S-23-0513 State of Nebraska (Appellee) v. William Zitterkopf (Appellant)
Appeal from the District Court for Scotts Bluff County, Judge Leo Dobrovolny
Attorneys: Michael J. Wilson (Berry Law Firm for Appellant) and Austin N. Relph (Asst. Attorney General for Appellee)
Criminal: Distribution of an Intimate Image
Proceedings below: A jury found Appellant guilty of distributing or publishing intimate photographs. Appellant was fined, sentenced to forty-five (45) days in jail, and was placed on probation for three (3) years. The Nebraska Supreme Court ordered this case to be transferred from the docket of the Nebraska Court of Appeals to its docket.
Issues: Appellant makes the following assignments of error: 1) The trial court erred in overruling Appellant’s Motion to Quash the count charging unlawful distribution of an intimate image because Neb. Rev. Stat. § 28-311.08(3) is overbroad on its face and unconstitutional under the First and Fourteenth Amendments to United States Constitution and Article I, § 5 of the Nebraska Constitution; 2) Appellant received prejudicial ineffective assistance of trial counsel when trial counsel repeatedly failed to object to Officer Andrew Soucie’s hearsay testimony as to out-of-court statements L.E. allegedly made to him regarding the purported nonconsensual nature of the video recording and distribution; and 3) Appellant received prejudicial ineffective assistance of trial counsel when trial counsel failed to present the testimony of Zitterkopf and his cousin, James Zitterkopf, supporting a finding that L.E. consented to the recording.