Opinion ID: 2722145
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Jennifer’s Appeal

Text: Jennifer appeals the district court’s denial of her motion to sever her trial from that of Clayton and Bennett. She does not argue on appeal that she was misjoined under Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 8 but rather that the district court erred by denying her request for severance pursuant to Rule 14. Accordingly, we review the district court’s denial of her motion to sever for abuse of discretion. United States v. Mann, 685 F.3d 714, 718 (8th Cir. 2012). “[T]o warrant severance [under Rule 14] a defendant must show ‘real prejudice,’ that is, ‘something more than the mere fact that he would have had a better chance for acquittal had he been tried separately.’” United States v. Mickelson, 378 F.3d 810, 817-18 (8th Cir. 2004) (quoting United States v. Oakie, 12 F.3d 1436, 1441 (8th Cir. 1993)). “A defendant can demonstrate real prejudice to his right to a fair trial by showing (a) his defense is irreconcilable with that of his co-defendant or (b) the jury will be unable to compartmentalize the evidence as it relates to the separate defendants.” Id. at 818. Jennifer argues that the jury could not be expected to compartmentalize the evidence presented regarding her co-defendants’ fraudulent schemes—schemes in which she claims not to have been implicated—when considering her tax-evasion charges. We have explained that “[t]he risk of prejudice posed by joint trials is best -13- cured by careful and thorough jury instructions.” Mann, 685 F.3d at 718 (quoting Mickelson, 378 F.3d at 818). Here, the district court’s final jury instructions admonished the jury: “Keep in mind that you must give separate consideration to the evidence about each individual defendant. Each defendant is entitled to be treated separately, and you must return a separate verdict for each defendant.” We have found consistently that such an instruction adequately cured the risk that the jury would not properly compartmentalize the evidence against jointly-tried defendants. See, e.g., United States v. Mallett, 751 F.3d 907, 917 (8th Cir. 2014); Mann, 685 F.3d at 718. In light of this limiting instruction, we conclude that the district court did not abuse its discretion by denying Jennifer’s motion for severance under Rule 14. We also note that much of the evidence regarding the fraudulent schemes was relevant to the tax-evasion charges against Jennifer. A violation of 26 U.S.C. § 7201 requires “the existence of a tax deficiency.” United States v. Perry, 714 F.3d 570, 573 (8th Cir. 2013) (quoting Sansone v. United States, 380 U.S. 343, 351 (1965)). The existence of a tax deficiency depends, in turn, on whether the income that Jennifer failed to report to the Internal Revenue Service was taxable income. Evidence showing that the income resulted from the fraudulent schemes was necessary to show the source of the income and thus that the income was taxable. Therefore, the admission of evidence regarding the fraudulent schemes did not warrant severing Jennifer’s trial from that of Bennett and Clayton. See United States v. Lee, 374 F.3d 637, 647 (8th Cir. 2004) (holding that severance was not required where evidence admitted against co-defendant was independently admitted against defendant seeking severance). Jennifer also challenges the district court’s refusal to provide limiting instructions immediately after several witnesses testified at trial. Her proposed instructions would have informed the jury that it should not consider those witnesses’ testimony when considering the charges against her. We review a district court’s decision not to give a limiting instruction for abuse of discretion. United States v. -14- Velazquez-Rivera, 366 F.3d 661, 666 (8th Cir. 2004). A district court need not instruct the jury regarding each item of evidence at the time the evidence is admitted if the court provides an appropriate instruction at the close of trial. See United States v. Kime, 99 F.3d 870, 881 (8th Cir. 1996); United States v. Garrido, 995 F.2d 808, 816-17 (8th Cir. 1993). As noted above, the instruction given by the district court at the close of trial adequately instructed the jury to compartmentalize the evidence presented against Clayton and Bennett from the evidence presented against Jennifer. See Mallett, 751 F.3d at 917; Mann, 685 F.3d at 718. In addition, the instructions specifically identified which defendant was charged with each offense, further reinforcing to the jury that the fraudulent schemes should not be considered improperly when assessing Jennifer’s guilt on the tax-evasion charges against her. Thus, the district court did not abuse its discretion by declining to give the limiting instructions requested by Jennifer.