SF 121

as introduced - 83rd Legislature (2003 - 2004) Posted on 12/15/2009 12:00am

  1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to criminal justice; providing the 
  1.3             consolidation of burglary trials in certain 
  1.4             circumstances; proposing coding for new law in 
  1.5             Minnesota Statutes, chapter 609. 
  1.6   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.7      Section 1.  [609.5821] [CONSOLIDATION OF BURGLARY CHARGES.] 
  1.8      (a) At the discretion of the prosecutor, two or more 
  1.9   charges brought against a defendant for separate offenses under 
  1.10  section 609.582 may be consolidated in a single complaint and 
  1.11  tried together if the offenses occurred within a one-year time 
  1.12  frame. 
  1.13     (b) Notwithstanding paragraph (a), the defendant may bring 
  1.14  a motion to have one or more of the offenses tried separately.  
  1.15  The court must grant the motion if it finds that consolidation 
  1.16  of a particular offense is likely to result in substantially 
  1.17  unfair prejudice because the facts as alleged are wholly 
  1.18  unrelated in motive, method of operation, location, intent, and 
  1.19  preparation. 
  1.20     (c) Offenses consolidated under this section remain 
  1.21  separate offenses for all other purposes, such as sentencing and 
  1.22  calculation of a criminal history score.  If the offenses 
  1.23  proceed to trial, the court must instruct the jury that the 
  1.24  offenses are separate and distinct and that the prosecution must 
  1.25  prove each offense beyond reasonable doubt.