Nebraska Statutes 28-814. Criminal prosecutions; trial by jury; waiver; instructions to jury; expert witness
(1) Criminal prosecutions involving the ultimate issue of obscenity, as distinguished from the issue of probable cause, shall be tried by jury, unless the defendant shall waive a jury trial in writing or by statement in open court entered on the record.
Terms Used In Nebraska Statutes 28-814
- Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
- Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
- Person: shall include bodies politic and corporate, societies, communities, the public generally, individuals, partnerships, limited liability companies, joint-stock companies, and associations. See Nebraska Statutes 49-801
- Probable cause: A reasonable ground for belief that the offender violated a specific law.
- Testimony: Evidence presented orally by witnesses during trials or before grand juries.
- Trial: A hearing that takes place when the defendant pleads "not guilty" and witnesses are required to come to court to give evidence.
(2) The judge shall instruct the jury that the guidelines in determining whether a work, material, conduct, or live exhibition is obscene are: (a) The average person applying contemporary community standards would find the work taken as a whole goes substantially beyond contemporary limits of candor in description or presentation of such matters and predominantly appeals to the prurient, shameful, or morbid interest; (b) the work depicts in a patently offensive way sexual conduct specifically referred to in sections 28-807 to 28-829 ; (c) the work as a whole lacks serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value; and (d) in applying these guidelines to the determination of whether or not the work, material, conduct, or live exhibition is obscene, each element of each guideline must be established beyond a reasonable doubt.
(3) In any proceeding, civil or criminal, under sections 28-807 to 28-829, where there is an issue as to whether or not the matter is obscene, either party shall have the right to introduce, in addition to all other relevant evidence, the testimony of expert witnesses on such issue as to any artistic, literary, scientific, political, or other societal value in the determination of the issue of obscenity.