Opinion ID: 62941
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: motion to sever counts

Text: The denial of a motion to sever is reviewed for abuse of discretion. United States v. Smith, 918 F.2d 1501, 1509 (11th Cir. 1990). The court “will not reverse the denial of a severance motion absent a clear abuse of discretion resulting in compelling prejudice against which the district court offered no protection.” United States v. Hersh, 297 F.3d 1233, 1244 (11th Cir. 2002) (citing United States v. Walser, 3 F.3d 380, 385 (11th Cir. 1993)). Bannister argues the district court abused its discretion and denied him a fair trial when it denied his motion to sever 8 the counts related to the three bank robberies into separate trials. He notes each bank robbery involved three distinct conspiracies made up of different groups of people with different objectives. We conclude the district court did not abuse its discretion in refusing to sever the three bank robberies. Any prejudice Bannister may have experienced was mitigated by the district court’s limiting instructions to the jury and outweighed by the interest of judicial economy.