Opinion ID: 433762
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: joinder of the defendants

Text: 14 The propriety of the joinder of defendants at trial presents the only issue of substance in this case. Appellant Lynch argues that his joinder in the indictment was improper under Fed.R.Crim.P. 8(b), and in the alternative, that the trial court's failure to sever the trial was an abuse of discretion under Fed.R.Crim.P. 14. We disagree, and affirm the district court on both aspects of the joinder issue.
15 Rule 8 governs joinder of both offenses and defendants. Where there are two or more defendants, Rule 8(b) controls joinder of both offenses and defendants. See United States v. Jackson, 562 F.2d 789, 793-94 (D.C.Cir.1977) (citing cases and commentary). The controlling legal standard for our case, then, is the following: 16 Joinder of Defendants. Two or more defendants may be charged in the same indictment or information if they are alleged to have participated in the same act or transaction or in the same series of acts or transactions constituting an offense or offenses. Such defendants may be charged in one or more counts together or separately and all of the defendants need not be charged in each count. 17 Fed.R.Crim.P. 8(b) (emphasis added). The purpose of this provision is to put some reasonable limitation on the conduct of mass trials. 18 Thus, the charge against Perry arising out of the September 28 cocaine transaction was properly joined with the charges against both Perry and Lynch on the October 12 incident only if both defendants were alleged to have participated ... in the same series of acts or transactions .... Id. Some participation on the part of appellant Lynch in the September 28 transaction is requisite. 4 As the second sentence of the rule clearly indicates, joinder was not rendered improper merely because Lynch was not charged on the first incident. In this case, however, the problem goes a little deeper, because the indictment itself suggests no participation on the part of Lynch in the first transaction, and no link between the two incidents. Broadly then, the question before this Court can be stated as follows: What relationship must the Government show in order to justify joinder, and when may it be shown? 19 Just what must be shown is not entirely evident from the language of Rule 8(b). Interpretative case law, reading Rule 8(b) in conjunction with Rule 8(a) and the policies underlying each, does, however, yield a fairly definitive answer to this question. The language the same series of acts or transactions may not be read to embrace similar or even identical offenses, unless those offenses are related. See Jackson, supra, 562 F.2d at 796; Cupo v. United States, 359 F.2d 990, 993 (D.C.Cir.1966), cert. denied, 385 U.S. 1013, 87 S.Ct. 723, 17 L.Ed.2d 549 (1967). The Rule is not limited to offenses or transactions, but extends to a series of acts ... constituting an offense ... in which the joined party participated, even though he may not be charged on that offense. As this Court recognized in Jackson, the required relationship of Rule 8(b) is essentially coterminous with the wording employed in the last portion of Rule 8(a), 'two or more acts or transactions connected together or constituting parts of a common scheme or plan.'  Jackson, supra, 562 F.2d at 796 (citing 1 C. Wright, Federal Practice and Procedure Sec. 144, at 322 (1969)). In other words, there must be a logical relationship between the acts or transactions within the series. 20 Judge McGowan's opinion in Jackson adopted a more purposive approach to what must be shown, and also recognized that the required relationship could be shown by the Government before trial: 21 [Joinder of offenses under] Rule 8(b) is not limited to situations in which proof of the other criminal transaction would be admissible in a separate trial. It goes beyond, to others, the excuse being the benefit to the courts.... [T]his possibility of benefit should explicitly appear from the indictment or from other representations by the government before trial. Classic examples of such a benefit are when there is an overlapping of issues, as, for example, when some defendants are charged with transporting stolen goods in interstate commerce and others are charged with receiving the goods, so stolen and transported, or when defendants are charged with conspiracy to conceal a crime that part of their number are charged with committing. Where, however, there are no presumptive benefits from joint proof of facts relevant to all the acts or transactions, there is no series, Rule 8(b) comes to an end, and joinder is impermissible. 22 Jackson, supra, 562 F.2d at 794-95 (quoting King v. United States, 355 F.2d 700, 704 (1st Cir.1966) (Aldrich, J.)) (emphasis added). This Court's adoption of Judge Aldrich's pragmatic approach to joinder of defendants significantly qualified our earlier decision in Ward v. United States, 289 F.2d 877 (D.C.Cir.1961), which had indicated that the required relationship must appear on the face of the indictment. In terms of timing, what is recognized is that a demonstration of the necessary relationship--and hence the benefit to the court of joinder--may be made by the Government at some time before trial. The same rule, permitting a showing before trial, was recognized in United States v. Talavera, 668 F.2d 625, 629 (1st Cir.), cert. denied sub nom. Pena v. United States, 456 U.S. 978, 102 S.Ct. 2245, 72 L.Ed.2d 853 (1982) (quoting King, supra ) ([P]ossibility of benefit should explicitly appear from the indictment or from other representations by the government before trial.). Quite obviously, the indictment might satisfy this requirement, for instance when a conspiracy charge links all the offenses and defendants. Subsequent pre-trial representations, however, may suffice equally to satisfy Rule 8(b). Decisions in some other circuits permit the evidentiary showing to be made at trial: United States v. Leach, 613 F.2d 1295, 1299 (5th Cir.1980) (Court may look ... at evidence adduced at trial to determine whether joinder was proper.) (citing cases, n. 1); accord United States v. Butera, 677 F.2d 1376, 1385 (11th Cir.1982), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 103 S.Ct. 735, 74 L.Ed.2d 958 (1983); United States v. Martin, 567 F.2d 849, 853 (9th Cir.1977). 5 However, the timing of the showing here does not require us to rule on the sufficiency of a showing at trial. 23 Thus, in order to test the propriety of joinder in this case, we look to the Government's showing at the motions hearing of January 18, 1983. Both the admissible evidence presented to the district court at that hearing and the argument of the prosecutor sufficiently demonstrated the existence of a common scheme or plan spanning both transactions and both defendants. The crucial evidence was that supporting Lynch's participation in the September 28 transaction: the September 28 references by Perry to Don or Donnie, the informant's confirmation that Don or Donnie was the source for that sale, Perry's clear statement on October 12 that the source on that day would be the same as for the first transaction, and her later identification of Lynch in the car, That's him. In addition, though perhaps of less probative value, were the persistent telephone calls by Perry to the residence of Barbara Blakely, in whose car Lynch was sitting when he was arrested. These facts constitute substantial evidence that Lynch supplied the cocaine on September 28--and in that manner participated in that transaction. 24 Consistent with this Court's broad policy favoring initial joinder, see Jackson, supra, 562 F.2d at 796-97, the Government made an adequate showing of commonality between the two transactions. Review of the facts of the two incidents reveals that they are far from the situation presented in Jackson, in which this Court concluded that the Government has neither demonstrated nor alleged any logical link between the assault and the robbery of which appellants were accused. Id. at 797. 6 The district court here was presented with two cocaine transactions involving the same purchaser, the same intermediary (Perry), and conducted at the same place in the same manner. In addition, there was an escalation in volume, and references on October 12 to reliance by the parties on the experience gained in the prior transaction, including the identity of the supplier. There was certainly an ongoing relationship, if not a single ongoing transaction. 25 The case of United States v. Martinez, 479 F.2d 824 (1st Cir.1973), in which joinder of defendants was upheld as proper, offers a remarkably close factual analogy to this case. In Martinez, the First Circuit relied on the representations in the indictment and the bill of particulars showing two drug transactions five days apart, involving the same suppliers and the same buyer, conducted in the same apartment, and in which discussions at the second transaction clearly indicated knowledge of the first. Id. at 828. 7 That court also noted that proof of what occurred at the first transaction would likely have been admissible against the defendant regardless of whether a severance was ordered. Id. That observation is equally true, and equally relevant, in this case: the evidence tying these defendants and transactions together would have been admissible in a separate trial of Lynch to show his prior relationship with Perry, and that Lynch was the contemplated source on October 12. See Drew v. United States, 331 F.2d 85, 89-90 (D.C.Cir.1964); Fed.R.Evid. 404(b). There was a substantial overlap of issues and evidence demonstrated before trial. In sum, we conclude that the connections between the defendants and the transactions were sufficiently close to warrant initial joinder in this case.
26 As a fallback, appellant Lynch contends that, even assuming that initial joinder was proper, the trial judge should have severed the trial once the Government had made a substantial part of its case, and once the judge ruled that the taped conversation between Rawls and Perry could be admitted in its entirety. Brief for Appellant Lynch at 18. This issue is governed by Rule 14, which allows the trial judge to sever the trial if the defendant is unduly prejudiced. 8 In Schaffer v. United States, 362 U.S. 511, 516, 80 S.Ct. 945, 948, 4 L.Ed.2d 921 (1960), the Supreme Court imposed upon the trial judge ... a continuing duty at all stages of the trial to grant a severance if prejudice does appear. 27 As the language of Rule 14 indicates, the trial judge has wide discretion whether to sever a trial that has properly been joined. In light of the Government's strong interest in favor of joint trials, this Court has struck a balance in favor of joinder. See United States v. Bruner, 657 F.2d 1278, 1289-90, 1291 (D.C.Cir.1981) (citations omitted). It is beyond dispute that the trial court's ruling may be disturbed only upon a showing of abuse of discretion. 9 We find nothing in the record of this case to support such a conclusion. In particular, none of the recognized bases for severance due to prejudice--drastic disproportionality of the evidence, and likely inability of the jury to compartmentalize the evidence against the respective defendants--was present in this case. See Bruner, supra, 657 F.2d at 1290-91 (discussing cases providing bases for severance). The taped conversation between Rawls and Perry, upon which appellant Lynch focuses, contained several references probative of the standing relationship between the defendants. In order to prevail, appellant must demonstrate more than that he might have had a better chance of acquittal if tried separately. E.g., United States v. Wilson, 434 F.2d 494, 501 (D.C.Cir.1970) (citations omitted). We conclude that the district court was well within its discretion to deny severance of the trial.