Alejandro R. Duarte v. Nebraska
DueProcess
Whether defense counsel's failure to offer medical evidence supporting a self-defense claim constitutes ineffective assistance of counsel, and whether an appellate court can deem an issue waived based solely on a preliminary disclosure statement
I. In a he-said-she*said case involving allegations of physical assault with self-defense being raised as an affirmative defense, is defense counsel ineffective for failing to offer easily attainable medical evidence to support defendant ’s claim that he was physically incapable of doing what he was accused of due to a recent injury and surgery? II. Can an appellate court deem an issue on appeal waived by relying on just the issues disclosed in a preliminary disclosure statement of issues for appeal rather than reviewing the issues that were actually argued by the intermediary appellate court and argued in brief format to that same intermediary appellate court?