State v. Ernest

The defendant was charged with second degree arson, burglary, and with being an habitual criminal. He was found guilty on all counts and sentenced to imprisonment for 30 years, the sentence to run concurrently with an Iowa sentence. He has appealed and contends the trial court erred in overruling his motion to suppress, in overruling his motion to dismiss the habitual criminal count, and in finding him to be an habitual criminal and sentencing him when he was not present in court.

The record shows that the defendant set fire to a tavern in Chadron, Nebraska, on October 13,1976, by breaking a…