Gloria Zafiro, Jose Martinez, Salvador Garcia and Alfonso Soto v. United States
Decided January 25, 1993. Sandra Day O'Connor delivered the opinion of the Court.
Docket 91-6824 · 506 U.S. 534 (1993) · Cited 2,251 times
Holding
Rule 14 does not require severance as a matter of law when codefendants present "mutually exclusive defenses." While the Rule recognizes that joinder, even when proper under Rule 8(b), may prejudice either a defendant or the Government, it does not make mutually exclusive defenses prejudicial per se or require severance whenever prejudice is shown.
The Court’s statement of the holding, from the opinion’s syllabus. The syllabus is prepared by the Reporter of Decisions and is not part of the opinion of the Court — read the official opinion for authority.
How the Justices voted
Decided 9–0.
Majority · 8
Concurring · 1
- John Paul Stevens · filed a concurring opinion
“Concurring” means agreeing with the outcome; any split shown is the Court’s judgment, not each Justice’s reasoning. Source: the Supreme Court Database (Spaeth et al.), Washington University.
Precedents cited
Supreme Court decisions this opinion relies on, ordered by how often it cites each. Cases in our collection link through; others are named.
- Richardson v. Marsh · 481 U.S. 200 (1987)
- Bruton v. United States · 391 U.S. 123 (1968)
- Opper v. United States · 348 U.S. 84 (1954)
- Kotteakos v. United States · 328 U.S. 750 (1946)
- Krulewitch v. United States · 336 U.S. 440 (1949)
- United States v. Lane · 474 U.S. 438 (1986)
- Schaffer v. United States · 362 U.S. 511 (1960)
- United States v. Marchant · 25 U.S. 480 (1827)
Cited by
Later Supreme Court opinions in our collection that cite this case.
- Kansas v. Kansas · 577 U.S. 108 (2016)
Official text
Read the official opinion (U.S. Reports, govinfo.gov)
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Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1993). Citation count from the Free Law Project’s CourtListener bulk data. Data last verified 2026-07-03. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).