Opinion ID: 1106252
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: did the county court err by failing to sever the two counts for attempting to intimidate a witness in the indictment against corley?

Text: The State charged Corley in a multi-count indictment with two counts of attempting to intimidate a witness. Corley filed a demurrer. At a pre-trial hearing, the county court concluded that the demurrer was untimely filed, and alternatively the multi-count indictment was proper because there was a common scheme or plan and Corley would not be prejudiced by trying the two offenses in one trial. Historically, this Court prohibited multi-count indictments until 1986 when the Legislature adopted a multi-count indictment statute which this Court later adopted. McCarty v. State, 554 So.2d 909, 914 (Miss. 1989). In allowing a multi-count indictment, this Court agreed with the Legislature that the offenses must be based on the same act or transaction, or be based on two or more acts or transactions, connected together or constituting parts of a common scheme or plan. McCarty, 554 So.2d at 914-916; see also, Miss. Code Ann. § 99-7-2 (Supp. 1990). We have been, and remain, unwilling to allow separate and distinct offenses to be tried in the same criminal proceeding. We do so in order to avoid potential problems of a jury finding a defendant guilty on one unproven count due to proof of guilt on another, or convicting a defendant based upon the weight of the charged offenses, or upon the cumulative effect of the evidence. See generally, Gray v. State, 549 So.2d 1316, 1322 [citing U.S. v. Foutz, 540 F.2d 733, 738, n. 5 (4th Cir.1976) and 2 W. LaFave and J. Israel, Criminal Procedure § 17.1(b) at 354-55 (1984)]. When a defendant raises the issue of severance, we recommend that a trial court hold a hearing on the issue. The State, then, has the burden of making a prima facie case showing that the offenses charged fall within the language of the statute allowing multi-count indictments. If the State meets its burden, a defendant may rebut by showing that the offenses were separate and distinct acts or transactions. In making its determination regarding severance, the trial court should pay particular attention to whether the time period between the occurrences is insignificant, whether the evidence proving each count would be admissible to prove each of the other counts, [1] and whether the crimes are interwoven. See Allman v. State, 571 So.2d 244, 248 (Miss. 1990); McCarty, 554 So.2d at 914-916. If a trial court follows this procedure, this Court will review the trial court's decision under the abuse of discretion standard giving due deference to the trial court's findings. McCarty, 554 So.2d at 916. On review, we will defer to the trial court's findings even if the jury later acquits the defendant on one or more counts or if this Court concludes on appeal that a directed verdict, j.n.o.v. or new trial should have been granted on one or more counts. [2] Upon reviewing the record, we believe that the evidence was close on whether Corley's acts against O'Bannon and Crigler constituted a common scheme or plan. However, we cannot conclude that the trial court abused its discretion, and therefore, we give deference to the lower court's decision. This assignment of error has no merit.