Opinion ID: 443089
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: defendant's motion to sever counts for trial

Text: 10 Montes-Cardenas contends that the district judge improperly denied his motion to sever for separate trials Counts One and Two (drug counts) from Count Three (firearms violation). We undertake a two-step inquiry to determine whether the charges were properly tried at the same time. First, the government must demonstrate that the initial joinder of the offenses was proper under Rule 8 of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure. 6 Second, we must determine whether the trial court abused its discretion by refusing to order a severance under Rule 14. 7 United States v. Forrest, 623 F.2d 1107, 1114 (5th Cir.1980), cert. denied, 449 U.S. 924, 101 S.Ct. 327, 66 L.Ed.2d 153 (1980). 8 11 Improper joinder under Rule 8 presents a question of law subject to plenary review by this court. United States v. Park, 531 F.2d 754, 760 (5th Cir.1976). In addressing this issue, however, we must construe Rule 8 broadly in favor of the initial joinder. United States v. Scott, 659 F.2d 585, 589 (5th Cir.1981) (Unit B), cert. denied, 459 U.S. 854, 103 S.Ct. 121, 74 L.Ed.2d 105 (1982); 9 Tillman v. United States, 406 F.2d 930, 934 (5th Cir.), vacated on other grounds, 395 U.S. 830, 89 S.Ct. 2143, 23 L.Ed.2d 742 (1969). 12 Offenses may be joined if they are based on two or more acts or transactions connected together or constituting part of a common scheme or plan. Fed.R.Crim.P. 8(a). Two crimes are connected together if the proof of one crime constitutes a substantial portion of the proof of the other. See, e.g., United States v. Sweig, 441 F.2d 114, 118-19 (2d Cir.), cert. denied, 403 U.S. 932, 91 S.Ct. 2256, 29 L.Ed.2d 711 (1971); United States v. Weber, 437 F.2d 327, 331 (3d Cir.1970), cert. denied, 402 U.S. 932, 91 S.Ct. 1524, 28 L.Ed.2d 867 (1971); see also United States v. Halper, 590 F.2d 422, 429 (2d Cir.1978) (joinder improper when commission of one crime did not lead to the commission of the other and proof of one did not constitute proof of the other). Joint trials in these circumstances obviate the need for the government to make duplicate offers of proof, and allow the accused to avoid the inconvenience of two separate trials. United States v. Halper, 590 F.2d 422, 430; United States v. McGrath, 558 F.2d 1102, 1106 (2d Cir.1977), cert. denied, 434 U.S. 1064, 98 S.Ct. 1239, 55 L.Ed.2d 765 (1978). Here, police discovered the silencers during the same search that produced the drugs, and the presence of defendant's briefcase, which contained three of the silencers, was a significant link in the government's proof for the drug charges and the weapons charge. 13 An additional factor present here, however, that leads us to conclude that the offenses charged in this case were connected together is the nexus between weapons and drugs, which courts have acknowledged in the context of permitting the government to introduce weapons into evidence at drug trials. In United States v. Lippner, 676 F.2d 456 (11th Cir.1982), this court held that weapons found on a defendant's person or property were admissible into evidence in a trial for a drug conspiracy. Id. at 463. The court reasoned that a gun and brass knuckles were tools for the execution of the crime of drug trafficking, and were probative of the defendant's intent and his knowledge that he was engaged in an illicit transaction. Id. Similarly, in United States v. Perez, 648 F.2d 219 (5th Cir.), cert. denied, 454 U.S. 1055, 102 S.Ct. 602, 70 L.Ed.2d 592 (1981), the court upheld the introduction into evidence of loaded guns discovered in a house into which the defendants were unloading marijuana at the time of their arrest. 648 F.2d at 224. The Perez court endorsed the following observation: 14 Experience on the trial and appellate benches has taught that substantial dealers in narcotics keep firearms on their premises as tools of the trade almost to the same extent as they keep scales, glassine bags, cutting equipment, and other narcotic equipment. 15 648 F.2d at 224 (quoting United States v. Wiener, 534 F.2d 15, 18 (2d Cir.1976). Several other courts also have recognized that weapons have become tools of the trade for those involved in the distribution or manufacture of illicit drugs, in holding that weapons were properly admitted into evidence at drug trials. See United States v. Romero, 692 F.2d 699, 705 (10th Cir.1982); United States v. Marino, 658 F.2d 1120, 1123 (6th Cir.1981); United States v. Picklesimer, 585 F.2d 1199, 1204 (3d Cir.1978); United States v. Pentado, 463 F.2d 355, 361 (5th Cir.1972), cert. denied, 410 U.S. 909, 93 S.Ct. 963, 35 L.Ed.2d 271 (1973); United States v. Cannon, 472 F.2d 144, 145 (9th Cir.1972); see also United States v. Arnott, 704 F.2d 322, 326 (6th Cir.1983) (weapons found in coconspirator's home properly admitted into evidence at defendant's drug trial when defendant had frequently visited coconspirator's home in which drugs were stored). 16 The same logic used to admit weapons into evidence at drug trials directs us to conclude that, especially when, as here, weapons and drugs are found during the same search, joinder of a weapons offense with drug charges is proper under Rule 8(a). 10 Indeed, several courts have upheld joinder of drug charges with weapons violations under Rule 8 when the weapons were found during the same search that produced the drugs. In United States v. Park, supra, the court upheld the initial joinder of a charge of manufacturing illegal drugs and a charge of unlawful receipt of a firearm, when police found the gun and the drugs while they searched defendant's home. 531 F.2d at 761. The Tenth Circuit recently held that the joinder of drug charges with a weapons violation was proper under Rule 8, when the guns were found near the drugs. United States v. Valentine, 706 F.2d 282, 289 (1983). We hold that the offenses were properly joined in the same indictment in this case under Rule 8. 11 17 The question remains, however, whether under Rule 14 the district court should have severed the counts. Our review of this issue is limited to whether the trial court abused its discretion in denying the motion to sever. United States v. O'Malley, 707 F.2d 1240, 1250 (11th Cir.1983). To demonstrate an abuse of discretion, the defendant must show clear prejudice suffered by having to defend against the charges simultaneously. United States v. Benz, 740 F.2d 903, 911 (11th Cir.1984). 18 Appellant asserts that he was prejudiced by the court's refusal to sever because he may have elected to testify against either of the charges, but that the government denied him this opportunity by requiring him to defend against both at the same trial. A defendant who presents such a claim must demonstrate that he or she has important testimony to give on one count and strong need to refrain from testifying on the other. United States v. Outler, 659 F.2d 1306, 1313 (5th Cir.1981) (Unit B), cert. denied, 455 U.S. 950, 102 S.Ct. 1453, 71 L.Ed.2d 665 (1982); United States v. Forrest, 623 F.2d 1107, 1115 (5th Cir.1980). Montes-Cardenas contends only that he may have testified at one or the other trial. He does not explain what testimony he would have proffered with respect to either charge, nor does he show why the joint trial prevented him from taking the stand. Appellant's bare allegations gave the trial judge no factual basis on which to evaluate any prejudice. Under the circumstances, the trial court did not abuse its discretion under Rule 14 by refusing to sever the counts for trial.