Nebraska § 29-908 - Bail, recognizance, or conditional release; failure to appear; penalties.

§ 29-908. Bail, recognizance, or conditional release; failure to appear; penalties.

Whoever is charged with a felony and is released from custody under bail, recognizance, or a conditioned release and willfully fails to appear before the court granting such release when legally required or to surrender himself within three days thereafter, shall be guilty of a Class IV felony, in addition to any other penalties or forfeitures provided by law.

Whoever is charged with a misdemeanor or violation of city or village ordinance, conviction of which would carry a jail sentence of more than ninety days, who is released from custody under bail or recognizance or conditioned release and who willfully fails to appear before the court granting such release when legally required to surrender himself or within three days thereafter, shall be guilty of a Class II misdemeanor, in addition to any other penalties or forfeitures provided by law.

When a defendant fails to appear for a preliminary hearing on Thursday, and then is arrested on the following Monday, the evidence is sufficient to find that the defendant failed to surrender within 3 days of his or her failure to appear. State v. Hassan, 309 Neb. 644, 962 N.W.2d 210 (2021).

As used in this section, failure to appear before the court includes a convicted defendant who willfully fails to comply with a sentencing court's order to report to a court-designated officer who is legally authorized to take him into custody so that he may begin his sentence after a conditioned release or a release under recognizance. State v. Moss, 240 Neb. 21, 480 N.W.2d 198 (1992).

Court when releasing a defendant on bond need only inform defendant of special or unusual condition of his bail attached thereto and no duty exists to inform the defendant of obvious condition to return to the court as ordered nor inform defendant of possible penalty for failure to appear. State v. King, 214 Neb. 855, 336 N.W.2d 576 (1983).

A defendant who is released following imposition of sentence under a stay of execution with orders to reappear upon further order of the court has been "released from custody under a conditioned release" within the meaning of this section, and violates said provision by failing to appear when so ordered by the court. State v. Robinson, 209 Neb. 726, 311 N.W.2d 7 (1981).

A person already found guilty of a felony is still a person "charged with a felony," under the terms of this section. State v. McDaniel, 205 Neb. 53, 285 N.W.2d 841 (1979).