U.S. v. Shanahan

Full title: UNITED STATES OF AMERICA Plaintiff, v. MICHAEL J. SHANAHAN Defendant

Court: United States District Court, W.D. Washington at Tacoma

Date published: Feb 1, 2006

Case No. CR05-5158RBL (W.D. Wash. Feb. 1, 2006)

Opinion

Case No. CR05-5158RBL.

February 1, 2006

ORDER DENYING MOTION TO SEVER

RONALD LEIGHTON, District Judge

This matter is before the court on Defendant Michael Shanahan's Motion to sever [Dkt. #121]. Defendant argues that the charges against him should be severed and tried separately from the charges against his alleged co-conspirator, David Carroll Stephenson.

The common count against the defendants, Count I — conspiracy, is properly joined under Fed.R.Crim.P. 8. Defendant argues that the defendant's trial should be severed under Fed.R.Crim.P. 14, because the defendant's defenses are "mutually antagonistic" and/or "irreconcilable," resulting in prejudice to the defendants. However, Shanahan has not shown that the defenses are mutually antagonistic or irreconcilable. The acquittal of one defendant would net necessarily result in the conviction of the other. Furthermore, the core of Shanahan's defense has not been shown to be irreconcilable with the core of Defendant Stephenson's defense. See United States v. Angwin, 271 F.3d 786, 795 (9^th Cir. 2001); United States v. Throckmorton, 87 F.3d 1069 (9^th Cir. 1996).

Defendant Shanahan's Motion to Sever [Dkt. #121] is therefore DENIED.