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Tennessee Rules of Criminal Procedure, Rule 14
RULE 14. SEVERANCE OF OFFENSES AND DEFENDANTS
(a) Timeliness of Motion; Waiver; Double Jeopardy. A defendant's motion for severance of offenses or defendants must be made before trial, except that a motion for severance may be made before or at the close of all evidence if based upon a ground not previously known. Severance is waived if the motion is not made at the appropriate time. A Motion by the State for severance of counts or defendants may be granted only prior to trial, except by consent of the defendant. If a motion for severance is granted during the trial and if the motion was made or consented to by the defendant, the granting of the motion shall not bar a subsequent trial of that defendant on the offenses severed.
(1) If two or more offenses have been joined or consolidated for trial pursuant to Rule 8(b), the defendant shall have a right to a severance of the offenses unless the offenses are part of a common scheme or plan and the evidence of one would be admissible upon the trial of the others.
(2) If two or more offenses have been joined or consolidated for trial pursuant to Rule 8(a), the court shall grant a severance of offenses in any of the following conditions:
(i) if before trial on motion of the State or the defendant it is deemed appropriate to promote a fair determination of the defendant's guilt or innocence of each offense.
(ii) if during trial with consent of the defendant it is deemed necessary to achieve a fair determination of the defendant's guilt or innocence of each offense. The court shall consider whether, in light of the number of offenses charged and the complexity of the evidence to be offered, the trier of fact will be able to distinguish the evidence and apply the law intelligently as to each offense.
(iii) if the Court finds merit in both a motion by the district attorney general for a continuance based upon exigent circumstances that temporarily prevent the State from being ready for trial of the joined prosecutions and an objection by the defendant to the continuance based on a demand for speedy trial. If the Court grants a severance under this subdivision, it shall also grant a continuance of the prosecutions wherein the exigent circumstances exist.
(1) If a defendant moves for a severance because an out-of-court statement of a codefendant makes reference to the defendant but is not admissible against the defendant, the court shall determine whether the State intends to offer the statement in evidence at trial. If so, the court shall require the prosecuting attorney to elect one of the following courses:
(i) a joint trial at which the statement is not admitted into evidence or at which, if admitted, the statement would not constitute error; or
(ii) a joint trial at which the statement is admitted into evidence only after all references to the moving defendant have been deleted, if, as deleted, the confession will not prejudice the moving defendant; or
(iii) severance of the moving defendant.
(2) The court, on motion of the State or on motion of the defendant other than under subdivision (c)(1), shall grant a severance of defendants if:
(i) before trial, it is deemed necessary to protect a defendant's right to a speedy trial or it is deemed appropriate to promote a fair determination of the guilt or innocence of one or more defendants; or
(ii) during trial, with consent of the defendant to be severed, it is deemed necessary to achieve a fair determination of the guilt or innocence of one or more defendants.
(d) Failure to Prove Grounds for Joinder of Defendants. If a defendant moves for severance at the conclusion of the State's case or at the conclusion of all the evidence, and if there is not sufficient evidence to support the allegation upon which the moving defendant was joined for trial with the other defendant or defendants, and if, in view of this lack of evidence, severance is deemed necessary to achieve a fair determination of the moving defendant's guilt or innocence, the court shall grant a severance.
Offenses permissively joined by the prosecution (or by the court) may be severed upon motion by the defendant as a matter of right, with one exception: where the offenses are part of a common scheme or plan and the evidence of one would be admissible upon the trial of the others.
The provisions of section (b)(2) set out when and under what circumstances there may be a severance of cases consolidated under the compulsory joinder rule.
Severance of defendants is covered in section (c), dealing with the Bruton issue. Bruton v. United States, 391 U.S. 123 (1968). Subdivision (c)(1)(i) and (ii) contain provisions making severance unnecessary where no Bruton violation would follow, as would be true, for example, where the confessing co-defendant testifies or where redaction eliminates any prejudice to the non-confessing co-defendant.
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