Heather Guerrero
Summary of Offense:
Convicted of killing Gering newspaper carrier Heather Guerrero in 2003.
Heather Guerrero
Summary of Offense:
Convicted of killing Gering newspaper carrier Heather Guerrero in 2003.
Inmate Personal Information
Race: White
Gender: Male
DOB:10/23/1978
Crime and Trial Information
* County of conviction: Scotts Bluff
* Number of counts: One
* Race of Victim: Hispanic
* Gender of Victim: Female
* Date of crime: 02/11/2003
* Date of Sentencing: 05/16/2005
Legal Status
Current Proceedings:
Post‐conviction proceedings
Attorneys
James Mowbray
Jeffrey Pickens
Court Opinions
State v. Hessler, 741 N.W.2d 406 (Neb. 2007).
Legal Issues
On direct appeal:
1. whether the denial of defendant's motion to plead guilty to felony
murder was an abuse of discretion;
2. whether the use of defendant's prior sexual assault of different
victim to prove the aggravating circumstance that defendant had a
prior history of serious assaultive criminal activity was an abuse of
discretion;
3. whether the trial court's failure to excuse four jurors for cause
constituted reversible error;
4. whether the denial of defendant's motion to change venue was an
abuse of discretion;
Man who killed Nebraska teen pursues another appeal
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A Nebraska man who raped and killed a 15-year-old newspaper carrier in 2003 is again taking his bid to get off death row to the Nebraska Supreme Court.
Jeffrey Hessler was convicted in 2004 of kidnapping, raping and killing Heather Guerrero, of Gering.
In his latest bid for post-conviction relief, Hessler claims ineffective counsel. He says his attorneys failed to tell the court that he suffered from mental health problems, including hallucinations.
Scotts Bluff County District Judge Randall Lippstreu dismissed that claim earlier this year. Hessler is appealing the judge's decision to the Nebraska Supreme Court, which will hear arguments on Thursday.
Hessler's conviction and death sentence were upheld by the Nebraska Supreme Court in November 2007, after he appealed on other grounds.
http://www.siouxcityjournal.com/ap/s...#ixzz1cZnsTzVm
State of Nebraska v Jeffrey Hessler
The Nebraska Supreme Court has rejected death-row inmate Jeffrey Hessler's claim that his lawyer failed to properly represent the convicted murderer, kidnapper and rapist at his sentencing.
The court issued a ruling Friday denying Hessler's request for post-conviction relief. Hessler had argued that his trial-court lawyer should have demanded a competency hearing when Hessler moved to represent himself at his sentencing.
Hessler was convicted of first-degree murder, kidnapping, first-degree sexual assault of a child and use of a firearm to commit a felony in December 2004. He was sentenced to die for the 2003 rape and shooting death of 15-year-old Heather Guerrero as she left her home in Gering.
The high court ruled that Hessler had failed to demonstrate a reasonable probability that he was incompetent at his sentencing hearing.
http://www.ketv.com/news/30063949/de...#ixzz1hNrQajo1
Supreme Court hears appeal for death row inmate
Nebraska's highest court hears the appeal of a KOTA Territory man convicted of killing a 15 - year - old Gering girl in 2003.
For the second time, Jeffrey Hessler is appealing his death sentence to the Nebraska Supreme Court.
Hessler was convicted for the 2003 kidnap, rape and murder of 15-year-old newspaper carrier Heather Guerrero of Gering.
After Hessler's guilty verdict was rendered, he claims he heard voices - including the voice of God - saying he deserved to die.
Hessler fired his legal council before being handed the death penalty, and Scotts Bluff County Public Defender Brian Lockwood says at that point, Hessler should have been found incompetent.
"To not have your client evaluated, or simply file a suggestion of incompetency to the trail court so that an evaluation can be made without with I stand before this court without a record."
Hessler's conviction and death sentence were upheld by the Nebraska Supreme Court in 2007 after he appealed for other reasons.
http://www.kotanow.com/story/1595492...ath-row-inmate
On December 17, 2012, Hessler filed a habeas petition in Federal District Court.
http://dockets.justia.com/docket/neb...cv00427/61242/
Death row inmate who killed 15-year-old newspaper carrier denied appeal again
A Nebraska judge has denied a convicted killer's efforts to appeal his conviction.
Scotts Bluff County District Judge Randall Lippstreu says in a memorandum Tuesday that Jeffrey Hessler is not entitled to an evidentiary hearing on any issue raised in his second motion for post-conviction relief.
Post-conviction relief is a civil proceeding that asks a court to overturn a criminal conviction.
Hessler was convicted in 2004 of kidnapping, raping and killing a 15-year-old newspaper carrier in 2003. The state Supreme Court upheld his conviction and death sentence in November 2007.
Scottsbluff radio station KNEB reports (http://bit.ly/18VDt8P ) Hessler filed the motion in August 2012. He claims he was mentally ill and incompetent to stand trial. Lippstreu says his claims were addressed and denied during his first motion for post-conviction relief.
http://www.dailyjournal.net/view/sto.../#.UjFRKH_b1Xg
An uninformed opponent is a dangerous opponent.
"Y'all be makin shit up" ~ Markeith Loyd
State v. Hessler
Supreme Court upholds death penalty sentence for man who killed Gering mail carrier
The Nebraska Supreme Court has upheld the denial of a death row inmate's efforts to have his conviction overturned.
Jeffrey Hessler was convicted in 2004 of kidnapping, raping and killing 15-year-old newspaper carrier Heather Guerrero the year before. His conviction and death sentence were upheld on direct appeal in 2007.
Friday's ruling is the second time Hessler has had a motion for post-conviction relief denied. Inmates typically file post-conviction relief motions after they have exhausted all other appeals.
This time, Hessler issued a myriad of claims, including that he was too mentally ill at the time of the crime to know right from wrong.
On Friday, the Nebraska Supreme Court agreed with a lower court judge's ruling that Hessler's claims had already been addressed or should have been appealed earlier.
http://www.kotanow.com/story/2611511...g-mail-carrier
An uninformed opponent is a dangerous opponent.
"Y'all be makin shit up" ~ Markeith Loyd
On November 17, 2014, Hessler filed a habeas petition (again) in Federal District Court.
http://dockets.justia.com/docket/neb...4cv00357/67746
Death-row inmate files appeal in federal court
By Alissa Skelton
The Omaha World-Herald
A Gering, Nebraska, man convicted of abducting, raping and murdering a 15-year-old newspaper delivery girl in 2003 is asking a federal judge to set aside his death penalty conviction.
Jeffrey Hessler filed a writ of habeas corpus in the U.S. District Court of Nebraska on Monday arguing that he suffered from mental illness when he confessed to police and therefore didn’t understand the law or his constitutional rights.
He also contends that he was provided ineffective legal counsel and didn’t receive a fair trial because jurors couldn’t have possibly remained impartial with everyone in town talking about the murder, Hessler’s court filing said. Hessler waived his right to counsel and chose to represent himself during the trial.
Heather Guerrero, 15, was snatched while she was delivering newspapers in her Gering, Nebraska, neighborhood on Feb. 11, 2003. She was raped in an abandoned farmhouse and then shot in the head. Authorities found Guerrero’s body in the house the next day.
A jury found Hessler guilty, and a panel of three judges ordered him to receive the death penalty.
Hessler has appealed his conviction numerous times. In July, his case made it to the Nebraska Supreme Court, where justices affirmed a lower court’s ruling to deny Hessler’s appeal.
http://www.omaha.com/news/crime/deat...f4c5a4cfb.html
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