29-2521.02 Criminal homicide cases; review and analysis by Supreme Court; manner; judicial notice. - Nebraska Statutes

29-2521.02. Criminal homicide cases; review and analysis by Supreme Court; manner; judicial notice.(1) The Supreme Court shall within a reasonable time after July 22, 1978, review and analyze all cases involving criminal homicide committed on or after April 20, 1973. Such review and analysis shall examine (a) the facts including mitigating and aggravating circumstances, (b) the charges filed, (c) the crime for which defendant was convicted, and (d) the sentence imposed. Such review shall be updated as new criminal homicide cases occur.(2) Following the transmittal of a report of the Nebraska Commission on Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice pursuant to subdivision (7) of section 81-1425 and subsequent reports updating such report, the Supreme Court may take judicial notice of such reports in undertaking the determinations required by sections 29-2521.01 to 29-2521.04. SourceLaws 1978, LB 711, § 2; Laws 2000, LB 1008, § 2. AnnotationsThe proportionality review made under the requirements of this section and sections 29-2521.01 and 29-2521.03 is limited to a comparison of the facts and circumstances of the death penalty-imposed case under review with those of all applicable cases in which the death penalty was imposed. State v. Joubert, 224 Neb. 411, 399 N.W.2d 237 (1986).Supreme Court's review includes only those cases in which the death penalty was imposed. State v. Palmer, 224 Neb. 282, 399 N.W.2d 706 (1986).A literal interpretation of this section would unconstitutionally encroach upon the judicial function. This section will be restricted in application to a review of cases in which the defendant in the district court was convicted of murder in the first degree. State v. Moore, 210 Neb. 457, 316 N.W.2d 33 (1982).Sections 29-2521.01 to 29-2521.03 require the Supreme Court to review cases involving criminal homicides committed on or after April 20, 1973, in which the trial court has imposed a sentence of death. State v. Williams, 205 Neb. 56, 287 N.W.2d 18 (1979).In adopting sections 29-2521.01 to 29-2522, the Legislature intended to establish a procedure whereby the death penalty would be applied uniformly throughout the state. The procedure does not come into play where the death penalty is not imposed. State v. Welsh, 202 Neb. 249, 275 N.W.2d 54 (1979).