Opinion ID: 1852218
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Midtrial Severance

Text: Having concluded that the district court erred in denying Santiago's pretrial severance motions, it is not necessary to the disposition of this case to address the district court's rulings on Santiago's midtrial severance motions. However, because the district court, the postconviction court, and the court of appeals applied the same standard for evaluating midtrial severance as they did for pretrial severance, we will proceed to examine the standard applied by the district court and whether use of this standard to deny Santiago's midtrial severance motions resulted in an abuse of discretion. Minn. R.Crim. P. 17.03, subd. 3(3), provides: The court shall sever defendants during trial with the defendant's consent or upon a finding of manifest necessity, if the court determines severance is necessary to achieve a fair determination of the guilt or innocence of one or more of the defendants. The language of subdivision 3(3) mirrors the language of Rule 472(b)(2)(ii) of the Uniform Rules of Criminal Procedure [7] and ABA Standards 13-3.2(b)(ii). [8] The comments to Rule 17.03, subd. 3(3), confirm that subdivision 3(3) is based on these two model rules. Minn. R.Crim. P. 17.03, subd. 3(3) cmt. Subdivision 3(3) establishes a higher standard for midtrial severance than the pretrial severance articulated in subdivision 2(1). The plain language of subdivision 3(3) indicates that there are two ways to approach a motion for midtrial severance. The first approach uses the fair determination test. The second approach uses the fair determination test coupled with a finding of manifest necessity. The first approach is appropriate when the defendant consents to severance. Under this approach, the court may grant severance with the consent of the defendant, but only if the court determines that severance is necessary to achieve a fair determination of the defendant's guilt or innocence. The second approach is appropriate when the defendant does not consent to severance. In this second situation, not only must severance be necessary to the fair determination of guilt or innocence, but the court must also find that the need for severance rises to the level of manifest necessity. Both approaches to midtrial severance employ the fair determination test. According to the Uniform Rules, the fair determination test requires a court to evaluate the propriety of severance according to whether (1) the trier of fact is able to distinguish the evidence and apply the law intelligently as to each defendant, and (2) the defendants have inconsistent or antagonistic defenses. Unif. R.Crim. P. 472(b)(2)(ii) cmt. In addition, the fair determination test incorporates the constitutional concern for a fair trial. ABA Standards 13-3.1(b) cmt, 13-3.2(b) cmt. Further, we note that the comments to the ABA Standards indicate that the fair determination test is different from Fed.R.Crim.P. 14 because the fair determination test limits judicial discretion, encourages the analytical resolution of severance issues, and establishes the priority of fairness over considerations of expense, efficiency, and convenience. ABA Standards 13-3.1(b) cmt, 13-3.2(b) cmt. Subdivision 3(3) mandates that if a district court determines that severance is necessary to achieve a fair determination of guilt or innocence, the court needs to make a finding of manifest necessity if the defendant does not consent to severance. Minn. R.Crim. P. 17.02, subd. 3(3). The comments to the ABA Standards indicate that the test for manifest necessity embodies the constitutional right against double jeopardy. ABA Standards 13-3.1(b) cmt, 13-3.2(b) cmt. A defendant's double jeopardy right attaches once the jury is sworn. State v. McDonald, 298 Minn. 449, 215 N.W.2d 607, 608-09 (1974). Thus, a preverdict termination of the trial as to some or all charges would bar a subsequent trial on the terminated charges unless the defendant has consented to the preverdict termination or unless the preverdict termination is based on manifest necessity. ABA Standards 13-3.1(b) cmt. Manifest necessity normally consists of circumstances that make the continuation of the trial or the prospect of a fair verdict either impossible or highly unlikely. ABA Standards 13-3.1(b) cmt, 13-3.2(b) cmt. Here, Santiago and Rodriguez both moved for severance, thereby giving their consent. Thus, there was no need for the district court to make a finding of manifest necessity. Instead, the court should have determined whether midtrial severance was necessary to achieve a fair determination of Santiago's guilt or innocence. To make this determination, the court needed to evaluate whether the defendants' defenses were antagonistic such that severance was warranted to achieve a fair determination of Santiago's guilt or innocence. We first evaluate whether Rodriguez and Santiago presented antagonistic defenses at trial. Throughout the trial, Rodriguez's defense theory was that Santiago directed him to do the shooting and that Rodriguez had limited mental capacity. On the other hand, Santiago's defense theory throughout was that Rodriguez was the shooter and acted alone. If the jury believed that Santiago directed Rodriguez to do the shooting and provided Rodriguez with the gun, then it could not accept Santiago's defense that Rodriguez acted alone and Santiago did nothing to aid or encourage Rodriguez's actions. If Santiago was not the shooter, the crucial factual issue for determination was whether he was guilty as one who aids, advises, hires, counsels, or conspires with or otherwise procures the other to commit the crime. Minn.Stat. § 609.05. The aiding and abetting charge dovetailed perfectly with Rodriguez's defense that he lacked the requisite intent for second-degree murder because Santiago forced him to shoot. Thus, Rodriguez's defense depended on proof that Santiago aided and abetted the crime, which Santiago sought to disprove. Accordingly, we conclude that the defenses presented at trial were antagonistic. Having concluded that the defendants' defenses at trial were antagonistic, we proceed to the next step in our application of subdivision 3(3) which is whether severance was necessary to achieve a fair determination of Santiago's guilt or innocence. In essence, Santiago faced two prosecutors at trialthe state and Rodriguez's attorney. Rodriguez's defense theory was virtually the same as the state's theory of Santiago's culpability. The alignment of the state and Rodriguez against Santiago represented an additional twist or ratcheting up of the traditional situation involving antagonistic defenses. Here, both Rodriguez and the state attempted to undermine Santiago's defense. Rodriguez's alignment with the prosecution was repeated throughout the trial. During its opening statement, the state presented its theory of Santiago's culpability, which was identical to Rodriguez's defense theory. In Rodriguez's opening statement, he further aligned himself with the state by agreeing with the state's opening statement regarding the significance of the testimony of certain disinterested witnesses. During the trial, Rodriguez attempted to rehabilitate some of the state's witnesses following cross-examination by Santiago and used the state's witnesses to support his own defense theory. For example, on direct examination by the state, Webster described the events leading up to the shooting. The state suggested that Webster refer to Santiago as the director and Webster did so throughout his testimony. On cross-examination by Santiago, Webster testified that Rodriguez did the shooting and he did not see Santiago hand Rodriguez a gun. Webster also testified that Santiago was an observer of events rather than a director. On cross-examination, Rodriguez's attorney used the term the director to refer to Santiago. Webster testified that Rodriguez looked scared, Rodriguez was agitated by Santiago, and that Rodriguez looked to Santiago for guidance. In light of the prejudice Santiago suffered as a result of facing two prosecutors, we conclude that midtrial severance was warranted to achieve a fair determination of Santiago's guilt or innocence. The dissent asserts that Rodriguez's defense theory was ever-changing and was not identifiable until Rodriguez's closing statement, in which he admitted that he was the shooter. The dissent contends that it was impossible for the district court to conclude whether severance was necessary for a fair determination of guilt or innocence. The record, however, does not support the dissent's position. Throughout the trial, there were several clear indicators of the nature and identity of Rodriguez's defense theory, including Rodriguez's reference to the power structure between Santiago and Rodriguez in his opening statement as well as Rodriguez's cross-examination strategy of supporting the testimony of the state's witnesses and undermining the testimony of Santiago's witnesses. For these reasons, we do not agree that it was impossible for the district court to evaluate Santiago's midtrial severance motions; rather, Rodriguez's defense theory was identifiable from the record and from the context within which the severance motions were made. Furthermore, Rodriguez's defense theory was the same throughout the trial. In light of the antagonism between the defendants' defense theories and the fact that Santiago essentially faced two prosecutors at trial, we conclude that the district court erred in denying Santiago's midtrial severance motions.