State v. Hiatt

The defendant was convicted of assault and battery and sentenced to 180 days’ imprisonment. He appeals contending the evidence was insufficient to sustain the conviction and the trial court erred in receiving the verdict in the absence of counsel for the defendant.

The charges arose out of a fight on December 12, 1971, in a parking lot near a shopping center in Sarpy County, Nebraska. The defendant and his brother, Richard Hiatt, had gone to the Convenient Food Mart to purchase beer, groceries, and candy. When they entered the checkout' line,-Barry Lee accused the de fendant of stepping in…