State v. Artis ( 2017 )

Nebraska Supreme Court Online Library
www.nebraska.gov/apps-courts-epub/
07/21/2017 12:11 AM CDT
- 606 -
Nebraska Supreme Court A dvance Sheets
296 Nebraska R eports
STATE v. ARTIS
Cite as 296 Neb. 606
State of Nebraska, appellee, v.
Tareik Q. A rtis, appellant.
___ N.W.2d ___
Filed May 5, 2017. No. S-16-464.
supplemental opinion
Appeal from the District Court for Lancaster County: Lori
A. M aret, Judge. Supplemental opinion: Former opinion
modified. Motion for rehearing overruled.
Robert Wm. Chapin, Jr., for appellant.
Douglas J. Peterson, Attorney General, Sarah E. Marfisi,
and Nathan A. Liss for appellee.
Heavican, C.J., Wright, Miller-Lerman, Cassel, Stacy,
K elch, and Funke, JJ.
Per Curiam.
Case No. S-16-464 is before this court on the appel-
lee’s motion for rehearing concerning our opinion in State v.
Artis.1 We overrule the motion, but we modify the original
opinion as follows: In the section entitled “V. ANALYSIS,”
under subheading “2. Plain Error,” subsection “(a) Artis’
Sentence Is Indeterminate,” we withdraw the third and fourth
sentences of the single paragraph of that subsection, which
now reads:
1
State v. Artis, ante p. 172, ___ N.W.2d ___ (2017).
- 607 -
Nebraska Supreme Court A dvance Sheets
296 Nebraska R eports
STATE v. ARTIS
Cite as 296 Neb. 606
(a) Artis’ Sentence
Is Indeterminate
[9-12] The State has mischaracterized Artis’ sentence
of “not less than 2 years, nor more than 2 years” as a
determinate sentence. A determinate sentence is imposed
when the defendant is sentenced to a single term of years,
such as a sentence of 2 years’ imprisonment. See State v.
White, 256 Neb. 536, 590 N.W.2d 863 (1999). In contrast,
when imposing an indeterminate sentence, a sentencing
court ordinarily articulates either a minimum term and
maximum term or a range of time for which a defendant
is to be incarcerated. Neb. Rev. Stat. § 28-105 (Reissue
2016); State v. White, supra. In Nebraska, the fact that the
minimum term and maximum term of a sentence are the
same does not affect the sentence’s status as an indeter-
minate sentence. See, State v. Marrs, 272 Neb. 573, 723
N.W.2d 499 (2006); State v. Urbano, 256 Neb. 194, 589
N.W.2d 144 (1999). Thus, we conclude that Artis’ sen-
tence for his Class IV felony is an indeterminate sentence
in which the minimum and maximum terms are the same.
Such sentence complies with L.B. 1094’s requirement that
the court impose an indeterminate sentence for a Class IV
felony when that sentence is imposed consecutively with
a Class IIA felony, and we therefore find no plain error in
this regard.2
The remainder of the opinion shall remain unmodified.
Former opinion modified.
Motion for rehearing overruled.
2
Id. at 179-80, ___ N.W.2d at ___.