Nebraska Plea-Based Convictions Practice: A Primer and Commentary

I. Introduction II. Appellate Justice and the Precipitation of United States Supreme Court Activity ... A. Federalization of Constitutional Criminal Procedure: Denial of the Right to Counsel and the Fundamental Fairness Approach ... B. Right to Counsel Cases ... C. General Validity of Plea-Based Convictions under United States Supreme Court Cases ... 1. Voluntariness of Pleas ... 2. Paper Trail Requisite to Presumptive Voluntariness of Pleas ... 3. Other Considerations in Plea-Based Convictions ... III. Effect of Pleading Guilty or No Contest in Nebraska ... A. General Rules ... B. Defenses Not Waived by Plea of Guilty and No Contest ... 1. Subject Matter Jurisdiction—Insufficiency of Charging Instrument ... 2. Subject Matter Jurisdiction—Venue Problems ... 3. Subject Matter Jurisdiction—Statute of Limitations Problems ... 4. Miscellaneous Defenses Not Waived ... IV. Validity of Plea on Direct Appeal ... V. Sufficiency of the Record VI. Personally Addressing the Defendant ... A. Competence to Plead ... B. Written Pleas ... C. Group Arraignments ... D. Grouping of Rights ... E. Sentence Recommendations VII. Required Information for the Accused ... A. Nature of the Charge ... B. Possible Penalties ... C. The Right to Assistance of Counsel ... D. The Right to a Jury Trial ... E. The Right of Confrontation ... F. The Privilege against Compulsory Self-Incrimination ... G. The Factual Basis for the Plea VIII. The Plea Itself and Findings on the Plea IX. Validity of Prior Convictions for Enhanced Sentences and in Proving Elements of New Offenses ... A. Sentence Enhancements ... B. Factual Basis ... C. Burdens of Proof ... D. Sufficiency of the Record ... E. Application of Enhancement Rules ... F. Application of Collateral Estoppel and Res Judicata ... G. The Rise of Separate Proceedings Challenging Prior Convictions ... H. The Decline of Separate Proceedings Challenging Prior Convictions X. Elements of New Offenses XI. Conclusio