Opinion ID: 1927300
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: the test for consolidation

Text: This Court recently discussed the test for joinder of offenses in Conyers v. State, 345 Md. 525, 693 A.2d 781 (1997). We used a two part test. First, is the evidence concerning each of the charged offenses mutually admissible; and second, does the interest in judicial economy outweigh the arguments favoring separate trials. The second part of the test should not be in dispute in the instant case. A paramount interest of our criminal justice system should be avoiding unnecessary trials and the accompanying trauma to young victims of multiple acts of child abuse. These children should not have to testify at multiple trials if the evidence would be the same at each trial and all of the acts of alleged abuse would be mutually admissible at each trial.