Earley v. State

2011 WY 164, 267 P.3d 561, 2011 Wyo. LEXIS 172, 2011 WL 6355172
CourtWyoming Supreme Court
DecidedDecember 20, 2011
DocketNo. S-11-0118
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 2011 WY 164 (Earley v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Wyoming Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Earley v. State, 2011 WY 164, 267 P.3d 561, 2011 Wyo. LEXIS 172, 2011 WL 6355172 (Wyo. 2011).

Opinion

VOIGT, Justice.

[T1] The appellant was acquitted of conspiracy to deliver a controlled substance, but convicted of accessory before the fact to delivery of a controlled substance. The former occurred via the granting of a defense motion for judgment of acquittal made at the close of the State's case, while the latter occurred via jury verdict, In this appeal, the appellant challenges the district court's joinder of her case with that of a co-defendant, she claims error in the district court's handling of issues concerning the cross-examination of a particular witness, and she questions the sufficiency of the evidence.1 Finding no error, we affirm.

ISSUES

[¶2] 1. Did the district court abuse its discretion in granting the State's motion to join appellant's case with that of her co-defendant?

2. Did the district court abuse its discretion in limiting cross-examination of a witness, in admonishing the co-defendant's counsel in that regard, and in giving the jury a curative instruction?

3. Was the verdict supported by sufficient evidence?

FACTS

[¶3] The essential facts of this case were very recently set forth in detail in Garner v. State, 2011 WY 156, ¶¶ 3-8, 264 P.3d 811, 814-16 (Wyo.2011), and we will not repeat them here at length. Suffice it to say that the appellant's co-defendant was charged [563]*563with one count of conspiracy to deliver a controlled substance, and two counts of delivery of a controlled substance. The appellant was charged with a similar conspiracy count, and with being an accessory before the fact to one of the controlled substance deliveries. Id. at ¶ 4, at 815. Like the appellant, her co-defendant moved for judgment of acquittal, which motion was granted as to the conspiracy charge. Id. at ¶ 8, at 816. The jury convicted the co-defendant of both deliveries. Id.

DISCUSSION

Did the district court abuse its discretion in granting the State's motion to join appellant's case with that of her co-defendant?

[¶4] W.R.Cr.P. 8(b), which governs the joinder of defendants, reads as follows:

(b) Joinder of defendants.-Two or more defendants may be charged in the same citation, 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.

[T5] In turn, W.R.Cr.P. 13 provides that, where defendants could have been joined in one indictment, information, or citation, they may be tried jointly. Nearly forty years ago, we interpreted these rules as favoring joint trials "unless there are compelling reasons for separate trials." Linn v. State, 505 P.2d 1270, 1274 (Wyo.1973). We went on to say:

"Joint trials of persons charged together with committing the same offense or with being accessory to its commission are the rule, rather than the exception. There is a substantial public interest in this procedure. It expedites the administration of justice, reduces the congestion of trial dockets, conserves judicial time, lessens the burden upon citizens who must sacrifice both time and money to serve upon juries, and avoids the necessity of recalling witnesses who would otherwise be called upon to testify only once."

Id. (quoting Parker v. United States, 404 F.2d 1193, 1196 (9th Cir.1968), cert. denied, 394 U.S. 1004, 89 S.Ct. 1602, 22 L.Ed.2d 782 (1969)).

[¶6] "The joinder of cases for trial is within the discretion of the district court, and we do not fault or adjust the trial court's ruling unless an abuse of discretion is clearly shown, together with prejudice resulting from that abuse of discretion." Hernandez v. State, 2001 WY 70, ¶ 8, 28 P.3d 17, 20 (Wyo.2001). The appellant has the burden of showing prejudice by the joinder. Id. Prejudice results from joinder if the defendant is deprived of a fair trial. Mitchell v. State, 982 P.2d 717, 723 (Wyo.1999). Severance, rather than joinder, is proper where the jury could not be expected to compartmentalize the evidence as it relates to separate defendants. Lee v. State, 653 P.2d 1388, 1890 (Wyo.1982).

[¶7] In the instant case, the State filed a motion to join the two cases for trial. The appellant filed a response in which she argued that any evidence introduced to prove any crime against Garner that went beyond the single incident with which she was charged "would be irrelevant, have no proper purpose, have no probative value regarding the charges against her, and be unduly prejudicial." The district court heard the motion on December 16, 2010, about a month before trial. After listening to the arguments of counsel, and conducting some independent research of its own, the district court orally concluded that joinder was appropriate, for several reasons: (1) the mere possibility of prejudice was not sufficient to defeat joinder; (2) the claim of a better chance of acquittal if tried separately was not sufficient to defeat joinder; (8) the evidence of the separate crimes was simple and distinct, thereby enabling the jury to compartmentalize the evidence as it applied to each crime; and (4) the evidence was such that a limiting instruction would suffice, rather than severance.2 In a written order granting joinder filed shortly after the hearing, the district court empha[564]*564sized the fact that the evidence related to the separate charges was sufficiently separate and distinct as to each that any potential prejudice could be addressed in jury instructions.

[¶8] In appealing this issue, the appellant relies upon the two-part test for appropriate joinder set forth by this Court in Duke v. State, 2004 WY 120, ¶ 43, 99 P.3d 928, 945 (Wyo.2004) (quoting Dorador v. State, 768 P.2d 1049, 1052 (Wyo.1989)):

The first is whether the evidence relating to the similar offenses charged would be admissible in a separate trial of each offense. Tabor [v. State ], 616 P.2d [1282,] 1284 [ (Wyo.1980) ]. If the evidence would be admissible, there is no prejudice. If the evidence would not be admissible in separate trials, the trial court should then determine whether the evidence of each crime is "simple and distinct." Drew v. United States, 331 F.2d 85, 91 (D.C.Cir. 1964). Stated differently, the second consideration is whether the evidence relating to the separate offenses would be so complicated that the jury could not reasonably be expected to separate them and evaluate the evidence properly and individually on each separate charge. Pote v. State, 695 P.2d 617 (Wyo.1985).

[¶9] Applying this test, the appellant contends that she was prejudiced because much of the evidence presented by the State related only to a separate transaction involving her co-defendant, but not involving her, and to the broader conspiracy alleged against the co-defendant.

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Bluebook (online)
2011 WY 164, 267 P.3d 561, 2011 Wyo. LEXIS 172, 2011 WL 6355172, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/earley-v-state-wyo-2011.