North Carolina § 15A-926 - Joinder of offenses and defendants.

§ 15A-926. Joinder of offenses and defendants.

Joinder of Offenses. - Two or more offenses may be joined in one pleading or for trial when the offenses, whether felonies or misdemeanors or both, are based on the same act or transaction or on a series of acts or transactions connected together or constituting parts of a single scheme or plan. Each offense must be stated in a separate count as required by G.S. 15A-924. Separate Pleadings for Each Defendant and Joinder of Defendants for Trial. Each defendant must be charged in a separate pleading. Upon written motion of the prosecutor, charges against two or more defendants may be joined for trial: When each of the defendants is charged with accountability for each offense; or When, even if all of the defendants are not charged with accountability for each offense, the several offenses charged: Were part of a common scheme or plan; or Were part of the same act or transaction; or Were so closely connected in time, place, and occasion that it would be difficult to separate proof of one charge from proof of the others. Failure to Join Related Offenses. When a defendant has been charged with two or more offenses joinable under subsection (a) his timely motion to join them for trial must be granted unless the court determines that because the prosecutor does not have sufficient evidence to warrant trying some of the offenses at that time or if, for some other reason, the ends of justice would be defeated if the motion were granted. A defendant's failure to make this motion constitutes a waiver of any right of joinder of offenses joinable under subsection (a) with which the defendant knew he was charged. A defendant who has been tried for one offense may thereafter move to dismiss a charge of a joinable offense. The motion to dismiss must be made prior to the second trial, and must be granted unless A motion for joinder of these offenses was previously denied, or The court finds that the right of joinder has been waived, or The court finds that because the prosecutor did not have sufficient evidence to warrant trying this offense at the time of the first trial, or because of some other reason, the ends of justice would be defeated if the motion were granted. The right to joinder under this subsection is not applicable when the defendant has pleaded guilty or no contest to the previous charge. History (1973, c. 1286, s. 1; 1975, c. 166, ss. 19, 27.)