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State v. Taylor7/29/2003
nt's second DUI offense.
Later, in State v. Fletcher, 8 Neb. App. 498, 511-12, 596 N.W.2d 717, 726-27 (1999), a habitual criminal case, this court stated that § 29-2222 is a "statutory 'recipe' for proving former judgments and commitments for habitual criminal purposes [and that] he Legislature has expressly provided that a duly authenticated copy of the 'former judgment and commitment' is competent and prima facie evidence thereof." In Fletcher, documents consisting of certified copies of the complaint, commitment, and various trial docket entries (unsigned), and computer printouts of the judge's minutes (also unsigned) were all found to be appropriate record evidence for enhancement purposes.
In the instant case, the State offered into evidence judicial court records from the states of Wisconsin (exhibit 2), Illinois (exhibit 3), and California (exhibit 4). The district court received into evidence exhibits 3 and 4, which were considered by the court in making the habitual criminal determination. Exhibit 3 consists of 10 pages of documentation from the Illinois Department of Corrections. The cover page contains the heading "Certification of Record," notes in part that the copies being provided were made from the "original master file of; Leon Taylor," and has two signatures that indicate each individual was a "Microfilm Operator." The other pages contain information showing that Taylor pled guilty to attempted rape in 1978 in the Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois, for which he was sentenced to 1 to 5 years in prison; other judicial records containing information about his sentence; and a copy of Taylor's fingerprints taken in connection with the conviction. Exhibit 4 contains 17 pages of documentation that are "certified copies" of the records provided by the State of California Department of Corrections to the Dakota County Attorney's office, with each document reflecting a stamp on the back that certifies the document is a true and correct copy of the original document. These documents contain a chronological history of Taylor's encounters with the California legal system and include copies of judgments showing that Taylor was convicted of auto theft three times, second degree burglary, and receiving stolen property. The documents also show that Taylor was sentenced to 3 years for each auto theft conviction, 2 years for second degree burglary, and 3 years for receiving stolen property. The California records also include a copy of Taylor's fingerprints maintained by the State of California. We note that the California records reflect the name "Jerome Williams," with the name "Leon Taylor" being an alias. In proving that "Jerome Williams" was in fact "Leon Taylor," the State presented the expert testimony of Linda Brokofsky of the Nebraska State Patrol. Brokofsky was shown to be a highly qualified fingerprint examiner that has worked in the field for over 20 years. Brokofsky testified that the sets of fingerprint records maintained by Nebraska, Illinois, and California all show that they are in fact Taylor's fingerprints. See State v. Luna, 211 Neb. 630, 319 N.W.2d 737 (1982) (fingerprint identity testified to by qualified expert is perhaps best known method of highest probative value in establishing identification and existence of a prior conviction; identity of accused as person convicted may be shown by any competent evidence, including oral testimony of accused and duly authenticated records maintained by courts or penal and custodial authorities).
Based upon the foregoing, we conclude that exhibits 3 and 4, containing evidence of Taylor's previous convictions, were properly authenticated. We further conclude that exhibits 3 and 4 demonstrated that Taylor had been twice p
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