State v. Kruger

Summary

The Nebraska Supreme Court affirmed Joseph Kruger’s convictions for first-degree murder and use of a deadly weapon to commit a felony. It held that the district court acted within its discretion by limiting evidence of the victim’s prior abuse, properly refused an unintentional-manslaughter instruction because the evidence and first-degree-murder verdict required an intent-to-kill theory, and found sufficient evidence to support the convictions. Most ineffective-assistance claims were either conclusively refuted by the record, insufficiently assigned or argued, or not resolvable on direct appeal.