By Timberly Ross
Associated Press Writer
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) -- The death-row inmate who prompted a change in Nebraska's method of execution will ask the state Supreme Court to expand a law that allows for court-appointed attorneys in some inmate appeals.
Raymond Mata Jr., 37, argues in his appeal that he's entitled to a court-appointed attorney because he's on death row, considered indigent and seeks to raise constitutional issues in his 2000 conviction for the killing of a Scottsbluff boy.
Mata's appeal asks the high court to expand the Nebraska Postconviction Act, which leaves it up to the district court to decide whether to appoint counsel for post-conviction relief actions, a type of appeal. He urges the court to require court-appointed attorneys for cases like his so "condemned inmates will receive the full benefit of the fundamental guarantees of the Nebraska Constitution."
But attorneys for the state say in court filings that there is no state or federal law that requires court-appointed attorneys for inmates for post-conviction relief, and that it's not up to the court to make those appointments a requirement.
"If the appointment of counsel in postconviction cases is to become mandatory, that is a decision for the Nebraska Legislature to make," the state says.
The high court will hear arguments on Oct. 8.
Mata was convicted of first-degree murder, felony murder and kidnapping for the March 1999 kidnapping and killing of 3-year-old Adam Gomez of Scottsbluff. The boy was the son of Mata's former girlfriend.
Parts of the boy's body were found in a freezer and dog bowl at Mata's home. Bone fragments also were recovered from the stomach of Mata's dog.
Mata was sentenced to death.
He's appealed his case to the state Supreme Court at least four other times. In 2008, the high court, ruling on a Mata appeal, threw out the electric chair as Nebraska's sole means of execution. The court said in its opinion that electrocution is cruel and unusual punishment. Lethal injection has since been approved to replace it.
In February, the high court refused to consider commuting Mata's sentence to life in prison because of a change in execution methods.
His latest appeal stems from his request for post-conviction relief pending in Scotts Bluff County District Court. Mata argued in court filings that his sentence should be commuted to life, that jurors shouldn't have been able to listen to audio of his statements during deliberations and that his attorney was ineffective, among other things.
Mata asked the court to appoint an attorney to help with his case, but District Judge Leo Dobrovolny declined. Mata appealed that decision -- along with the denial of an evidentiary hearing that ended the appeal -- and the state Supreme Court urged the judge to reconsider.
A March 10 order from Chief Justice Mike Heavican said that while the Nebraska Postconviction Act leaves it to the discretion of the judge to appoint attorneys for appeals, previous court rulings have set a precedent for such appointments in death penalty cases.
Dobrovolny then agreed to appoint a public defender for Mata, but stipulated the attorney was only to help with Mata's appeal of the dismissal of the post-conviction case.
"The initial decision of the trial court to deny Mr. Mata counsel leads to deprivation of any meaningful ability to amend his pleadings," Mata's appeal says. "In addition, Mr. Mata is entitled to only one motion for post-conviction relief in the Nebraska judicial system. In other words, it is now or never for Mr. Mata to exercise his fundamental rights under the Nebraska Constitution."
Published: Tue, Sep 28, 2010
