State v. Swartz, 318 Neb. 553

Anthoney E. Swartz was convicted by a jury in Nebraska of first degree sexual assault and false imprisonment involving a 17-year-old (A.S.).
The prosecution introduced evidence of a prior 2018 sexual assault conviction involving a 13-year-old (M.Z.), arguing it demonstrated Swartz’s propensity under Nebraska statute.
Swartz objected to the admission of evidence regarding his prior conviction, contending the incidents were too dissimilar.
Swartz’s counsel also did not object to the admission of a Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (SANE) report documenting A.S.'s statements and examination after the alleged assault, which Swartz asserted was inadmissible hearsay.
On appeal, Swartz argued the district court abused its discretion regarding the prior conviction evidence and that he received ineffective assistance of counsel for the SANE report’s admission.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Admission of prior sexual assault conviction under § 27-414	Swartz: Prior assault with M.Z. was consensual/statutory, not similar or probative for this case.	State: Prior conviction is sufficiently similar and establishes propensity as permitted by statute.	No abuse of discretion; similarities justified admission.
Ineffective assistance for failure to object to SANE report	Swartz: SANE report was inadmissible hearsay; counsel should have objected.	State: Report admissible as business record & for medical diagnosis; objection would have failed.	No ineffective assistance; report admissible under exceptions.

State v. Valverde, 286 Neb. 280 (Neb. 2013) (admissibility of prior sexual assault offenses under § 27-414)
State v. Barnes, 317 Neb. 517 (Neb. 2024) (abuse of discretion standard)
State v. Jedlicka, 297 Neb. 276 (Neb. 2017) (medical diagnosis/treatment hearsay exception for statements to healthcare providers)
State v. Vaught, 268 Neb. 316 (Neb. 2004) (admissibility of victim’s statements to SANE nurses under hearsay exception)