit postconviction relief.

State v. Molina, 279 Neb. 405 (2010) (postconviction relief standards and efficacy of counsel principles)
State v. York, 278 Neb. 306 (2009) (standard for postconviction relief and right to appeal)
State v. Robinson, 285 Neb. 394 (2013) (Strickland standard and prejudice analysis in postconviction appeals)
State v. Edwards, 284 Neb. 382 (2012) (independent resolution of questions of law in postconviction appeals)
State v. Timmens, 282 Neb. 787 (2011) (review of mixed questions of law and fact in ineffective assistance claims)
State v. Alfredson, ante p. 477, N.W.2d (2014) (finality of orders denying postconviction relief)
State v. Thomas, 278 Neb. 248 (2009) (trial strategy and effectiveness standard for witnesses)
State v. Lindsay, 246 Neb. 101 (1994) (bench-style evaluation of counsel's witness decisions)