Lierman Withdraws 'Not Guilty' Pleas; 2nd Attorney Appointed

On Wednesday morning, Darryl Lierman, who remained mute at his district court appearance earlier this month, withdrew the not guilty pleas which were entered on his behalf.

Lierman, 49, of Neligh, faces 10 felony charges - three counts of first degree sexual assault of a child (class 1B felonies); three counts of third degree sexual assault of a child; and four counts of child abuse (class IIIA felonies). 

His court-appointed attorney, Ron Temple, made a motion to withdraw the not guilty pleas that were entered by the court on Lierman's behalf. Acting Antelope County Attorney Joe Smith had no objections. Judge Mark Johnson sustained the motion and said "as it stands, the defendant now has no pleas."

Temple filed several other motions, including the motion to appoint a second counsel.

Temple said he needs more help on this case with research and other details and requested the appointment of Fritz Bartell from his office so Bartell can be compensated for his time. Temple argued that the prosecution has help from Joe Smith and he has "nobody."

Smith objected, stating that, "This is not a capital case. It doesn't take two people." He said although Abler is receiving assistance from him as a second attorney, it is on a voluntary basis.

The judge appointed Bartell at a rate of $75 per hour and asked Temple to "be reasonable" with his time since taxpayers are paying the bill.

A motion to quash was also filed by Temple due to the dates on the complaint against his client.

"My motion goes to the issue of the time alleged in the various counts," he said. "There are different time periods from a nine-month window to a one-year window."

Temple said the time frame was too large, making it difficult for him to use an alibi defense, which he said may be an important defense for his client since he is an over-the-road truck driver and is gone for long periods of time.

The judge asked him what would be an acceptable time frame from the defense's perspective.

"A 30-day or 60-day window or perhaps even a 90-day window would be sufficient," Temple said.

Smith argued that the alleged sex with the child began when she was 11 years old and occurred over a period of time. He also stated that by limiting it to a one-year window is actually "in favor of the defendant."

Judge Johnson took the motion under advisement.

The judge sustained motions to take depositions, with the exception of one of the alleged victims, and also releasing the CAC video recording of the alleged child victim to the defense attorney.

Lierman's bond will remain at 10 percent of $200,000 and he was remanded back into the custody of the Antelope County Sheriff and ordered to have no contact with anyone under the age of 18.

Temple said Lierman's 14-year-old son has already been allowed to visit him in jail and requested that he be allowed to continue his visits. Smith said he had no objections to the visits as long as they were done through the monitoring system at the Antelope County Jail and the judge agreed.

Lierman's pretrial conference was scheduled for October 28 at 9 a.m. and the trial date was set for November 16.