Lafayette Bailey, Appellant v. United States, Appellee.

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Argued September 2, 2009 Decided December 30, 2010

Before WASHINGTON, Chief Judge, BLACKBURNE-RIGSBY, Associate Judge, and NEBEKER, Senior Judge. BLACKBURNE-RIGSBY, Associate Judge: This case arises from a bizarre and elaborate

scheme devised by appellant to extort sexual favors from two victims, both of whom had been recently released from prison and were on probation or parole, by using a forged document and the threat of re-incarceration to coerce their compliance with certain sexual acts. We are asked in this appeal to determine whether the trial court abused its discretion in denying appellant’s motion to sever and permitting the joint trial of the claims. A party seeking reversal must make a showing of the “most compelling prejudice” in order for this court to hold that the trial court abused its discretion in refusing to sever properly joined offenses. Winestock v. United States, 429 A.2d 519, 527 (D.C. 1981) (citing United States v. Rhodes, 569 F.2d 384, 390 (5th Cir. 1978)). Here, appellant was not prejudiced by the trial court’s refusal to sever, as the evidence of appellant’s guilt would have been mutually admissible to prove each offense in separate trials. Therefore, as we will discuss, appellant has failed to make such a showing of compelling prejudice resulting from the denial of the motion to sever.

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