Opinion ID: 1782423
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Failure to raise severance of the indictment on appeal.

Text: ¶ 23. Turner was charged in one indictment with two separate capital murders. Turner was charged with the murder of Eddie Brooks while he and his cohort attempted to rob the first convenience store and with the murder of Everett Curry during a robbery at the second convenience store. Turner's attorneys moved to sever the charges. The motion to sever was overruled. Turner alleges that his attorneys were ineffective in failing to appeal the trial judge's decision not to grant a severance. ¶ 24. Miss.Code Ann. § 99-7-2 provides that: (1) Two (2) or more offenses which are triable in the same court may be charged in the same indictment with a separate count for each offense if: (a) the offenses are based on the same act or transaction; or (b) the offenses are based on two (2) or more acts or transactions connected together or constituting parts of a common scheme or plan. (2) Where two (2) or more offenses are properly charged in separate counts of a single indictment, all such charges may be tried in a single proceeding. Rule 7.07 of the Uniform Rules of Circuit and County Court Practice contains similar provisions. ¶ 25. At the motion hearing, the State argued that the two murders were part of a common scheme or plan. The State argued that on the night of the murders, Turner and Stewart decided to rob a store. They drove to the first store and left after deciding that it was too crowded. They drove straight to the second store which was only four miles away. There, Turner murdered Eddie Brooks. When they couldn't get the cash register open, they went directly back to the first store where Turner murdered Everette Curry. The same guns, masks, vehicle, and modus operandi were involved in the two murders, minutes apart. ¶ 26. The requirements for multiple counts in a single indictment were discussed at length by this Court in Eakes v. State, 665 So.2d 852 (Miss.1995). There, the Court held that: When a multi-count indictment has been returned and the defendant requests severance, a hearing should be held on the issue. Corley v. State, 584 So.2d 769, 772 (Miss.1991). `The State bears the burden of a prima facie showing that the offenses are within the language of Miss.Code Ann. § 99-7-2 (1994), which allows multi-count indictments.' Corley, 584 So.2d at 772. If this burden is met by the State, the defense `may rebut by showing that the offenses were separate and distinct acts or transactions.' Id. The trial court should consider the time period between the offenses, whether evidence proving each offense would be admissible to prove the other counts, and whether the offenses are interwoven. Id. `If this procedure is followed, this Court will give deference to the trial court's findings on review, employing the abuse of discretion standard.' Corley, 584 So.2d at 772. Eakes, 665 So.2d at 861. See also McCarty v. State, 554 So.2d 909, 915-16 (Miss. 1989). ¶ 27. At the hearing, the defense argued that the two incidents were separate. The State maintained that the murders were part of the same scheme. The murders took place during the execution of Turner and Stewart's common plan to commit robberies. The time frame involved was approximately twenty minutes. Much of the evidence at trial related to both crimes. Clearly, the two murders were interwoven. The trial court did not abuse its discretion in its decision not to sever the counts. Accordingly, the attorneys' failure to raise that issue on appeal is of no consequence. ¶ 28. Turner's reliance on Flowers v. State, 773 So.2d 309 (Miss.2000) is misplaced. There, this Court's reversal was based not on the failure to sever multiple counts, but rather on the State's introduction of evidence of other murders, while trying the defendant on a single indictment.