State v. Miller, 11 Neb.App. 404, 651 N.W.2d 594 (2002) (superseded by statute on other grounds, specifically § 60-6,197.02(2)).
Gales contends that the evidence of his Florida convictions, contained in exhibit 229, was not properly authenticated and should not have been admitted into evidence. Gales relies upon State v. Miller, 11 Neb. App. 404, 651 N.W.2d 594 (2002), in which the Nebraska Court of Appeals determined that an Iowa conviction for driving under the influence of alcohol (DUI) was admissible for sentence enhancement purposes in a Nebraska DUI prosecution, because the first page of the exhibit containing evidence of the Iowa conviction bore the seal of the court and the signatures of the judge and the clerk of the court. Gales argues that the Florida convictions in this case were not properly authenticated because "[t]he prior used in this case was not signed by a judge. . . ."
An appellate court will not disturb a trial court's determination that a prior conviction is valid for enhancement purposes absent clear error. State v. Miller, 11 Neb. App. 404, 651 N.W.2d 594 (2002), superseded on other grounds by statute, Neb. Rev. Stat. § 60-6,197.02(2) (Cum. Supp. 2008).
Both a district court and a higher appellate court generally review appeals from a county court for error appearing on the record. State v. Miller, 11 Neb. App. 404, 651 N.W.2d 594 (2002); State v. Cardona, 10 Neb. App. 815, 639 N.W.2d 653 (2002). In reviewing a trial court's ruling on a motion to suppress evidence, ultimate determinations of reasonable suspicion are reviewed de novo by an appellate court, while findings of historical fact are reviewed for clear error, giving due weight to the inferences drawn from those facts by the trial judge.
Both a district court and a higher appellate court generally review appeals from a county court for error appearing on the record. State v. Miller, 11 Neb. App. 404, 651 N.W.2d 594 (2002); State v. Hopkins, 7 Neb. App. 895, 587 N.W.2d 408 (1998). V. ANALYSIS 1. Admission of Test Results (a) Drawing Blood — Title 177
State v. Miles, 8 Neb. App. 844, 850, 602 N.W.2d 666, 671 (1999), quoting § 27-901. Accord State v. Miller, 11 Neb. App. 404, 651 N.W.2d 594 (2002). Under § 27-901, authentication can be accomplished in various ways, including by "[e]vidence that a writing authorized by law to be recorded or filed and in fact recorded or filed in a public office, or a purported public record, report, statement, or data compilation, in any form, is from the public office where items of this nature are kept." In State v. Linn, 248 Neb. 809, 812, 539 N.W.2d 435, 438 (1995), the Nebraska Supreme Court stated: "In order to establish evidence's sufficient probative force to prove an earlier conviction for the purpose of sentence enhancement, the evidence must, with some trustworthiness, reflect a court's act of rendering judgment."