Opinion ID: 1058311
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 19

Heading: Failure to Consolidate This Case with Davidson County Cases

Text: On August 13, 1998, appellant filed a motion to consolidate this case with the two pending cases in Davidson County pursuant to Tennessee Rules of Criminal Procedure 13(a) and 8(b). The trial court found that while consolidation was legally permissible under Tennessee Rules of Criminal Procedure 8 and 13, it was not appropriate under the facts of this case. Tennessee Rule of Criminal Procedure 8(b) provides for permissive joinder if the offenses constitute parts of a common scheme or plan or if they are of the same or similar character. The trial court issued a well-reasoned memorandum, finding that joinder was not appropriate under Tennessee Rule of Criminal Procedure 8(b) because it did not have sufficient evidence to support the theory that the offenses involved constituted a common scheme or plan. The court found that it had insufficient facts to establish that the modus operandi in the Davidson County incidents was probative of appellant's identity in the Montgomery County incident. The trial court noted that the perpetrator in the Montgomery County incident removed the victims from the scene and killed them by cutting their throats with a knife, whereas the Davidson County perpetrator shot the majority of the victims at the two crime scenes. Therefore, the court concluded that it could not find that there was a unique method used in committing the crimes as required by State v. Hoyt, 928 S.W.2d 935, 943 (Tenn.Crim.App.1995). The trial court also found that although some of the witnesses would testify in the trials of all three offenses, many of the witnesses were necessary for only one of the trials. The trial court then reasoned that capital trials are very lengthy and very complicated. A jury in this type of case is required to absorb, process, and evaluate a great deal of information. Given the limited factual similarities among the cases, consolidating them would create an unnecessary and, arguably, unmanageable burden on the jury. The court's memorandum on the issue of the factual appropriateness of consolidation spans five pages with citations to case law and the Rules of Criminal Procedure. Thus, appellant mischaracterized the trial court's decision on consolidation by stating that it gave no specific reason for its decision, simply explaining that the decision of whether to order consolidation is in the court's discretion. Permissive joinder pursuant to Rule 8(b) of the Tennessee Rules of Criminal Procedure is governed by an abuse of discretion standard, and a trial court's decision to consolidate offenses will not be reversed unless the court applied an incorrect legal standard or reached a decision which is against logic or reasoning that caused an injustice to the party complaining. Spicer v. State, 12 S.W.3d 438, 442-43 (Tenn.2000). Appellant asserts that he was prejudiced by the court's decision not to consolidate. He asserts that if the jury had been able to hear the details of the other, similar murders it might well have afforded the expert proof regarding Defendant's well-documented mental illnesses more credence. After a review of the record on this issue, this Court cannot conclude that the trial court abused its discretion in denying appellant's motion to consolidate. This issue is without merit.