State v. Payne

── State v. Payne ── Court: Nebraska Court of Appeals Date: May 12, 2026 Category: General Nebraska Supreme Court Online Library www.nebraska.gov/apps-courts-epub/ 05/12/2026 08:14 AM CDT - 265 - Nebraska Court of Appeals Advance Sheets 34 Nebraska Appellate Reports STATE v. PAYNE Cite as 34 Neb. App. 265 State of Nebraska, appellee, v. Robert J. Payne, appellant. ___ N.W.3d ___ Filed May 12, 2026. No. A-25-630. 1. Criminal Law: Courts: Appeal and Error. In an appeal of a criminal case from the county court, the district court acts as an intermediate court of appeals, and its review is limited to an examination of the record for error or abuse of discretion. 2. ____: ____: ____. When deciding appeals from criminal convictions in county court, an appellate court applies the same standards of review that it applies to decide appeals from criminal convictions in dis- trict court. 3. Jury Instructions. Whether jury instructions given by a trial court are correct is a question of law. 4. 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. 5. 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 ele- ments of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt. 6. Theft: Value of Goods: Appeal and Error. When a fact finder deter- mines the value of property in a theft case, an appellate court will not set aside the finding unless it is clearly erroneous. 7. Jury Instructions. In giving instructions to the jury, it is proper for the court to describe the offense in the language of the statute. 8. Jury Instructions: Proof: Appeal and Error. To establish reversible error from a court’s refusal to give a requested instruction, an appel- lant has the burden to show that (1) the tendered instruction is a correct  - 266 - Nebraska Court of Appeals Advance Sheets 34 Nebraska Appellate Reports STATE v. PAYNE Cite as 34 Neb. App. 265 statement of the law, (2) the tendered instruction is warranted by the evidence, and (3) the appellant was prejudiced by the court’s refusal to give the tendered instruction. 9. Jury Instructions: Appeal and Error. All the jury instructions must be read together, and if, taken as a whole, they correctly state the law, are not misleading, and adequately cover the issues supported by the pleadings and the evidence, there is no prejudicial error necessitat- ing reversal. 10. Jury Instructions. In instructing a jury, the trial court is not required to define language commonly used and generally understood. 11. Theft: Value of Goods: Proof. In a theft case, the value to be proved is market value at the time and place where the property was crimina