Opinion ID: 463761
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: questions of joinder and severance

Text: 23 Appellants Jimenez, Manzella, and Canale argue that they should have been accorded separate trials. Jimenez asserts that the charges against him were improperly joined to those of the other defendants in violation of Fed.R.Crim.P. 8(b). All three argue that the trial court abused its discretion in refusing to sever their counts pursuant to Fed.R.Crim.P. 14. We first note the conceptual difference between the two rules: [t]he question of the propriety of joinder under Rule 8 and of refusal to grant relief from prejudicial joinder under Rule 14 are quite different in nature, although some decisions tend to obscure this. United States v. Werner, 620 F.2d 922, 926 (2nd Cir.1980). Separate attention to the two concepts is therefore appropriate. 24 The key issue of misjoinder under Rule 8 is a matter of law and, as such, is completely reviewable on appeal. Welch, 656 F.2d at 1049. Complete review begins by recognizing what Rule 8(b) provides: 25 Two or more defendants may be charged in the same indictment or information if they are alleged to have participated in the same act or transaction or in the same series of acts or transactions constituting an offense or offenses. Such defendants may be charged in one or more counts together or separately and all of the defendants need not be charged in each count. 26 Jimenez was not charged under the RICO or RICO conspiracy counts; rather, he was indicted, along with Provenzano, under 18 U.S.C. Secs. 1341 and 2 for two counts of mail fraud. Facts surrounding the theft of Jimenez's automobile and the ensuing mail fraud are mentioned in counts one and two, however, as examples of Provenzano's pervasive pattern of racketeering. 27 We conclude that no misjoinder occurred. That Jimenez was not indicted on the RICO counts does not militate against the joinder's propriety under Rule 8(b). We have already recognized the general construction of the rule as permitting joinder in cases where individual defendants are charged with some but not all counts of the indictment. Welch, 624 F.2d at 1129. Although Jimenez was not charged with participating in the enterprise, his dealings with Provenzano allowed Provenzano to further the baleful influence of his criminal organization. The mail fraud was listed as a predicate act in counts one and two, and the jury found Provenzano guilty of a racketeering pattern that included this act. Jimenez may have been a customer only once instead of the two times required for prosecution under RICO, but this difference seems a mere technicality, insufficient to prevent joinder of Jimenez with the other appellants under Rule 8(b). See Welch, 656 F.2d at 1052-53, quoting Weisman, 624 F.2d at 1129. 28 Jimenez, Manzella, and Canale argue that joinder was prejudicial under Fed.R.Crim.P. 14, which provides in part: 29 If it appears that a defendant or the government is prejudiced by a joinder of offenses or of defendants in an indictment or information or by such joinder for trial together, the court may order an election or separate trials of counts, grant a severance of defendants or provide whatever other relief justice requires. 30 Rulings under Rule 14 are reviewable only for abuse of discretion. See, e.g., United States v. Bright, 630 F.2d 804, 813 (5th Cir.1980). A showing of clear prejudice is therefore required before we may overrule a trial court's decision whether to sever. See id. The record suggests no clear prejudice. As in most RICO cases, the evidence here is both massive and complex. It was not so complicated, however, as to prevent the jury from separating the evidence and properly applying it only to those against whom it was offered. The testimony of witnesses such as Toal did not unduly confuse the identities of the appellants, and complete, coherent cases were made out against each. The trial court, moreover, explicitly instructed the jury to consider each offense separately and each defendant individually. 3 No abuse of discretion appears. See Peterson v. United States, 344 F.2d 419, 422 (5th Cir.1965), quoted in Welch, 656 F.2d at 1053-54.