The conviction and sentence of a man serving 45 years to life for murdering his girlfriend in their Overton home in 2000 was upheld Friday for a second time by the Nebraska Supreme Court.
Timmy Timmens, 39, argued in his latest appeal that his trial lawyer was not effective because he failed to raise the defense that Timmens was too drunk to make a decision to kill 35-year-old Tracy Giugler. Timmens also claimed his appellate attorney was ineffective for failing to argue that the trial attorney should have raised the issue of intoxication.
The Nebraska Supreme Court rejected Timmens' latest arguments, saying his trial attorney had taken steps to set an intoxication defense in motion, but that Timmens refused that effort, saying repeatedly that he did not kill his girlfriend.
"Given Timmens' insistence that he did not kill Giugler, counsel could hardly mount a defense premised on the notion that Timmens killed her unintentionally while in a state of intoxication," state Supreme Court Judge Kenneth Stephan wrote in the opinion.
The state's high court also upheld Timmens' conviction in 2002. In that appeal, Timmens had argued that a lower court erred by allowing the jury to hear testimony about how Timmens did not show up for a meeting with police investigating the killing.
Investigators looking into Giugler's death had said she was beaten so severely that all her ribs were broken and some had punctured her lungs, contributing to her death. An autopsy said Giugler died of blunt trauma to the head, chest, abdomen, arms and legs. There also was internal hemorrhaging.
Her body was found in the home she shared with Timmens a day after she failed to appear at a family wedding in which Timmens took part.
After the wedding, Timmens' sister drove him to meet with police, who wanted to search his house, but Timmens jumped out of the car and fled before they arrived at police headquarters. He was found two days later hiding in an outbuilding in Kearney.
Timmens' attorney for his latest appeal, Jeffrey Wightman of Lexington, argued that if Timmens' trial attorney had pursued an intoxication defense, the jury likely would have found him guilty of manslaughter, rather than the more serious offense of second-degree murder.
Neither Wightman nor the Nebraska Attorney General's office immediately returned messages left Friday by The Associated Press seeking comment on the state high court's opinion.
Copyright ©2012 Omaha World-Herald®. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, displayed or redistributed for any purpose without permission from the Omaha World-Herald.
