State v. Matteson
| Decision Date | 10 February 2023 |
| Docket Number | S-21-484 |
| Citation | 313 Neb. 435 |
| Parties | State of Nebraska, appellee, v. Dale Matteson, appellant. |
| Court | Nebraska Supreme Court |
1. Constitutional Law: Statutes: Judgments: Appeal and Error. The constitutionality and construction of statutes are questions of law, regarding which appellate courts are obligated to reach conclusions independent of those reached by the court below.
2. Constitutional Law: Criminal Law: Statutes. The first step in assessing a void-for-vagueness challenge is to identify and interpret the allegedly vague statutory terms. Only once a court determines what a penal statute means can it decide whether the statutory language, correctly interpreted, is so indefinite as to be unconstitutionally vague.
3. Criminal Law: Convictions: Evidence: Appeal and Error. When reviewing a criminal conviction for sufficiency of the evidence to sustain the conviction, the relevant question for an appellate court is whether, after viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecution, any rational trier of fact could have found the essential elements of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt.
4. Proximate Cause: Proof. Three basic requirements must be met in establishing proximate cause: (1) that without the misconduct, the injury would not have occurred, commonly known as the "but for" rule; (2) that the injury was the natural and probable result of the misconduct; and (3) that there was no efficient intervening cause.
5. Criminal Law: Proximate Cause: Words and Phrases. An efficient intervening cause is a new and independent cause, itself a proximate cause of a death, which breaks the causal connection between the original illegal act and the death.
6. Jury Instructions. Whether jury instructions given by a trial court are correct is a question of law.
7. Judgments: Appeal and Error. On a question of law, an appellate court is obligated to reach a conclusion independent of the determination reached by the court below.
8. Criminal Law: Jury Instructions. If there is an applicable instruction in the Nebraska Jury Instructions the court should usually give this instruction to the jury in a criminal case.
9. Rules of Evidence: Other Acts: Appeal and Error. Whether evidence is admissible for any proper purpose under the rule governing admissibility of evidence of other crimes, wrongs, or acts rests within the discretion of the trial court, and the trial court's decision is reviewed for abuse of discretion.
10. ___: ___: ___. An appellate court's analysis under Neb Rev. Stat. § 27-404(2) (Reissue 2016) considers (1) whether the evidence was relevant for some purpose other than to prove the character of a person to show that he or she acted in conformity therewith; (2) whether the probative value of the evidence is substantially outweighed by its potential for unfair prejudice; and (3) whether the trial court, if requested, instructed the jury to consider the evidence only for the limited purpose for which it was admitted.
11. Trial: Convictions: Evidence. Where the evidence is cumulative and there is other competent evidence to support the conviction, the improper admission or exclusion of evidence is harmless beyond a reasonable doubt.
12. Rules of Evidence: Appeal and Error. An appellate court reviews rulings under the residual hearsay exception for abuse of discretion.
13. Rules of Evidence: Hearsay: Proof. Under the plain text of Neb. Rev. Stat. § 27-803(24) (Cum. Supp 2022), a trial court does not weigh the criteria set forth in the rule as part of some sort of balancing test. Rather, the text provides that a hearsay statement must satisfy each of five statutory requirements before it can be admitted.
Appeal from the District Court for Madison County: Mark A. Johnson Judge. Affirmed.
Michael J. Wilson, of Berry Law Firm, for appellant.
Douglas J. Peterson, Attorney General, and Kimberly A. Klein for appellee.
The State charged Dale Matteson with attempted incest and intentional child abuse resulting in death, in violation of Neb. Rev. Stat. § 28-707(1)(a) and (8) (Reissue 2016). The theory of the State's case was that Matteson sexually propositioned his daughter, Z.M., which traumatized Z.M. and prompted her to commit suicide. Matteson entered a guilty plea to the attempted incest charge, and a jury found him guilty of intentional child abuse resulting in death. Matteson appeals the intentional child abuse resulting in death conviction. He argues that § 28-707(1)(a) and (8) are unconstitutionally vague as applied in this case, that the evidence was insufficient to sustain a conviction, and that the district court committed several reversible evidentiary errors. We affirm.
In October 2013, Matteson moved out of the home in which he had been living with his then-wife and their biological daughter, Z.M. Approximately a year later, Z.M. expressed an interest in having a relationship with Matteson and began to visit him at his house. After one such visit in September 2015, when Z.M. was 12 or 13 years old, Z.M. returned to her mother's house crying. She reported that Matteson was molesting her. Z.M.'s mother sought medical attention.
Z.M. was thereafter interviewed in the child advocacy center of a hospital, a unit designed to help children who have been exposed to traumatic abuse. During that forensic interview, Z.M. described how Matteson would rub her bare chest and put his hands inside her pants when they were alone together. Z.M. also described waking up with a sore vaginal area on occasion. Z.M. reported that the assaults occurred "numerous times" in the previous year-"possibly 40 to 50 times."
Z.M. subsequently underwent counseling and again reported that she was sexually abused by Matteson during visitation. Z.M. remained in counseling until approximately November 2016. Z.M.'s counselor instructed her mother to keep her away from Matte son.
Despite the instructions of Z.M.'s counselor, Z.M.'s mother allowed Z.M. to see Matteson in December 2016. Matteson had asked to give Christmas presents to Z.M., her mother, and her sister. Z.M.'s mother met Matteson to receive the presents; Z.M. was in the passenger seat of her mother's car. After briefly seeing Matteson during that exchange, Z.M. became depressed and started having "nightmares of being raped."
In February 2017, Z.M. attempted suicide by taking "a couple handfuls" of her mother's prescription steroid pills. She was rushed to an emergency room, where she reported that she took her mother's medication because "her father sexually abused her and she was trying to commit suicide."
Z.M.'s mother informed Matteson of Z.M.'s suicide attempt and hospitalization at that time. She also relayed to Matteson that Z.M. reported being depressed and attempting suicide "because of the sexual abuse that he had done to her."
In 2019, Z.M., then 17 years old, expressed a desire to her mother to reunify with Matteson. Z.M.'s mother allowed a reunification to occur.
On July 17, 2019, Matteson approached Z.M. in his apartment completely naked and propositioned her. Matteson told Z.M. that "one night God told him that it was okay for them to have a relationship," that she was "ready" because she touched his penis when she was a "little girl," and that he "could teach her things that guys her age couldn't." Matteson also said that "sex shouldn't be difficult, and that if you have any urges to have sex with somebody, you shouldn't stop those urges." Z.M. went to her bedroom, locked the door, and cried.
Z.M. later reported these details to her mother. Her mother contacted law enforcement, and Matteson was arrested the next day.
Z.M.'s mental and physical health declined following the July 17, 2019, incident. She rarely slept and had nightmares when she did. She felt anxious, rarely ate, and devoted little attention to her appearance.
On September 5, 2019, Z.M. reported suicidal thoughts to her mother. Her mother took her to a medical clinic. At the clinic, Z.M. reported that she was having suicidal thoughts and that she could not get the image of her naked father out of her head. At the recommendation of the medical provider at the clinic, Z.M.'s mother then took her to the emergency room. When asked by the emergency room physician about why she wanted to commit suicide, Z.M. identified several causes of stress, but reported that "the most predominant one was the attempted incestuous relationship recently that had happened between her and her biological father." The emergency room physician described Z.M. at that time as "very depressed'' and unable to "think about much else." Z.M. was referred to another hospital, where she remained until she was discharged on September 9.
On the morning of September 18, 2019, Z.M. purchased pills from a discount store. She was found deceased in a locked car on September 20. Two bottles of generic Benadryl, a handwritten journal, and suicide notes were found inside the car. Poisoning from Benadryl was determined to be the cause of death.
The State charged Matteson with attempted incest and intentional child abuse resulting in death. Matteson entered a plea of guilty to attempted incest. During the plea hearing, Matteson made the following statement.
On or about July 17th of 2019, I had a conversation with my daughter, [Z.M.], and made ill-advised comments or statements in [an] attempt to commit incest, and from [313 Neb. 440] that point on, I think I can't tell you enough how deeply remorseful and regrettable that was for me and for her. The district court accepted...
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