Opinion ID: 658545
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Severance Contentions of Rosa and Rodriguez

Text: 157 Rosa and Rodriguez contend that the district court should have granted their pretrial motions for severance of their trials from the trial of their codefendants in order to ensure them a fair trial. They argue that they suffered prejudicial spillover from the evidence of their codefendants' acts of violence. We find no basis for reversal. 158 A defendant challenging a district court's denial of a severance motion bears a heavy burden. In order to secure a reversal, he must show prejudice so severe that his conviction constituted a miscarriage of justice, see, e.g., United States v. DeVillio, 983 F.2d 1185, 1192 (2d Cir.1993); United States v. Lasanta, 978 F.2d 1300, 1306 (2d Cir.1992), and that the denial of his motion constituted an abuse of discretion, see, e.g., Zafiro v. United States, --- U.S. ----, ----, 113 S.Ct. 933, 938, 122 L.Ed.2d 317 (1993); United States v. Casamento, 887 F.2d 1141, 1149 (2d Cir.1989), cert. denied, 493 U.S. 1081, 110 S.Ct. 1138, 107 L.Ed.2d 1043 (1990). 159 The principles that guide the district court's consideration of a motion for severance usually counsel denial. Since there is a preference, in the federal system, for the joint trial of defendants indicted together, the district court should grant a severance motion only if there is a serious risk that a joint trial would compromise a specific trial right of the moving defendant or prevent the jury from making a reliable judgment about guilt or innocence. See Zafiro v. United States, --- U.S. at ---- ----, 113 S.Ct. at 937-38. A defendant's right to a fair trial does not include the right to exclude relevant and competent evidence. Id. Thus, the fact that testimony against a codefendant may be harmful is not a ground for severance if that testimony would also be admissible against the moving defendant tried separately. See id. Evidence at the joint trial of alleged coconspirators that, because of the alleged conspiratorial nature of the illegal activity, would have been admissible at a separate trial of the moving defendant is neither spillover nor prejudicial, see, e.g., United States v. Villegas, 899 F.2d 1324, 1347-48 (2d Cir.), cert. denied, 498 U.S. 991, 111 S.Ct. 535, 112 L.Ed.2d 545 (1990); United States v. Bari, 750 F.2d 1169, 1178 (2d Cir.1984), cert. denied, 472 U.S. 1019, 105 S.Ct. 3482, 87 L.Ed.2d 617 (1985). 160 In the present case, though Rosa and Rodriguez personally were not charged with acts of violence, the evidence was ample that each of them was an integral part of the conspiracy, Rodriguez as a heroin processor, and Rosa as a principal wholesale purchaser of heroin for the Organization, a seller of millions of dollars worth of drugs at Organization spots, and the procurer of weapons for the Organization. Evidence of the workings of the conspiracy would therefore have been admissible at the individual trials of Rosa or Rodriguez, had they been tried separately. Since the evidence was that the Organization's routine modus operandi involved the use of murder and mayhem to exclude competitors from its retail drug spots and to maintain discipline among its members, the acts of violence performed by other coconspirators were chargeable to Rosa and Rodriguez, and their claims of prejudicial spillover must be rejected. 161 The trial court instructed the jury that it should consider the evidence as to each count of the indictment separately and advised it that the fact that it found any one defendant guilty on a given count should not control your verdict as to any other offenses charged. And with the exception of Rosa's conviction for attempted heroin possession, see Part II.B.1. above, there was ample evidence supporting the jury's verdicts of guilty. 162