County of Sarpy v. City of Gretna

Summary

The Supreme Court of Nebraska held that Sarpy County waived its request for an accounting by failing to challenge the district court’s finding of no damages in an earlier appeal. The court concluded that its prior mandate, which addressed only the validity of Gretna’s annexation ordinances, did not permit the district court to reconsider the accounting issue on remand. The court affirmed the district court’s judgment.

Holdings

1. The district court could not consider the accounting issue because the mandate in Sarpy II was limited to entering judgment consistent with the opinion, which addressed only the validity of Gretna's annexations.
2. Sarpy County waived the accounting issue by failing to assign error in Sarpy II to the district court's finding that it had not proved damages; that finding therefore became the law of the case and could not be relitigated on remand.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the district court's failure to address Sarpy County's motion for an accounting violated the scope of the Supreme Court's mandate in Sarpy II.
2. Whether Sarpy County waived its accounting and damages claims by failing to assign error in Sarpy II to the district court's finding that it had not proved damages.

Disposition

affirmed