State v. Stubbendieck, 924 N.W.2d 711

On August 5, 2017, Matthew J. Stubbendieck led deputies to the body of his girlfriend, Alicia Wilemon-Sullivan, found in a remote wooded quarry; the body showed wrist cuts and a knife, and Stubbendieck’s boxer briefs were nearby.
Texts recovered from Sullivan and Stubbendieck showed persistent suicidal ideation and a plan for Sullivan to travel to Nebraska to die “in [his] arms,” with Stubbendieck encouraging her to come.
Witnesses testified Stubbendieck sought liquid morphine or heroin to make Sullivan more comfortable; coworkers and a romantic acquaintance corroborated he discussed obtaining morphine and "put[ting] her to sleep."
Stubbendieck admitted at the scene that he twice covered Sullivan’s nose and mouth in attempts to suffocate her and left her alive but later returned and found her deceased.
Autopsy by Dr. Michelle Elieff showed moderate decomposition, wrist cuts, no traumatic injuries, morphine (at levels within some fatal ranges) plus other substances; cause and manner were ruled "undetermined," with asphyxia, drugs, or hypothermia not excluded.
Stubbendieck was tried and convicted of assisting suicide (Neb. Rev. Stat. § 28-307) and sentenced to probation; he appealed arguing (1) erroneous admission of autopsy testimony and certain text messages and (2) insufficient evidence to sustain the conviction.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument (State)	Defendant's Argument (Stubbendieck)	Held
Admissibility of pathologist Elieff's testimony/autopsy findings	Testimony and autopsy findings were relevant to whether defendant aided in suicide and probative of presence of morphine and other contributing factors	Testimony was irrelevant and unfairly prejudicial because Elieff could not determine cause/manner of death, leaving jurors to speculate	Admissible — court did not abuse discretion; probative value outweighed risk of unfair prejudice
Admissibility of text messages between Stubbendieck and Timbs	Messages corroborated Timbs, showed motive, planning, and connection to the death scene (Lake Acapulco)	Romantic messages were irrelevant and unfairly prejudicial, tending to impugn character	Admissible — relevant to motive, plan, and corroboration; not unfairly prejudicial
Sufficiency of evidence to prove assisting suicide (aiding/abetting)	Evidence (texts, attempts to obtain morphine, admissions, and admitted attempts to suffocate) established words/acts sufficient to aid and abet suicide	Acts amounted at most to passive acquiescence; autopsy was inconclusive so corpus delicti not established beyond reasonable doubt	Guilty verdict upheld — viewed most favorably to State, a rational trier of fact could find aiding/abetting beyond a reasonable doubt

State v. White, 272 Neb. 421, 722 N.W.2d 343 (admissibility and relevance principles)
State v. Juranek, 287 Neb. 846, 844 N.W.2d 791 (standards for expert and evidentiary review)
State v. Henderson, 289 Neb. 271, 854 N.W.2d 616 (abuse of discretion in evidentiary rulings)
State v. Baldwin, 283 Neb. 678, 811 N.W.2d 267 (§ 27-403 balancing and unfair prejudice)
Old Chief v. United States, 519 U.S. 172 (probative power of concrete evidence and jury narrative)
State v. Leonor, 263 Neb. 86, 638 N.W.2d 798 (aiding and abetting principles)
State v. Abdulkadir, 286 Neb. 417, 837 N.W.2d 510 (limit on tactical stipulations and evidentiary context)
State v. Tucker, 301 Neb. 856, 920 N.W.2d 680 (definition of unfair prejudice under § 27-403)