People v. Kennedy

In People v. Kennedy, 272 A.D.2d 627 (2d Dept 2000) the court reversed a trial court dismissal of an indictment for misjoinder of defendants. In Kennedy, the defendants, two corrections officers, were charged with assaulting an inmate at a correctional facility. At the same presentation, evidence of a distinct assault against the inmate on the same day by different corrections officers was presented for indictment. The Second Department found the defendants had failed to demonstrate potential prejudice to the ultimate decision reached by the grand jury. The court noted that the evidence as to each incident was not so intertwined as to confuse the grand jurors. Additionally, the court pointed out that the evidence against the defendants was neither insufficient nor disproportionate to that presented against the other officers involved in the separate assault. Moreover, the grand jurors had been instructed to consider the evidence separately against the officers involved.