Colorado

Criminal Procedure

Rule 13 – Trial Together of Indictments, Informations, Complaints, Summons and Complaints

Subject to the provisions of Rule 14, the court may order two or more indictments, informations, complaints, or summons and complaints to be tried together if the offenses, and the defendants, if there are more than one, could have been joined in a single indictment, information, complaint, or summons and complaint. The procedure shall be the same as if the prosecution were under such single indictment, information, complaint, or summons and complaint.

Colo. R. Crim. P. 13

Annotation Law dependent on facts of each case. The law relating to joinder and severance, and that which permits consolidation of charges, depends on the facts in each particular case. Hunter v. District Court, 193 Colo. 308, 565 P.2d 942 (1977). Evidence sufficient to justify consolidation of informations. Brown v. District Court, 197 Colo. 219, 591 P.2d 99 (1979). When defendant uses a common scheme to commit highly similar crimes, consolidation is not an abuse of discretion. People v. Gross, 39 P.3d 1279 (Colo. App. 2001); People v. Gregg, __ P.3d __ (Colo. App. 2011). Sexual assault offenses may be joined if the evidence of each offense would be admissible in separate trials. People v. Williams, 899 P.2d 306 (Colo. App. 1995). Joint trial of defendants permitted. People v. Trujillo, 181 Colo. 350, 509 P.2d 794 (1973). Joinder of unrelated charges allowed for trial on sanity issue. Joinder of a charge of forcible rape with an unrelated deviate sexual intercourse charge committed on a different female on a different date for purposes of trial on the sanity issue was not error. People v. Renfrow, 193 Colo. 131, 564 P.2d 411 (1977). Applied in People v. Lyons, 185 Colo. 112, 521 P.2d 1265 (1974); People v. Gonzales, 198 Colo. 450, 601 P.2d 1366 (1979); Jeffrey v. District Court, 626 P.2d 631 (Colo. App. 1981); Gimmy v. People, 645 P.2d 262 (Colo. 1982); Corr v. District Court, 661 P.2d 668 (Colo. 1983).