STATE OF NEBRASKA, APPELLEE, V. JACOB EDWARD DOLINAR, APPELLANT
No. S-24-603
Nebraska Supreme Court
July 25, 2025
319 Neb. 565
BERGEVIN, J.
Nebraska Supreme Court Online Library. Filed July 25, 2025.
- Speedy Trial: Appeal and Error. When reviewing a trial court‘s computation of the time a criminal defendant must be brought to trial under
Neb. Rev. Stat. §§ 29-1207 and29-1208 (Reissue 2016), an appellate court reviews the trial court‘s factual determinations and supporting specific findings pertaining to the exceptions listed in§ 29-1207(4)(a) through (f) for clear error. However, the proper interpretation of§ 29-1207(4) and its application to the undisputed historical facts of a case are questions of law. - Judgments: Statutes: Appeal and Error. When an appeal calls for statutory interpretation or presents questions of law, an appellate court must reach an independent, correct conclusion irrespective of the determination made by the court below.
- Speedy Trial: Appeal and Error. “[T]ried again,” as used in
Neb. Rev. Stat. § 29-1207(3) (Reissue 2016), does not refer to a defendant who has yet to be brought to trial a first time and whose trial has been delayed because of the defendant‘s interlocutory appeal. - Speedy Trial: Waiver: Motions for Continuance. Under
Neb. Rev. Stat. § 29-1207(4)(b) (Reissue 2016), if a defendant requests a continuance that moves a trial date which has been set within the statutory 6-month period to a date that is outside the 6-month period, that request constitutes a permanent waiver of the statutory speedy trial right. - ____: ____: ____. A defendant permanently waives his or her statutory speedy trial rights under
Neb. Rev. Stat. § 29-1207(4)(b) (Reissue 2016) when an ultimately unsuccessful motion for discharge results in the continuance of a timely trial to a date outside the statutory 6-month period, as calculated on the date the motion for discharge was filed. - Judicial Notice: Records. Judicial notice of an adjudicative fact is proper when the adjudicative fact is not subject to reasonable dispute and capable of accurate and ready determination by resort to the files and records of the court.
- Judgments: Words and Phrases. A fact is adjudicative if the fact affects the determination of a controverted issue in litigation.
- Speedy Trial: Records: Judicial Notice. In determining “excludable periods” under
Neb. Rev. Stat. § 29-1207 (Reissue 2016), the trial court may take judicial notice of the files and records of the court. - ____: ____: ____. When the trial court‘s files and records provide the information necessary to calculate the speedy trial deadline, the taking of judicial notice is sufficient evidence to support the court‘s findings as to statutorily excludable periods.
- Speedy Trial: Proof. When a defendant claims that he or she is entitled to absolute discharge under
Neb. Rev. Stat. § 29-1208 (Reissue 2016), the State bears the burden to show, by a preponderance of the evidence, the applicability of one or more of the excluded time periods underNeb. Rev. Stat. § 29-1207(4) (Reissue 2016). - Speedy Trial: Records: Judicial Notice. In satisfying its burden, even when the files and records of the case are judicially noticed, the State should identify and advise the court of each period of delay it asserts is excludable under
Neb. Rev. Stat. § 29-1207(4) (Reissue 2016), including the date and nature of the proceedings, circumstances, or rulings that initiated and concluded each excludable period; the number of days composing each excludable period; and the number of days remaining in which the defendant may be brought to trial after taking into consideration all excludable periods. - Speedy Trial: Complaints: Indictments and Informations. For cases commenced with a complaint in county court but thereafter bound over to district court, the 6-month statutory speedy trial period does not commence until the filing of the information in district court.
- Speedy Trial. The 6-month period within which an accused is to be brought to trial refers to a period of 6 calendar months, not 180 days.
- ____. To calculate the time for speedy trial purposes, a court must exclude the day the period commenced, count forward 6 months, back up 1 day, and then add any time excluded under
Neb. Rev. Stat. § 29-1207(4) (Reissue 2016) to determine the last day the defendant can be tried. The excluded periods are likewise computed by excluding the day of the act, event, or default after which the designated period of time begins to run.
Renee L. Mathias, of Shapiro Riha, L.L.P., for appellant.
Michael T. Hilgers, Attorney General, and Erin E. Tangeman for appellee.
FUNKE, C.J., MILLER-LERMAN, CASSEL, STACY, PAPIK, FREUDENBERG, and BERGEVIN, JJ.
BERGEVIN, J.
INTRODUCTION
Jacob Edward Dolinar appeals from the district court‘s order overruling his motion to discharge
BACKGROUND
The State filed a criminal complaint in the county court against Dolinar that alleged he committed various drug charges. The case was bound over to the district court, and the State filed an information against Dolinar on November 16, 2021. Dolinar waived his right to be arraigned and entered a written plea of not guilty, and the case proceeded.
INTERLOCUTORY APPEAL
Dolinar later withdrew his plea and filed a plea in bar. The district court overruled his plea in bar. Dolinar appealed. On appeal, we affirmed the order of the district court,1 issuing our opinion on September 15, 2023. We issued our mandate on October 16, setting forth that the district court “shall,
ON REMAND
The district court entered its judgment on the mandate on January 31, 2024, and the case proceeded in the district court. On April 9, after a couple of continuances, Dolinar again pleaded not guilty to the information, and the court set the case for trial to occur on June 24. On June 17, Dolinar filed the instant motion for absolute discharge.
MOTION FOR ABSOLUTE DISCHARGE
At the hearing on Dolinar‘s motion for discharge, Dolinar introduced, and the court received without objection, (1) a certified copy of the information filed on November 16, 2021; (2) this court‘s mandate following Dolinar‘s interlocutory appeal, issued on October 16, 2023; and (3) a certified copy of the district court‘s judgment on the mandate, entered on January 31, 2024. Dolinar also requested the court “to take judicial notice of all the pleadings and orders” in the case. The court did so.
The State offered no evidence. After Dolinar took issue with the State‘s submitting argument without introducing any evidence, the State asked the court to “take judicial notice of the pleadings in the file, specifically the Judgment on the Mandate,” which was already received into evidence.
In a written order, the court agreed with Dolinar that
Dolinar filed a timely appeal, and we moved this appeal to our docket on our own motion.3
ASSIGNMENT OF ERROR
Dolinar assigns, restated, that the district court erred in denying his motion for absolute discharge under
STANDARD OF REVIEW
[1,2] When reviewing a trial court‘s computation of the time a criminal defendant must be brought to trial under
ANALYSIS
Dolinar makes three arguments in support of his assigned error. First, he argues that the State‘s sole argument that he was not entitled to discharge relied on a misreading
We discuss each of Dolinar‘s arguments in turn before determining whether the time to bring him to trial had run on the date he filed his motion for absolute discharge.
§ 29-1207(3)
In its appellate brief, the State did not address the argument advanced below that the 6-month period to bring Dolinar to trial provided by
[3] Section 29-1207(3) provides: “If a defendant is to be tried again following a mistrial, an order for a new trial, or an appeal or collateral attack, such period shall commence to run from the date of the mistrial, order granting a new trial, or the mandate on remand.” As we have previously held:
[T]he key words in
§ 29-1207(3) are “tried again.” Given their ordinary meaning, they can only refer to a defendant who has previously been put on trial. “[T]ried again,” as used in§ 29-1207(3) , does not refer to a defendant who has yet to be brought to trial a first time and whose trial has been delayed because of the defendant‘s interlocutory appeal. To conclude otherwise would require us to ignore the plain language of§ 29-1207(3) .8
Because Dolinar has not yet been brought to trial,
§ 29-1207(4) AND MORTENSEN
Dolinar next argues that the district court erroneously applied and extended our decision in Mortensen to his plea in bar and determined that he was “deemed to have waived” his right to a speedy trial under
Mortensen presented our first opportunity to address the then-recent amendment to
went on to consider whether a motion for absolute discharge was a request
[4,5] In the years since Mortensen, we have addressed
However, we have only applied the waiver provision of
PROOF AND EVIDENCE OF EXCLUDABLE PERIODS
Dolinar‘s final argument is that the trial court improperly considered and calculated excludable time from the judicially noticed files and records of the case. He asserts that the relevant motions and rulings in his case needed to be individually marked and introduced into evidence to be considered. Dolinar asserts that “no evidence was incorporated into the Bill of Exceptions through Judicial Notice”16 and that the State “should have marked, identified, and made a part of the record the papers requested to be judicially noticed.”17 Citing In re Estate of Radford,18 he contends the court erred when it “did not identify what
[6,7] Even though we determined that judicial notice was improper in In re Estate of Radford, we recognized that judicial notice of an adjudicative fact is proper when the adjudicative
fact is not subject to reasonable dispute and capable of accurate and ready determination by resort to the files and records of the court.20 A fact is adjudicative if the fact affects the determination of a controverted issue in litigation.21
[8] A claimed denial of statutory speedy trial rights involves a relatively simple mathematical computation of whether the 6-month speedy trial clock, as extended by statutorily excludable periods, has expired prior to the commencement of trial.22
[W]hen ruling on a motion for absolute discharge pursuant to
§ 29-1208 , the trial court shall make specific findings of each period of delay excludable under§ 29-1207(4)(a) to (e), in addition to the findings under§ 29-1207(4)(f) . . . . Such findings shall include the date and nature of the proceedings, circumstances, or rulings which initiated and concluded each excludable period; the number of days composing each excludable period; and the number of days remaining in which the defendant may be brought to trial after taking into consideration all excludable periods.23
We have long held that in determining “excludable periods” under
[9] Here, both Dolinar and the State requested that the court take judicial notice of the files and records in this case. The timeline was uncontroverted, and neither party disputed the accuracy of the relevant facts—nor do they on appeal. In
its order, the court identified the relevant facts from its files and records that it noticed in making its specific findings of the statutorily excluded periods in this case. When the trial court‘s files and records provide the information necessary to calculate the speedy trial deadline, the taking of judicial notice is sufficient evidence to support the court‘s findings as to statutorily excludable periods.25 The court did not err in taking judicial notice of the filings and its orders in this case.
However, we have long recognized that the State has the primary burden of bringing an accused person to trial within the time provided by law.26 The legislative
[10,11] When a defendant claims that he or she is entitled to absolute discharge under
and nature of the proceedings, circumstances, or rulings that initiated and concluded each excludable period; the number of days composing each excludable period; and the number of days remaining in which the defendant may be brought to trial after taking into consideration all excludable periods.
CALCULATION OF TIME TO BE BROUGHT TO TRIAL
Finally, we must determine whether Dolinar is entitled to absolute discharge under
Factual determinations pertaining to the exceptions listed in
[12-14] “Every person indicted or informed against for any offense shall be brought to trial within six months.”33 For cases commenced with a complaint in county court but thereafter bound over to district court, the 6-month statutory speedy trial period does not commence until the filing of the
information in district court.34 The 6-month period within which an accused is to be brought to trial refers to a period of 6 calendar months, not 180 days.35 To calculate the time for
Turning to the record on appeal, the transcript shows the following events relevant to Dolinar‘s motion:
- The State filed a complaint in the county court on October 25, 2021, and the matter was later bound over to the district court. The State filed the information in the district court on November 16. Under
§ 29-1207(1) , on the date the information was filed, Dolinar must have been brought to trial on or before May 16, 2022. - Dolinar filed a motion for discovery on January 6, 2022, which the court sustained on January 11, resulting in 5
- excludable days under
§ 29-1207(4)(a) and extending the time to bring Dolinar to trial to May 21. - On February 14, 2022, the court set the matter for jury trial on April 4.
- Dolinar filed a motion to continue a pretrial hearing on January 19, 2022, which the court sustained on January 20, resulting in 1 excludable day under
§ 29-1207(4)(a) . The hearing was set for January 21 and continued to February 14, resulting in 24 excludable days under§ 29-1207(4)(b) . In total, the time to bring Dolinar to trial was extended to June 15. - Dolinar filed a motion to dismiss on March 24, 2022, which was taken up at the pretrial hearing on March 25, resulting in 1 excludable day under
§ 29-1207(4)(a) and extending the time to bring Dolinar to trial to June 16. The court entered a written order overruling the motion on April 1, resulting in 7 excludable days under§ 29-1207(4)(a) and extending the time to bring Dolinar to trial to June 23. - A journal entry entered on April 1, 2022, shows that at the March 25 pretrial hearing, Dolinar requested a continuance to allow for further discovery. The journal entry reflects that the court continued the jury trial to June 27.
No further events are relevant to our analysis.
At the time of the March 25, 2022, hearing, the statutory 6-month period required that Dolinar be brought to trial by June 16. At the March 25 pretrial hearing, Dolinar requested a continuance that extended the trial date to June 27—a date beyond June 16. Under
Even though the State did not argue below Dolinar‘s deemed waiver under
For completeness, we note that we have long required:
When the district court sets a date for trial, which date is later than the statutory time allowed by section 29-1207 . . . the court shall:
(1) Advise the defendant of his statutory right to a speedy trial and the effect of his [request or] consent to a period of delay, and
(2) Ascertain of record whether the defendant does or does not waive his right to a speedy trial and consent to the trial date set.40
The bill of exceptions in our appellate record contains the verbatim transcript of the March 25, 2022, proceeding. It shows that when Dolinar requested a continuance through his counsel, the court proceeded to advise Dolinar that he had a right to have the matter resolved within 6 months after the filing of the information and that if his requested continuance extended the trial date beyond the 6-month period, that right would be waived. The court then asked Dolinar if he agreed to waive his right to a speedy trial, to which Dolinar answered in the affirmative. Upon further questioning, the court expressly found that Dolinar voluntarily waived his statutory right to a speedy trial. It then set the trial date on a date beyond the statutory period.
The actions taken by the court in scheduling a trial date fully followed our longstanding requisite procedure. The court ensured Dolinar knew of his right and the consequences of waiving it, that he was intelligent as to the information presented to him and the implications of his decision, and that he was voluntarily waiving his statutory right.
At the hearing on Dolinar‘s motion for discharge, the State did not introduce any evidence of Dolinar‘s express waiver or identify any excludable periods. Nevertheless, the judicially noticed files and records of the case show that Dolinar was deemed to have waived his right to a speedy trial under
CONCLUSION
The district court did not err in overruling Dolinar‘s motion for absolute discharge under
AFFIRMED.
