Opinion
Case No. 11-20129
07-24-2015
UNITED STATES, Plaintiff, v. SALVATORE BATTALGLIA (D-33), Defendant.
OPINION AND ORDER DENYING DEFENDANT'S MOTION FOR SEVERANCE
Defendant Salvatore Battalgia again moves for severance. Dkt. #1229. The government opposes the motion. The court has written before on this motion, presented in other forms at other times, and the court's analysis and conclusion remains the same. Nothing new is presented.
A motion to sever is left to the discretion of the trial court. United States v. Lopez, 309 F.3d 966, 971 (6th Cir. 2002). "As a general rule, persons jointly indicted should be tried together because 'there is almost always common evidence against the joined defendants that allows for the economy of a single trial.'" Id. (quoting United States v. Phibbs, 999 F.2d 1053, 1067 (6th Cir.1993)). "Severance should be granted 'only if there is a serious risk that a joint trial would compromise a specific trial right of one of the defendants, or prevent the jury from making a reliable judgment about guilt or innocence.'" Id. (quoting Zafiro v. United States, 506 U.S. 534, 539 (1993)). Defendant has not shown that any such risk exists here. As before, defendant still speaks in generalities and fails to show that there is any serious risk of significant prejudice which overcomes the economy of a single trial. Accordingly,
The court notices, however, that Defendant's counsel now acknowledge the existence of "tens of pages" of material in the discovery that pertains to Defendant's apparent activities. --------
IT IS ORDERED that the motion to sever [Dkt. # 1229] is DENIED.
s/Robert H. Cleland
ROBERT H. CLELAND
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE
Dated: July 24, 2015 I hereby certify that a copy of the foregoing document was mailed to counsel of record on this date, July 24, 2015, by electronic and/or ordinary mail.
s/Lisa Wagner
Case Manager and Deputy Clerk
(313) 234-5522