The Nebraska Supreme has overturned a Scottsbluff man’s 2012 convictions for felony child abuse and 1st-degree sexual assault of a child.

The justices ruled that 36-year old Eric Rocha, who is serving prison terms with a minimum of over 50 years, received ineffective counsel.

Scotts Bluff County Attorney Doug Warner says “the case is not over from the state’s perspective” and that Rocha will be prosecuted again, whether in one trial or more.

Rocha was convicted by a Scotts Bluff County District Court jury in February 2012 of sexually assaulting a 7-year-old girl and of hitting her  3 brothers with a belt and his fist, but the Nebraska Commission on Public Advocacy appealed the verdicts.

The commission argued that the Scotts Bluff County Public Defender’s office failed Rocha by not separating the sexual assault case and the child abuse charges into separate trials and by not pushing for more limited jury instructions.

On a split vote, the high court agreed…although Justices Kenneth Stephan and William Cassel said such arguments should be addressed in postconviction relief action, not a direct appeal.