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Section 29-119 – Plea agreement; terms, defined

May 13, 2021 | Criminal Procedure, Nebraska

For purposes of this section and sections 23-1201, 29-120, and 29-2261, unless the context otherwise requires:

(1) A plea agreement means that as a result of a discussion between the defense counsel and the prosecuting attorney:

(a) A charge is to be dismissed or reduced; or
(b) A defendant, if he or she pleads guilty to a charge, may receive less than the maximum penalty permitted by law; and
(2)

(a) Victim means a person who has had a personal confrontation with an offender as a result of a homicide under sections 28-302 to 28-306, a first degree assault under section 28-308, a second degree assault under section 28-309, a third degree assault under section 28-310 when the victim is an intimate partner as defined in section 28-323, a first degree false imprisonment under section 28-314, a first degree sexual assault under section 28-319, a sexual assault of a child in the first degree under section 28-319.01, a second or third degree sexual assault under section 28-320, a sexual assault of a child in the second or third degree under section 28-320.01, domestic assault in the first, second, or third degree under section 28-323, or a robbery under section 28-324. Victim also includes a person who has suffered serious bodily injury as defined in section 28-109 as a result of a motor vehicle accident when the driver was charged with a violation of section 60-6,196 or 60-6,197 or with a violation of a city or village ordinance enacted in conformance with either section.
(b) In the case of a homicide, victim means the nearest surviving relative under the law as provided by section 30-2303 but does not include the alleged perpetrator of the homicide.
(c) In the case of a violation of section 28-813.01, 28-1463.03, 28-1463.04, or 28-1463.05, victim means a person who was a child as defined in section 28-1463.02 and a participant or portrayed observer in the visual depiction of sexually explicit conduct which is the subject of the violation and who has been identified and can be reasonably notified.
(d) In the case of a sexual assault of a child, a possession offense of a visual depiction of sexually explicit conduct, or a distribution offense of a visual depiction of sexually explicit conduct, victim means the child victim and the parents, guardians, or duly appointed legal representative of the child victim but does not include the alleged perpetrator of the crime.
(e) Victim also includes a person who was the victim of a theft under section 28-511, 28-512, 28-513, or 28-517 when (i) the value of the thing involved is five thousand dollars or more and (ii) the victim and perpetrator were intimate partners as defined in section 28-323.
(f) Victim also includes a sexual assault victim as defined in section 29-4309.

Neb. Rev. Stat. § 29-119

Laws 1983, LB 78, § 1;
Laws 1990, LB 87, § 2;
Laws 1993, LB 370, § 10;
Laws 1998, LB 309, § 2;
Laws 2004, LB 270, § 3;
Laws 2006, LB 1199, § 11;
Laws 2010, LB 728,§ 8.
Amended by Laws 2020, LB 43,§ 9, eff. 11/14/2020.
Amended by Laws 2019, LB 125,§ 1, eff. 9/1/2019.
Amended by Laws 2018, LB 160,§ 1, eff. 7/19/2018.

Although the victim’s parents, and not the victim’s sister, were statutorily-defined “victims” under this section, the court did not abuse its discretion in allowing the sister to read her impact statement at sentencing where the parents were elderly, lived out of state, and did not want to participate in the resentencing. State v. Thieszen, 300 Neb. 112, 912 N.W.2d 696 (2018).