State Of Washington v. John Leeland Hale, 74853-0

John Leeland Hale was charged with four counts of felony domestic violence violations of a court order arising on different dates (Jan 2014, Mar 2014, May 6, 2015, May 11, 2015).
Hale moved pretrial to sever counts: he sought separation of count one and count two from each other and from counts three and four; he grouped counts three and four together.
The State dismissed two of the earlier counts before trial (first dismissing the Jan. 2014 count, later dismissing the Mar. 2014 count), so the May 6 and May 11, 2015 offenses proceeded to trial as counts one and two.
The trial court denied the motion to sever (as to the three counts then pending) on the ground they involved a similar course of conduct and would not unduly prejudice Hale; Hale did not renew a severance motion before or at the close of evidence.
Jury convicted Hale of the May 6, 2015 count (trial count one); the jury deadlocked on the May 11, 2015 count, which the State later dismissed. Hale appealed the conviction arguing severance error and ineffective assistance for counsel’s failure to renew a severance motion.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether the trial court abused its discretion by denying severance of charges	Hale: joinder forced a stronger case’s evidence to bleed into the weaker charge, causing prejudice	State: the counts involved similar course of conduct; no undue prejudice from joint trial	Denial of severance was not reviewed on merits because Hale waived the argument by failing to renew the motion at or before close of evidence
Whether counsel was constitutionally ineffective for failing to renew or properly move to sever	Hale: counsel had no strategic reason to forgo renewal; separate trials likely would have produced different outcomes	State: defendant must show motion would likely have been granted and that different results were reasonably probable; waiver and outcomes matter	Counsel’s alleged failure was not prejudicial — Hale was convicted only on the count for which evidence was strong and the count potentially prejudiced by joinder was dismissed

State v. Kalakosky, 121 Wn.2d 525 (1993) (standard of review for joinder and severance decisions)
State v. Russell, 125 Wn.2d 24 (1994) (factors for prejudice and severance analysis)
State v. Huynh, 175 Wn. App. 896 (2013) (defendant’s burden re: manifest prejudice and timing of severance motion)
State v. McFarland, 127 Wn.2d 322 (1995) (Strickland framework and presumption of effective assistance)
State v. Sutherby, 165 Wn.2d 870 (2009) (defendant must show severance would likely have been granted and prejudice from joinder)