Opinion ID: 1981763
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Joint or Separate Trials

Text: At the hearing on the motion to sever, defense counsel pointed out that an essential element of Art. 27, § 445(c) is that there be a prior conviction of a crime of violence. He observed: [t]hat particular evidence would not be admissible against [Frazier] as far as the other two charges are concerned ... until and unless my client testified and then that evidence would only be admissible insofar as it goes to his credibility. Defense counsel declared that under these circumstances ... it would be highly prejudicial, as far as disposition and the jury's consideration on the [other two counts]. The prosecutor agreed that it would be prejudicial, but that is, of course, the nature of the offense before the court. The court asked: Well wouldn't a better way to do it be to deny the motion and let it be tried and I will instruct the jury appropriately? Isn't that the way this matter shall be handled? Defense counsel brought to the court's attention the teachings of McKnight v. State, 280 Md. 604, 375 A.2d 551 (1977), to the effect, in his words, limiting instructions in the situation where the evidence that is admissible on the one charge and not to the other is evidence of another crime, but the limiting instructions are not sufficient to overcome the prejudice. The trial judge did not read McKnight that way. He opined that the factual situation in McKnight  a series of ... eight separate assaults and robberies or holdups  is not this case. The judge explained: This man is charged in the same happening, all out of the same happening with possession of a handgun as a felon.... I think the jury has a right to know exactly what the facts behind the happening resulting in a charge, all arising out of the same happening at the same time.... Therefore, the motion is denied. The judge said: I will grant the curative instruction. Defense counsel asked the judge to defer the ruling on the motion until after Frazier had made a decision either to testify or to remain silent. The judge declined to do so. I want to give you a better shot at it if you feel I am wrong. I'm going to make it right now because I don't want it conditioned upon whether he's going to testify or not to testify because he has an absolute right not to testify and I don't want to be part of the pressure one way or the other as to that decision, and if I withhold my decision at this time, it may well be so conceived or construed by another Court, and, therefore, my decision is a denial....[ [6] ] At the trial, a certified copy of the docket entries with respect to Frazier's prior conviction was admitted in evidence over his objection and given to the jury. The judge included in his instructions that if the jury found that Frazier was in possession of a revolver, it was the jury's job to determine whether or not [Frazier] has been previously convicted of a crime of violence. He cautioned: You have heard evidence of a previous conviction of the defendant. You may consider this conviction in determining the guilt or innocence of the defendant with respect to the crime charged of possession of a revolver after having been convicted of a crime of violence; however, you may not consider this conviction in determining the defendant's guilt or innocence of the crime of wearing, carrying, or transporting a handgun. Defense counsel requested clarification. The court further instructed on the matter: [I]n order to be able to consider the second charge in this case, that is, possession of a revolver after having been convicted of a crime of violence, you must have already then found the defendant guilty of the first charge [wearing, carrying or transporting a handgun]. If you have found the defendant not guilty of possession of a revolver, then, of course, you can't find him guilty of the second charge. The jurors said that they understood. Defense counsel requested further clarification respecting the two elements of the second charge. The judge complied. He told the jury that it had two things to consider as to the second charge. In addition to the element of possession of a revolver, it is your job to determine whether or not he has previously been convicted of a crime of violence....
The matter of a severance or a joinder is ordinarily committed to the discretion of the trial judge. Grandison v. State, 305 Md. 685, 705, 506 A.2d 580, cert. denied, 479 U.S. 873, 107 S.Ct. 38, 93 L.Ed.2d 174, reh. denied, 479 U.S. 1001, 107 S.Ct. 611, 93 L.Ed.2d 609 (1986); Graves v. State, 298 Md. 542, 544, 471 A.2d 701 (1984). And, ordinarily, when only one defendant is involved, the judge may order two or more offenses, whether felonies or misdemeanors, or any combination thereof, to be tried together if the offenses are of the same or similar character. Graves at 544, 471 A.2d 701. But we have specifically authorized the judge, in ruling on a motion for a joint trial when a defendant is charged in two or more charging documents, to inquire into the ability of either party to proceed at a joint trial. Md. Rule 4-253(b). [7] This was in accord with the overbearing concern of the law of this State with respect to joint or separate trials of a defendant charged with criminal offenses to safeguard against potential prejudice. To this end we adopted Maryland Rule 4-253(c): If it appears that any party will be prejudiced by the joinder for trial of counts, charging documents, or defendants, the court may, on its own initiative or on motion of any party, order separate trials of counts, charging documents, or defendants, or grant any other relief as justice requires. In the light of this caveat, we examined in McKnight the propriety in a jury trial of a joinder, permissible in the first instance because the offenses were of similar character, where the evidence would not be mutually admissible at separate trials. We observed that in any given case of similar offense joinder, tried before a jury, the likely prejudice caused by the joinder must be balanced against the considerations of economy and efficiency in judicial administration. McKnight, 280 Md. at 609-610, 375 A.2d 551. In doing so, consideration should be given to likely prejudice to a defendant in three important respects: First, he may be embarrassed, or confounded in presenting separate defenses.... Secondly, the jury may cumulate the evidence of the various crimes charged and find guilt when, if the offenses were considered separately, it would not do so. At the very least, the joinder of offenses may produce a latent hostility, which by itself may cause prejudice to the defendant's case. Thirdly, the jury may use the evidence of one of the crimes charged, or a connected group of them, to infer a criminal disposition on the part of the defendant from which he may also be found guilty of other crimes charged. Id. at 609, 375 A.2d 551 (citations omitted). We opined, particularly in light of the third aspect of likely prejudice, that where offenses are joined for trial because they are of similar character, but the evidence would not be mutually admissible, the prejudicial effect is apt to outweigh the probative value of such evidence. Id. at 610, 375 A.2d 551. We concluded that, at a jury trial, a defendant charged with similar but unrelated offenses is entitled to a severance where he establishes that the evidence as to each individual offense would not be mutually admissible at separate trials. Id. at 612, 375 A.2d 551 (emphasis added). We iterated and applied this holding in State v. Jones, 284 Md. 232, 395 A.2d 1182 (1979), recognized it with approval in Tichnell v. State, 287 Md. 695, 415 A.2d 830 (1980), and explicated it in Graves, 298 Md. at 545, 471 A.2d 701. We said in Graves, at 545, 471 A.2d 701: The McKnight holding took away the discretion of the trial judge presiding at a jury trial to join similar offenses where the evidence as to them was not mutually admissible. As we have indicated, in such circumstances, there was prejudice as a matter of law which compelled separate trials. We deemed that [t]he rationale underlying the McKnight holding was our concern that a jury would be unable to set aside the likely prejudice engendered by the joinder. Graves at 545-546, 471 A.2d 701. We even questioned in McKnight the ability of a jury to disregard evidence which was inadmissible on one of the charges although limited instructions were given by the court. We recognized that the law frequently permits the jury to hear evidence admitted for a limited purpose, and presumes that the jury will comply with an appropriate instruction. But, we declared, we are unwilling to make that assumption in circumstances such as these.... 280 Md. at 615, 375 A.2d 551. See Graves [298 Md.] at 546, 471 A.2d 701. The intendment of McKnight was that, in a jury trial, the presumption of prejudice as a matter of law be invoked only when the crimes, although similar, arose from separate incidents, independent of each other, unrelated, not bound together by common scheme, motive, or any other of the exceptions to the other crimes rule, which would make the evidence with respect to them mutually admissible at separate trials. See State v. Faulkner, 314 Md. 630, 552 A.2d 896 (1989). This intendment is clear from the circumstances in which the presumption of prejudice as a matter of law was applied in McKnight v. State, 280 Md. 604, 375 A.2d 551, and State v. Jones, 284 Md. 232, 395 A.2d 1182, and was not applied in Tichnell v. State, 287 Md. 695, 415 A.2d 830, each tried before a jury. McKnight involved four independent and distinct robberies committed in the same neighborhood, over a one-month period. The crimes had no more than a general resemblance to each other. Since the manner of their commission would suggest itself to almost anyone disposed to commit such crimes, they did not bear the earmark or signature of the accused. We held that the trial court committed prejudicial error in failing to grant McKnight's motion for a separate trial for each offense. In the circumstances, the impact of such evidence on the jury was apt to outweigh its probative value, so prejudice was presumed as a matter of law. In Jones, the defendant and several others robbed or attempted to rob persons at three different business establishments within the course of two and one-half hours. We found that the State failed to prove a single inseparable plan encompassing the offenses and did not establish that the various acts constituting the offenses naturally related to one another by time, location, circumstances and parties so as to give rise to the conclusion that they are several stages of a continuing transaction. 284 Md. at 243, 395 A.2d 1182. We held that the trial court abused its discretion in failing to grant a severance. On the other hand, we held in Tichnell that the trial judge did not abuse his discretion in consolidating three indictments for trial. The McKnight principle did not apply, we concluded, because the joined offenses were closely related to each other and occurred within a fifteen-minute period within a tightly confined area. The proximity of time and space within which the offenses were committed distinguished the case from Jones and McKnight. See Tichnell, 287 Md. at 712-713, 415 A.2d 830. The trial judge was correct when he concluded that McKnight is not this case. And the majority of the panel of the Court of Special Appeals were correct when they distinguished McKnight and Graves by pointing out: McKnight and Graves involved separate crimes at separate times, whereas in the instant case, the crimes charged were related and rose out of the same incident. Frazier v. State, supra, slip opinion at 3. The circumstances of the case at hand were far removed from the circumstances of McKnight in which we announced and applied the prejudice as a matter of law principle. As we have seen, it involved four independent and distinct robberies over a one-month period. And the case here was significantly different from Jones, in which we applied the principle, even though the factors of time and proximity of the offenses were more restricted than those in McKnight. It involved, as we noted supra, robberies or attempts to rob persons at three different business establishments within the course of two and one-half hours. The case now being reviewed was more akin to Tichnell, where we refused to apply the principle. The offenses in Tichnell were closely related to each other and occurred within a fifteen-minute period within a tightly confined area. The circumstances before us now were even more circumscribed. The offenses here arose out of one incident involving one person and one handgun. They could not be more closely related  the bases of the crimes were not merely similar, they were one and the same. The time, location, and circumstances of the seizure of the handgun resulting in the charges were in no wise different. It is obvious that the prejudice as a matter of law principle does not apply. Inasmuch as the circumstances here do not lend themselves to the presumption of prejudice as a matter of law, in order for the judgments not to survive in the face of the joinder, Frazier must show that he was improperly prejudiced by the joinder. We cannot conceive of a factual situation which would be less conducive to untoward prejudice than the circumstances here. The convictions go to the elements of the offense. Frazier was caught red-handed in possession of the handgun. Exactly the same evidence as to each charge would support a finding that Frazier unlawfully possessed a handgun, the foundation of both offenses. The only additional testimony as to one charge would be the fact of the prior conviction. As we noted, supra, the trial judge said at the hearing on the motion to sever in denying the motion: This man is charged in the same happening, all out of the same happening with possession of a handgun as a felon.... I think the jury has a right to know exactly what the facts behind the happening resulting in a charge, all arising out of the same happening at the same time.... Our refusal in McKnight to accept limiting instructions to the jury as sufficient to cure an improper joinder is not to be taken as a holding that such instructions would be inadequate in all circumstances. In the circumstances of this case, in light of the careful caution the judge gave the jury, twice further explained at the request of defense counsel, and the acknowledgment of the jurors that they understood, our reluctance to accept the curative effect of limiting instructions in McKnight is not appropriate. All in all, we conclude that the record was sufficient to establish that Frazier was not unduly prejudiced by the joinder. We hold that the trial judge did not err by denying Frazier's request for separate trials.