UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
v. Criminal Action No. 22-304 (JEB)
DEIVY JOSE RODRIGUEZ DELGADO,
Defendant.
MEMORANDUM OPINION
In July 2022, Deivy Jose Rodriguez Delgado allegedly perpetrated three separate hostage
takings in the Dominican Republic with the help of an accomplice. He is accused of using a
dating application to lure the victims into meeting for a date and then getting into his car. In all
three instances, Defendant allegedly stopped to let his accomplice into the backseat after a short
drive, at which point they held each victim at knifepoint and demanded ransom for their release.
In addition to three counts of hostage taking, Delgado is also charged with conspiracy to commit
those acts. With trial beginning next week, he moves to suppress evidence obtained in a search
of his residence and vehicle in the Dominican Republic. He also moves to sever the Indictment’s
four counts from each other and requests that the Court order separate trials on each of them.
The Court will deny both Motions, but it will allow Defendant to renew the Motion to Sever
during trial as the need arises.
I. Background
In May 2023, a grand jury returned a four-count Superseding Indictment against Delgado,
charging him with Conspiracy to Commit Hostage Taking, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1203(a)
1 (Count I), and three counts of Hostage Taking, also in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1203(a) (Counts
II–IV). See ECF No. 14 (Superseding Indictment).
At the outset, the Court briefly recounts the relevant facts of the three incidents and the
investigation thereof. The crimes took place in the Dominican Republic between July 5 and July
30, 2022, under highly similar circumstances. See ECF No. 31 (Opp. to Severance) at 2–4, 13.
According to the Government, Defendant first made contact with all three victims on a dating
application called Grindr; his profile name was “Sebastian.” Id. He picked each victim up in a
vehicle on the pretense of going on a date. Id. Little did these victims know, an unwelcome
third wheel was soon to join. After driving a short distance, Delgado stopped to let an
accomplice into the car. Id. Upon crashing the supposed dates, the accomplice put the victims in
a headlock from behind and threatened them with a knife while Defendant brandished his own
knife. Id. Delgado then demanded ransom in exchange for the victims’ release, instructing that
the money be sent to a CashApp account under the name Geneitha Nettles. Id.
While bearing quite a resemblance to one another, the crimes were not identical. For
instance, Defendant moved his conversation from Grindr to WhatsApp with two of the victims.
Id. He drove different cars to pick his victims up, although the Government claims that he leased
all three vehicles from the same person. Id. Only one victim had his hands zip-tied. Id. at 2. In
addition, the Government does not assert that the crimes occurred at the same location within the
Dominican Republic.
Following victim reports and a request from the FBI to take action regarding the hostage
takings, Dominican authorities began an investigation in August 2022. See ECF Nos. 32-1
(Search Warrant) at 1; 32-2 (Investigation Report) at 1, 7. On September 9, 2023, a magistrate
judge of the Dominican Pretrial Criminal Proceedings Court found “reasonable cause” to issue a
2 warrant for a search to take place at Delgado’s residence in the Dominican Republic. See
Warrant at 5–6. Although the scope of the authorized search is somewhat difficult to parse, it
appears to define the residence as the “location in which [law enforcement] intend[s] to find and
seize items related to the unlawful conduct,” including “electronic devices” and “vehicles.” Id.
at 6. Dominican officials executed the Warrant on September 10, 2022, searching Defendant’s
apartment and a red Hyundai Elantra found in the apartment parking lot that had been linked to
him by multiple witness reports. See ECF No. 32 (Opp. to Suppression) at 4–5; Investigative
Report at 20–21. In the apartment, officials found, inter alia, an iPhone with a background
picture that matched Delgado’s Grindr profile picture, an insurance card for the Hyundai Elantra,
and a key to — apparently — the same vehicle. See Opp. to Suppression at 4 & n.2;
Investigative Report at 21. The search of the car yielded, among other pieces of evidence, two
serrated knives. See Opp. to Suppression at 5; Investigative Report at 21. During the search,
Dominican law enforcement arrested Delgado. See Investigative Report at 20–21.
Following Defendant’s arrest, Dominican immigration officials ordered his deportation to
Venezuela, his country of origin, in accordance with Dominican law. See ECF No. 28 (Mot. to
Suppress) 3–4. Id. Instead of relocating him to Venezuela, however, and without informing him
of his true destination, Dominican immigration agents brought him to Miami at the direction of
the FBI. Id. Once Delgado was on American soil, FBI agents arrested him. Id. at 4.
II. Analysis
In advance of trial, Delgado has filed a Motion to Suppress evidence obtained in the
above-described search of his residence and vehicle. See Mot. to Suppress. In a separate
Motion, he seeks to sever the Indictment’s four counts such that they must be tried separately.
See ECF No. 29 (Mot. to Sever). The Court addresses the Motions in that order.
3 A. Motion to Suppress
In moving to suppress seemingly all the evidence obtained during the search of his
residence and vehicle in September 2022, Defendant relies on both the Fourth and Fifth
Amendments. The Court will consider each in turn.
1. Fourth Amendment
Delgado’s first attempt at suppression invokes the Fourth Amendment. While defendants
are typically entitled to the exclusion of evidence obtained in violation of that Amendment,
Mapp v. Ohio, 367 U.S. 643, 655–56 (1961), constitutional protections do not invariably extend
to aliens, particularly those subjected to state action when outside of the United States. See
United States v. Verdugo-Urquidez, 494 U.S. 259, 271 (1990) (collecting cases indicating that
noncitizens “receive constitutional protections when they have come within the territory of the
United States and developed substantial connections with this country”); Zadvydas v. Davis, 533
U.S. 678, 693 (2001) (“It is well established that certain constitutional protections available to
persons inside the United States are unavailable to aliens outside of our geographic borders.”).
Relevant here, it is clearly established that “the Fourth Amendment has no application” to “a
citizen and resident of [another country] with no voluntary attachment to the United States,
[where] the place searched was located in [another country].” Verdugo-Urquidez, 494 U.S. at
274–75.
In addition, “the [Fourth Amendment’s] exclusionary rule does not normally apply to
foreign searches conducted by foreign officials,” even of U.S. persons. United States v. Mount,
757 F.2d 1315, 1317 (D.C. Cir. 1985). Although the joint-venture doctrine creates an exception
to that rule for situations in which “American officials or officers participated in some significant
way” in the search, id. at 1318, defendants “not protected by the Fourth Amendment at the time
4 of their arrests . . . are not entitled to suppression . . . under [that] doctrine.” United States v.
Bourdet, 477 F. Supp. 2d 164, 177 (D.D.C. 2007).
As the foregoing suggests and as the Government correctly argues, the Fourth
Amendment has no application to the search of Delgado’s residence or vehicle. See Opp. to
Suppression at 5–6. The search took place in the Dominican Republic, and Delgado was, at the
time, a citizen of Venezuela residing in the Dominican Republic. Simply put, not only did he
lack a “substantial connection with our country,” he had no domestic connections to speak of,
either voluntary or involuntary. Verdugo-Urquidez, 494 U.S. at 271–72; see id. at 274–75
(holding Fourth Amendment inapplicable to “a citizen and resident of Mexico with no voluntary
attachment to the United States, [where] the place searched was located in Mexico”). Defendant,
then, cannot argue that the search was unreasonable under the Fourth Amendment. Because the
joint-venture doctrine offers no help to a defendant without Fourth Amendment rights at the time
of search — even if American officials played a significant role, which is at least arguable here
— that path to relief is similarly blocked. See Bourdet, 477 F. Supp. 2d at 177.
Delgado does not contend that Verdugo-Urquidez holds otherwise. In fact, he
acknowledges that the case “appears to foreclose” any Fourth Amendment challenge to this
search. See Mot. to Suppress at 5. Still, he raises two arguments for applying the Fourth
Amendment in order to “preserve” the issue. Id. First, he suggests that Verdugo-Urquidez was
wrongly decided. Id. (citing dissenting opinion). The Court will not entertain that frontal attack
on binding precedent.
Second, Defendant argues that Verdugo-Urquidez has been undermined by a more recent
Supreme Court decision, Boumediene v. Bush, 553 U.S. 723 (2008), which held that the
Suspension Clause applies to individuals detained at Guantanamo Bay. See Mot. to Suppress at
5 5–7. He asserts that Boumediene cast aside Verdugo-Urquidez’s “substantial connections” test in
favor of one looking to the “particular circumstances, the practical necessities,” and “whether
judicial enforcement of the [constitutional] provision would be ‘impracticable and anomalous.’”
Boumediene, 553 U.S. at 759; Mot. to Suppress at 5–6. This is consequential, he says, because
applying the Fourth Amendment to foreign searches like the one in this case would not be
“anomalous” in light of “extensive evidence indicating that the Clause was originally understood
to constrain U.S. government actions outside our territory.” Mot. to Suppress at 6–7.
The Court is not convinced. Boumediene was primarily concerned with rejecting a
formalistic rule that constitutional protections are categorically inapplicable where the United
States lacks de jure sovereignty. See 553 U.S. at 764. The Boumediene Court thus explained
that, where the United States “maintains de facto sovereignty over [a] territory” given “its
complete jurisdiction and control” over it — as it does with Guantanamo Bay — the
Constitution, as applied to foreign citizens, does not “necessarily stop[ ] where de jure
sovereignty ends.” Id. at 755; id. at 753 (taking note of uncontested de facto sovereignty over
Guantanamo Bay). In light of Boumediene’s relatively narrow geographic focus, the Court is
unpersuaded that it overhauled the doctrine as it relates to those places, like the Dominican
Republic, where the United States lacks all control.
What is more, the Court sees nothing in Boumediene casting general doubt on Verdugo-
Urquidez. See Rasul v. Myers, 563 F.3d 527, 529 (D.C. Cir. 2009) (“[T]he Court
in Boumediene disclaimed any intention to disturb existing law governing the extraterritorial
reach of any constitutional provisions[] other than the Suspension Clause.”). Indeed, following
Boumediene, courts in this district have consistently relied on both the substantial-connections
test in general, see, e.g., Zaidan v. Trump, 317 F. Supp. 3d 8, 28 (D.D.C. 2018); FBME Bank
6 Ltd. v. Lew, 209 F. Supp. 3d 299, 326 (D.D. C. 2016), and Verdugo-Urquidez’s Fourth
Amendment holding in particular. See, e.g., Matter of Seizure & Search of Motor Yacht Tango,
597 F. Supp. 3d 149, 152 (D.D.C. 2022); Lopez Bello v. Smith, 651 F. Supp. 3d 20, 37 (D.D.C.
2022); United States v. Larrahondo, 885 F. Supp. 2d 209, 221 (D.D.C. 2012). The Court will
follow suit.
Finally, even if Boumediene shifted the calculus, as Delgado says, he identifies no Fourth
Amendment problem with the search. It was conducted pursuant to a warrant seemingly in
accordance with Dominican law, which is all that is required of a search conducted by foreign
officials acting in a joint venture with American law enforcement, assuming this even occurred.
United States v. Ferguson, 508 F. Supp. 2d 1, 5 (D.D.C. 2007) (“If a joint venture is found to
exist, the Court must then determine if foreign law has been complied with.”). The closest
Defendant gets to finding fault with the search is his observation that officials searched
Delgado’s car “even though the authorized search was to find evidence ‘inside the dwelling.’”
Mot. to Suppress at 1. This argument is difficult to assess because he does not attach or even
describe the document from which he quotes. In any event, as the Government notes, the
Warrant itself appears to contemplate a search of vehicles found at Delgado’s residence. See
Search Warrant at 6 (listing “vehicles” as evidence to be found at the residence); Opp. to
Suppression at 4. In sum, the Fourth Amendment does not apply and would not help Delgado
even if it did.
2. Fifth Amendment
Defendant next requests suppression under the Fifth Amendment, which supplies an
avenue to exclusion that exists even where a search or seizure is conducted by foreign officials.
United States v. Barona, 56 F.3d 1087, 1091 (9th Cir. 1995); see also Ferguson, 508 F. Supp. 2d
7 at 4. Such a remedy is proper under the Fifth Amendment when “the circumstances of the
foreign search and seizure are so extreme that they shock the judicial conscience.” Id. (cleaned
up); see Rochin v. California, 342 U.S. 165, 172 (1952). “[C]onduct does not shock the judicial
conscience when it is ‘simply illegal’; rather, it must be ‘egregious,’” United States v. Getto, 729
F.3d 221, 228 (2d Cir. 2013), and of the sort that “violates fundamental international norms of
decency.” United States v. Emmanuel, 565 F.3d 1324, 1331 (11th Cir. 2009).
We are nowhere close to that standard here. To the Court’s puzzlement, Defendant harps
on the “cooperation between Dominican authorities and the F.B.I.” in conducting the search. See
Mot. to Suppress at 3–4. But he never explains what is problematic about that cooperation, nor
can the Court fathom why it was so. In addition, when “the foreign courts [are] involved and
purport[] to authorize the [search],” its execution “does not come close to requiring” exclusion of
the obtained evidence. Barona, 56 F.3d at 1091. The Dominican courts’ issuance of a warrant in
this case thus forecloses Delgado’s challenge.
Defendant seems to hang his hat on the fact that Dominican law enforcement deported
him to the United States rather than to Venezuela (as apparently required by Dominican
immigration law) to facilitate his arrest by the FBI. See Mot. to Suppress at 3–4. Even if such
maneuver shocked the judicial conscience, it had nothing to do with the search, which occurred
before Delgado’s deportation and arrest. See Opp. to Suppression at 9 n.3. Excluding the fruits
of search therefore would not remedy any arrest-related violation. With Defendant’s first Motion
rejected, the Court now moves to his Motion to Sever.
B. Motion to Sever Counts
8 Delgado’s Motion to Sever, like his Motion to Suppress, offers two independent
arguments. This time, he maintains that the Indictment’s counts were both improperly joined
under Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 8(a), and, separately, that they ought to be severed
under Rule 14(a). The Court addresses the Rules one at time.
1. Rule 8 Joinder
Defendant contends that, as a preliminary matter, the counts against him never should
have been joined. Rule 8(a) governs the joinder of multiple counts against the same defendant,
providing that counts are properly joined when the offenses charged “are of the same or similar
character, or are based on the same act or transaction, or are connected with or constitute parts of
a common scheme or plan.” This Rule “has generally been construed liberally in favor of
joinder.” United States v. Richardson, 161 F.3d 728, 733 (D.C. Cir. 1998). Indeed, offenses
may be “entirely unrelated to each other” and still qualify as of the same character. United States
v. Gooch, 665 F.3d 1318, 1325 (D.C. Cir. 2012).
Delgado argues without elaboration that the four counts were improperly combined
because “they involve different victims, occurred on different dates, and involve different,” but
unspecified, “factual allegations.” Mot. to Sever at 2. Minor differences do not undermine the
conclusion that the three nearly mirror-image hostage takings and the related conspiracy, all
charged under the same statute and occurring within the same month, are “of the same or similar
character” within the meaning of Rule 8(a). The crimes at issue here undeniably satisfy 8(a)’s
modest standard for similarity. See Drew v. United States, 331 F.2d 85, 87, 92 (D.C. Cir. 1964)
(robbery involving use of gun and attempted robbery without display of weapon were
permissibly joined under Rule 8(a) because “similar in nature”); United States v. Mack, 53 F.
9 Supp. 3d 179, 190 (D.D.C. 2014) (two counts of unlawful distribution of same drug were “of
similar character”).
In addition, “[w]here an indictment alleges that the defendant and others participated in a
conspiracy with the shared goal of enriching themselves, and pre-trial submissions allege a
common scheme, joinder is proper.” Gooch, 665 F.3d at 1335 (cleaned up). The Indictment
includes a conspiracy count and explains that the scheme was aimed at procuring ransom money.
See Superseding Indictment at 2. Joinder of these offenses is accordingly proper under the
“common scheme or plan” provision in Rule 8(a) as well.
2. Rule 14 Severance
Joinder is not the end of the story, however. A defendant may seek severance of
correctly joined counts by invoking Rule 14, as Delgado does here. Where joinder “appears to
prejudice a defendant[,] . . . the court may order separate trials of counts, sever the defendants’
trials, or provide any other relief that justice requires.” Fed. R. Crim. Proc. 14(a). It is the
defendant’s burden to show the existence of prejudice. United States v. Brown, 16 F.3d 423, 427
(D.C. Cir. 1994).
This Circuit has recognized several kinds of prejudice relevant to a Rule 14 severance
analysis: “1) [T]he jury may cumulate evidence of separate crimes; 2) the jury may improperly
infer a criminal disposition and treat the inference as evidence of guilt; or 3) the defendant may
become ‘embarrassed or confounded’ in presenting different defenses to the different charges.”
Gooch, 665 F.3d at 1336 (citation omitted). In addition, prejudice may arise from joinder “when
an accused wishes to testify on one but not the other of two joined offenses which are clearly
distinct in time, place and evidence.” Cross v. United States, 335 F.2d 987, 989 (D.C. Cir.
10 1964). That is so because by testifying on one count, a defendant “runs the risk that any adverse
effects” of that testimony “will influence the jury’s consideration of the other count.” Id.
A finding of prejudice nonetheless does not necessitate severance in every case. See Fed.
R. Crim. Proc. 14(a) (“the court may order” relief upon discovering prejudice) (emphasis added).
Rather, “it is incumbent upon the judge to weigh the considerations of economy and expedition
in judicial administration against” any prejudice, such as “the defendant’s interest in having a
free choice with respect to testifying.” Bradley v. United States, 433 F.2d 1113, 1122 (D.C. Cir.
1969) (cleaned up). Indeed, “district courts should grant severance sparingly because of the
strong interests favoring joint trials, particularly the desire to conserve the time of courts,
prosecutors, witnesses, and jurors.” United States v. Celis, 608 F.3d 818, 844 (D.C. Cir. 2010)
(cleaned up).
Delgado submits that a joined trial will prejudice him in every way recognized as
problematic under Rule 14. The Court will march through these arguments in sequence.
a. Propensity and Cumulation
First up is Defendant’s concern that “a jury may use evidence of one crime to infer that
he had a propensity to commit the other offenses and,” relatedly, that “the jury may cumulate the
evidence of all of the crimes charged.” Mot. to Sever at 4. These forms of prejudice are negated
when “evidence of each of the joined offense would be admissible in a separate trial for the
other.” United States v. Blunt, 404 F.2d 1283, 1288 (D.C. Cir. 1968) (citation omitted).
The cross-admissibility of evidence concerning each count is, in turn, determined by
looking to Federal Rule of Evidence 404(b). That Rule provides that “[e]vidence of any other
crime, wrong, or act is not admissible to prove a person’s character in order to show that on a
particular occasion the person acted in accordance with the character.” Fed. R. Evid. 404(b)(1).
11 Such evidence, however, is admissible for other purposes, including “proving motive,
opportunity, intent, preparation, plan, knowledge, identity, absence of mistake, or lack of
accident.” Id. 404(b)(2); see also United States v. Appiah, 2020 WL 3469688, at *6 (D.D.C.
June 25, 2020) (“[A]ny purpose for which bad-acts evidence is introduced is a proper purpose so
long as the evidence is not offered solely to prove character.”) (quoting United States v. Miller,
895 F.2d 1431, 1436 (D.C. Cir. 1990)).
The Government correctly contends that evidence of each hostage taking would be cross-
admissible for purposes of proving Delgado’s “identity.” See Opp. to Severance at 11–14. “[I]f
the facts surrounding the two or more crimes on trial show that there is a reasonable probability
that the same person committed both crimes due to the concurrence of unusual and distinctive
facts relating to the manner in which the crimes were committed, the evidence of one would be
admissible in the trial of the other to prove identity.” Drew, 331 F.2d at 90. The hostage takings
here share more than enough idiosyncratic similarities to clear that bar. In all three, Delgado
allegedly used the same dating-application profile, under the same username, to strike up a
relationship with his victims. See Opp. to Severance at 13. He picked all three up in a car to get
them alone, then stopped to let in an accomplice, who helped him hold the victims at knifepoint.
Id. He demanded ransom from all three and asked for it to be paid to the same CashApp
account. Id.
These are not the kinds of happenstance similarities that “fit into an obvious tactical
pattern which would suggest itself to almost anyone disposed to commit a depredation of this
sort.” Drew, 331 F.2d at 93. Rather, these details point clearly toward a common perpetrator and
are thus cross-admissible under Rule 404(b). See, e.g., United States v. Levi, 45 F.3d 453, 455
(D.C. Cir. 1995) (finding cross-admissible evidence of robberies that “used similar notes, made
12 similar statements and gestures, wore similar clothing, and robbed banks (some more than once)
in the same general area of the city”); United States v. Lawson, 410 F.3d 735, 741 (D.C. Cir.
2005) (same as to robberies “executed by a taller man wielding a distinctive silver-hammered
handgun and a shorter man who collected money from the tellers, and the taller individual
appeared to wear the same clothes during both crimes”); United States v. Pindell, 336 F.3d 1049,
1058 (D.C. Cir. 2003) (similar); see also United States v. Burwell, 642 F.3d 1062, 1066–67 (D.C.
Cir. 2011) (describing modus operandi evidence as typically admitted “pursuant to the identity
exception” to Rule 404(b)).
Defendant offers nothing to rebut this conclusion, likely because no persuasive response
comes easily to mind. The few differences between the crimes — e.g., the use of different cars
and different pick-up spots — are not enough to detract from their essential commonalities. See
Bradley, 433 F.2d at 1120 (no requirement for purposes of this rule “that the two episodes
possess factual sameness in every detail”).
Evidence of each hostage taking would likewise be admissible in a trial of the conspiracy
count. It is a threshold question whether other-crimes evidence is “intrinsic” — meaning that no
Rule 404(b) analysis is triggered — or “extrinsic” to the charged crime. United States v. McGill,
815 F.3d 846, 879 (D.C. Cir. 2016). Our Circuit has concluded that intrinsic evidence “is limited
to acts that are ‘part of the charged offense’ itself or that are ‘performed contemporaneously with
the charged crime . . . if they facilitate the commission of the charged crime.’” Id. at 883
(quoting United States v. Bowie, 232 F.3d 923, 929 (D.C. Cir. 2000)). Where, as here, “the
indictment contains a conspiracy charge, uncharged acts may be admissible as direct [i.e.,
intrinsic] evidence of the conspiracy itself.” Id. at 881 (cleaned up). Because the hostage
13 takings constitute overt acts necessary to show the existence of a conspiracy, each would be
admissible in a separate conspiracy trial, and no Rule 404(b) analysis would even be required.
Finally, evidence, including that which withstands scrutiny under Rule 404(b), may
nevertheless be barred by Rule 403 if the risk of “unfair prejudice” associated with it —
including the forbidden propensity inference — “substantially outweigh[s]” its probative value.
See McGill, 815 F.3d at 880; United States v. Straker, 800 F.3d 570, 589 (D.C. Cir. 2015).
Delgado does not advance any arguments under Rule 403, and the Court sees no basis for
concluding that the evidence of each crime threatens unfair prejudice in relation to its value in
corroborating the perpetrator’s identity. That is especially so because the defense has indicated
in pretrial proceedings that identity will likely be an issue at trial, making corroboration of
Delgado’s involvement highly probative. In addition, “[t]he danger of unfair prejudice [is]
minimal” where the other crimes are so similar that they add “no emotional or other pejorative
emphasis not already introduced by the evidence of the crime charged.” Straker, 800 F.3d at 591
(cleaned up); see United States v. Bell, 795 F.3d 88, 99–100 (D.C. Cir. 2015) (evidence of
murder committed by defendant admissible because “that shooting ‘did not involve conduct any
more sensational or disturbing than the [other]’ conduct attributed to [him]”); United States v.
Bikundi, 2015 WL 5915481, at *6 (D.D.C. Oct. 7, 2015); but see United States v. Jackson, 2021
WL 5711941, at *2 (D.D.C. Dec. 2, 2021) (noting that “danger of unfair prejudice is enhanced”
whenever impeachment evidence is crime “similar to the crime now charged”) (quoting 28
Charles A. Wright & Arthur R. Miller, Federal Practice and Procedure § 6134 (2d ed.)). In sum,
because evidence of each crime would be admissible in separate trials under Rules 404(b) and
403 — or in a conspiracy trial — there is no unfair propensity or cumulation prejudice worked
by joinder here.
14 b. Irreconcilable Defenses
Defendant next asserts that “he will be unable to adequately present a defense to one of
the hostage-taking incidents because it is irreconcilable with a defense to one of the other
counts.” Mot. to Sever at 4. This kind of argument is invoked almost exclusively in motions to
sever the trials of defendants rather than motions to sever counts. See, e.g., Zafiro v. United
States, 506 U.S. 534, 539 (1993). Delgado, indeed, offers no support for his theory that
prejudice can arise from a single defendant’s desire to present irreconcilable defenses. After all,
in assessing this kind of prejudice, courts distinguish between mutually antagonistic defenses
that are merely “tangential to one another” and those “on a collision course”; severance is only
required in the latter scenario. United States v. Bolden, 514 F.2d 1301, 1310 (D.C. Cir. 1975).
While defenses raised by co-defendants may stand in direct opposition to one another, see, e.g.,
United States v. Brodie, 326 F. Supp. 2d 83, 94 (D.D.C. 2004) (contemplating a defendant
“seek[ing] to prove the guilt of a co-defendant in order to prove his own innocence”), the Court
has difficulty imagining two defenses by Delgado that are so in conflict. For instance, an alibi
defense to one hostage-taking count here could coexist with a duress defense to another. Though
it may strain credulity to raise both defenses, that is a conundrum in the vein of strategic
assessment, not undue prejudice.
Even assuming this kind of prejudice is cognizable in a motion to sever counts,
Defendant’s threadbare statement that he wishes to raise irreconcilable defenses, on which he
does not elaborate, is still not enough to warrant severance. See United States v. Franklin, 2005
WL 8157514, at *14 (D.D.C. Dec. 16, 2005) (deeming similar arguments “too vague to establish
that there exists ‘a serious risk that a joint trial would compromise a specific trial right’”)
(quoting Zafiro, 506 U.S. at 539). What is more, it is well settled that even genuinely
15 irreconcilable defenses propounded by co-defendants are not “prejudicial per se.” Zafiro, 506
U.S. at 538. And when prejudice is shown, Rule 14 “leaves the tailoring of the relief to be
granted, if any, to the district court’s sound discretion.” Id. at 539. For instance, prejudice
caused by irreconcilable defenses “is of the type that can be cured with proper instructions,”
which “juries are presumed to follow,” giving courts a much less disruptive alternative to
severance. Id. (cleaned up). In sum, Defendant has not met his burden of showing that any
prejudice exists, let alone prejudice severe enough to justify severance.
Defendant may nonetheless raise this issue again at trial if a risk of prejudice becomes
clear. Schaffer v. United States, 362 U.S. 511, 516 (1960) (“[T]he trial judge has a continuing
duty at all stages of the trial to grant a severance if prejudice does appear.”).
c. Selective Testimony
Finally, Delgado claims that “he may wish to testify as to one of the counts but assert his
right to remain silent as to the other counts” and thus “may be forced into testifying on the count
for which he wished to assert his right to remain silent.” Mot. to Sever at 4 (citing Cross, 335
F.2d at 989). He offers to make an ex parte proffer of his anticipated testimony but does not add
any context for his need to remain silent on three of the counts. Id. at 4 n.1.
In attempting to show prejudice stemming from his selective testimony, Delgado cites the
statement in Cross that because “a defendant’s silence on one count would be damaging in the
face of his express denial of the other[,] . . . he may be coerced into testifying on the count upon
which he wished to remain silent.” 335 F.2d at 989. Later cases have narrowed and clarified that
passage from Cross. As the caselaw currently stands, “the accused’s election to testify on some
but not all of the charges on trial does not automatically require a severance. Such a rule, . . . in
fact, would divest the court of all control over the matter of severance and entrust it to the
16 defendant.” Bradley, 433 F.2d at 1122 (cleaned up). Rather, “no need for a severance exists until
the defendant makes a convincing showing that he has both important testimony to give
concerning one count and a strong need to refrain from testifying on the other.” United States v.
Baker, 401 F.2d 958, 976–77 (D.C. Cir. 1968) (elucidating the “essence of [the] ruling in
Cross”).
Under the standard announced in Baker, Defendant has not done enough to satisfy his
burden of showing prejudice. Even assuming that his testimony on the one count would be
significant and helpful, his reasons for remaining silent on the others remain a mystery. Without
that information, the Court cannot assess prejudice or balance that prejudice against the interest
in judicial economy, which is substantial here because the same physical evidence and much of
the testimony would be relevant to all four crimes. See United States v. Michel, 2019 WL
5797669, at *15 (D.D.C. 2019) (where “severance would result in presenting a significant
amount of overlapping evidence in a second trial, judicial economy strongly weighs against” it).
Nor does joinder prejudice Delgado in his defense regarding the count on which he
wishes to testify. As the Government rightly observes, the “evidence concerning the hostage
takings is so inextricably intertwined that cross-examination would necessarily touch on
evidence regarding each of the three hostage takings.” Opp. to Severance at 16–17. Such cross-
examination would be permitted because, as previously discussed, evidence on the other counts
would be cross-admissible. As with the irreconcilable-defenses rationale, Defendant may raise
this issue again at trial should he be able to articulate the prejudice caused by his selective
testimony.
* * *
17 None of Delgado’s arguments for severance persuades. The counts were properly joined,
joinder creates no prejudice related to propensity and cumulation of evidence, and severance is
not warranted on the current arguments concerning irreconcilable defenses or selective
testimony. This Motion, like the first, thus comes up short.
III. Conclusion
The Court, accordingly, will deny both Motions. Delgado, however, may raise his
Motion to Sever again at trial if justified. A separate Order so stating will issue this day.
/s/ James E. Boasberg JAMES E. BOASBERG Chief Judge Date: December 1, 2023