A Chadron man convicted last year on Intentional Child Abuse Resulting in Death involving his infant daughter has lost an appeal of his case.
After his 10-month-old daughter was found unresponsive and later pronounced deceased in June 2022, Riley Lenhart was found guilty and was sentenced to 60 years to life in prison last year.
Lenhart appealed to the Nebraska Supreme Court, challenging the court’s handling of an unsolicited statement by the forensic pathologist, who said he thought a sexual assault examination took place during the girl’s autopsy.
The statement violated a previous court order precluding such evidence and Lenhart’s attorney objected, asking that the statement be stricken, which was approved but followed by a conference outside the presence of the jury, at which time the defense moved for a mistrial.
The motion was overruled, and the State agreed to make a stipulation to the jury that a sexual assault exam is a normal part of a child autopsy, and there was no evidence found of sexual assault.
Lenhart appealed the issue to the High Court, which found that because the district court adequately remedied any prejudicial effect the statement may have had, and because any error arising from the stipulation was harmless, Lenhart was not entitled to relief.
