Nebraska residents who are charged with criminal offenses and who must go through trials should be able to trust that they will be treated fairly and all procedures will be properly followed. This should be part and parcel of knowing that a person is always due a fair defense and assumed innocent until proven guilty.
One man in Nebraska recently experienced a full criminal trial for multiple charges involving drugs. However, some may question whether or not he was actually given the due process that he deserves. in fact, the defense team has already lobbied for a new trial in light of the fact that the judge made an error during the original trial. In fact, the judge is reported to have even admitted that he made a mistake during the trial.
Yet, despite owning up to his error, the U.S. District Court judge does not agree that the defendant should be retried. Instead, the judge turned down the request for a new trial and for now the sentencing is set to take place in a few weeks. The error involved the judge's consideration of a prior offense that gave the jury information about the previous offense that they may not otherwise have had. The defense has alleged that this may have caused some bias against the defendant.
People who need to advocate for their rights might want to work with an experienced attorney who fully understands what the law is supposed to provide them.
Source: U.S. News and World Report, "Lincoln Judge Who Made Trial Error Denies a New Trial," May 18, 2017