State v. Ross

OPINION

PAGE, Justice.

Respondent Rossco A. Ross was found guilty and convicted of one count of identity theft and two counts of theft by swindle after a jury trial in Hennepin County.1 On appeal, the court of appeals reversed Ross’s convictions, holding that the offenses were improperly joined and that, as a result of the improper joinder, Ross was entitled to a new trial. In this appeal, conceding that the offenses were improperly joined for trial, the state asks that we abandon our traditional joinder analysis under Minn. R.Crim. P. 17.03, subd. 3(l)(a), in favor of “a less restrictive…