Opinion ID: 402152
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Prejudicial Joinder of Burks.

Text: 112 Phillips asserts that Judge Urbom erred when he failed to sever defendant Donald Burks because his counsel, Richard Anderson, was the nephew of the Government's principal witness, coconspirator Gibson. Several defendants moved to sever Burks before trial and during the early stages of the trial. Before trial, an evidentiary hearing on the issue was held and Judge Urbom decided not to sever Burks. Burks was eventually severed after an incident in the seventh month of trial which resulted in Anderson being called as a witness. Phillips cites this incident and Anderson's in-chambers testimony that Phillips had threatened various witnesses, including Gibson, and that Phillips' attorney had acted improperly as evidence of Anderson's hostility to Phillips. Phillips argues that Anderson obstructed his examination of Gibson and that Anderson's assumption of the witness role prejudiced his defense. 113 A trial court's decision not to sever defendants under rule 14 is a discretionary ruling and will not be considered reversible error unless defendant demonstrates actual prejudice. Review of the transcript of Phillips' counsel's cross-examination and recross-examination of Gibson reveals that Anderson's objections were primarily based on hearsay grounds. Several of these objections were sustained and the remainder were promptly overruled. Phillips does not reveal how the interjection of these objections prejudiced his defense. 114 Phillips offered no evidence and we find it unlikely that the credibility of his counsel was adversely affected by Anderson's assumption of the witness role. Again, even if any of these events had some negative impact, Phillips was not prejudiced thereby because of the overwhelming evidence of his guilt. 115