SIDNEY, Neb. (AP) — Sidney’s former police chief has filed with the Nebraska Appeals Court a challenge to his conviction and 30-day jail sentence for obstructing government operations.
The lawyer for Byron Wilkinson filed the appeal earlier this month, repeating arguments made in an unsuccessful appeal to the Cheyenne County District Court. Wilkinson says the trial court didn’t have a factual basis to find him guilty, that an amended prosecutors’ complaint didn’t adequately charge a violation of the statute, and that Wilkinson’s sentence was excessive.
State prosecutors say Wilkinson failed to pursue criminal charges against John Hehnke, who then was Sidney’s public works director, after Hehnke’s ex-girlfriend filed a complaint against him in January 2014.