State v. Solis

The Supreme Court affirmed Defendant's conviction of aggravated assault with a dangerous weapon and simple assault stemming from two separate incidents against Defendant's girlfriend, holding that the circuit court did not abuse its discretion by joining the indictments for trial and did not err by denying Defendant's motion for judgment of acquittal on the charge of aggravated assault.On appeal, Defendant argued, among other things, that the charges from the two incidents were inappropriate for joinder because the incidents occurred almost three months apart, involved different methods of perpetuating the alleged assaults, were not part of the same act or transaction, and were not connected by a common plan or scheme. The Supreme Court disagreed, holding (1) the court did not abuse its discretion by granting the state's motion to join the indictments against Defendant because the court properly considered the similar character of the two offenses committed by Defendant and indicated the importance of each offense as showing part of a common scheme of Defendant's domestic abuse of his girlfriend; and (2) there was sufficient evidence to establish Defendant's guilt for aggravated assault with a dangerous weapon. View "State v. Solis" on Justia Law