A. Such conditions can arise from all sorts of situations. They exist in particular if one offense developed from another offense, and if the judgment has to be based on the same facts. That was the case in the Katzenberger-Seiler affair, which we have been discussing.
Q. What was the reason for the prosecutor to connect the two cases?
A. Both cases, as is proved clearly by the opinion of the court, had to be decided on the basis of the same facts. Therefore, a joinder was altogether natural and corresponded to the customary treatment such as was applied in other cases as well.
Q. What was the legal nature of such joinder?
A. It was purely a measure of expediency.
Q. Is a defendant entitled to ask for not combining his case with that of another defendant because in the case of a joinder he loses evidence?
A. The defendant does not have such a claim. According to the general legal doctrine, which existed prior to 1933, a joinder is admissible even if, as a result of a joinder, one codefendant can no longer appear as a witness. But if it is decisive that the codefendant should appear as the witness, the two cases can be separated after all so as to have an opportunity to examine the codefendant as a witness. But that is left entirely to the discretion of the court, and the defendant has no claim to have that question decided in one definite way.
Q. When several penal cases are combined, does that mean that all possibility is excluded to examine one of the codefendants in the same proceedings as a witness? I would like you to supplement your previous answer and to tell us whether it is possible temporarily to separate proceedings.
A. Such temporary separation is allowed expressly by jurisdiction. Therefore, during one proceeding, temporarily a separation can be ordered. One codefendant can be examined as a witness, and after he has been examined the case can be recombined.
Q. Did anybody at any time—be it the prosecutor, the defense counsel, or the defendant—during the trial make a motion to separate proceedings?