misjoinder
The improper joining of a party to a criminal or civil lawsuit. In federal civil cases , Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 21 governs misjoinder. A party is considered misjoined if joining them to a case violates permissive joinder under Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 20 . Thus, a party is misjoined if the alleged claim against them does not arise out of the same transaction or occurrence as other defendants , and there are no common questions of law or fact. A party who is misjoined may, at any time, move for the court to drop her from the suit under FRCP 21 or the court may drop a party on its own. However, misjoinder is not grounds for dismissal of the case in its entirety.
In federal criminal cases , Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure 8 governs. A defendant is misjoined in a criminal case if the charged offense is not of the same character, is not based on the same act or transaction, or is not connected with a common scheme as other defendants. Additionally, under Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure 14(a) , a court may order separate trials or grant a severance of defendants if joining a defendant in a case would unfairly prejudice any of the parties.
[Last reviewed in July of 2020 by the Wex Definitions Team ]
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