Summary
The Nebraska Supreme Court dismissed Shane R. Melton’s consolidated criminal appeals for lack of jurisdiction. The court held that, for purposes of appeal, a criminal judgment is entered when the signed sentencing order is file stamped by the clerk, and that a timely notice of appeal must be accompanied by a timely poverty affidavit when proceeding in forma pauperis. The court further held that an unauthorized motion to modify a criminal sentence is a legal nullity and does not toll the appeal period or create an independently appealable order.
Topics
Practice areas
Questions Presented
- When does entry of judgment occur in a Nebraska criminal case for purposes of commencing the time to appeal when sentence is pronounced on one date and the written sentencing order is file stamped on a later date?
- Whether Melton perfected his appeals by filing notices of appeal and requests to proceed in forma pauperis within 30 days of entry of judgment but filing the poverty affidavits after that period.
- Whether an unauthorized motion to modify a criminal sentence tolls the time for appeal or creates a separately appealable order.
Holdings
- For purposes of appealing a criminal judgment, the sentence is the judgment, but entry of that judgment occurs when the signed sentencing order is file stamped by the clerk. The appeal period therefore begins on the date the clerk file stamps the sentencing order, not on the date sentence is pronounced in open court.
- An in forma pauperis criminal appeal is perfected only when the appellant timely files both a notice of appeal and a proper poverty affidavit within the period in which the docket fee otherwise must be deposited.
- A motion to modify a criminal sentence that is not authorized by Nebraska criminal procedure is a procedural and legal nullity; it does not toll the time for appealing the criminal judgment, and an order adjudicating the motion presents nothing for appellate review.
Key quotations
“The entry of judgment in Melton’s criminal cases occurred on November 12, 2019—the date on which the signed sentencing orders were file stamped by the clerk of the district court.” (167)
“When a criminal defendant files a motion that is not authorized and therefore is unavailable under Nebraska criminal procedure, the motion is a procedural and legal nullity, and any court order adjudicating such a motion presents nothing for appellate review.” (168)
Factual background
Following a series of motor vehicle thefts and high-speed police chases, eight criminal cases were filed against Melton. Under a plea agreement, three cases were dismissed and Melton entered no contest pleas in the remaining five cases, resulting in seven felony convictions. The district court pronounced prison sentences on October 28, 2019, and signed sentencing orders were file stamped on November 12, 2019. After learning that the judge may have intended all sentences to run concurrently, counsel sent a letter seeking sentence modification; the court treated the letter as a motion and denied it.
Procedural history
After pleading no contest in five criminal cases and receiving sentences on October 28, 2019, Melton's counsel sent the sentencing judge a letter seeking modification of the sentences. The district court treated the letter as a formal motion to modify and denied it on November 21, 2019. Melton filed notices of appeal and requests to proceed in forma pauperis on November 26, but did not file notarized poverty affidavits until December 16. The Nebraska Court of Appeals consolidated the appeals, and the Nebraska Supreme Court granted a petition to bypass.