Opinion ID: 1942017
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Appellant Abney's Motion for Severance.

Text: Abney asserts on appeal that the trial court misapplied the legal standard relating to the severance of conflicting claims. Specifically, Abney argues that the trial court misread the standard in Ready, supra, 445 A.2d at 986-87, and reasoned that it was more beneficial to try Walker and Abney together because their defenses conflicted. The record reveals that the trial court, here, recognized the test set forth in Ready, supra, that it (1) must determine if Walker's and Abney's defenses were irreconcilable; and (2) if so, determine if there was a danger that the jury unjustifiably would infer that this conflict alone demonstrated that both were guilty. Id. The record indicates that not only did the trial court acknowledge this standard, but it sought to explain it further by stating that what the Court means is evidence beyond a prima facie case, beyond what it would take for the government to survive a motion for judgment of acquittal. The record demonstrates that the government presented substantial independent evidence to support its theory, i.e., that Abney aided and abetted Walker by holding Smith while Walker stabbed him, beyond that necessary to survive a motion for judgment of acquittal. Tillman, supra, 519 A.2d at 171. All five government witnesses testified that Abney held Smith as Walker hit/stabbed him. Walker was within one foot of Smith and Abney during the stabbing. Two government witnesses actually saw Walker stab Smith while Abney held him. Moreover, Angelic Elliott and Bridgett Smith both testified that when questioned as to why he did it, Abney responded that it was because of an earlier confrontation that he had had with Smith. [6] Abney also contends that the defense instruction offered by Walker prejudiced him because Walker's defense rested on the premise that Abney alone stabbed Smith, and this directly conflicted with his own defense that Walker was the sole assailant. The jury verdict demonstrates, however, that it rejected Walker's theory because it convicted him of stabbing Smith while Abney aided and abetted him. Given the strength of the independent evidence presented by the government, we cannot say that the trial judge abused his discretion in finding that there was sufficient evidence in the record, beyond that needed to survive a motion for acquittal, to support the trial judge's conclusion that the conflicting defenses alone would not cause the jury to find [Walker and Abney] guilty. Taylor, supra, 601 A.2d at 1065.