CHICAGO — Conrad Black and his three co-defendants will be tried together, but "appropriate'' instructions will be given to the jury to avoid "spill-over guilt,'' the judge presiding over the case has ruled.

U.S. District Court Judge Amy St. Eve said that "because the counts are properly joined and because defendants have failed to establish any prejudice that would require severance, the court denies their respective motions to sever.''

"The court will address defendants' concerns through appropriate jury instructions,'' she said in a decision filed with the U.S. district court in Chicago on Monday.

Edward Genson, Black's U.S. lawyer, said it was his client's co-defendants who wanted to sever from the former media tycoon.

"There are a number of charges against Black that the other people don't have (to face) so they don't want to be tried with us,'' he said in an interview from his office in Chicago on Tuesday.

"It was a legal motion they filed, which the judge denied as inappropriate.''

All four co-defendants will now be tried together, in a trial set to begin March 14.

Black, along with former Hollinger International chief financial officer John Boultbee, former VP Peter Atkinson and ex-general counsel Mark Kipins have all have pleaded not guilty to charges over allegations that they took more than US$80 million from the Chicago-based company.

All of the defendants have been charged with mail or wire fraud, while Black has also been charged with money laundering, and obstruction of justice.

Last week, Black's lawyers urged St. Eve to bar prosecutors from using statements his co-defendants made against him.

All have argued they could not get a fair trial if they were tried together, saying they would be harmed by "spillover evidence'' given the "inflammatory'' nature of the charges.

But the court found that the "mere speculation of `spillover guilt' is not enough'' to sever the trials, since "it is well-established that juries are presumed capable of sorting through the evidence and considering the cause of each defendant separately.''

The latest ruling does little to affect Black's proceedings, Genson said, adding that "granting or denying it (the motion) doesn't alter anything with regard to Mr. Back.''

Genson isn't expecting any further delays to the trial, which was postponed by one week after defence lawyers said they were buried under thousands of unread documents.

The first step will be jury selection, the length of which will depend on "the discretion of the judge as to how long she'll want the jury selection to last and the responses of the people -- whether we could get a jury together that thinks they can be fair,'' he said.

David Radler, former president and chief operating officer of Hollinger International and former publisher of Chicago Sun-Times, pled guilty to one charge is expected to testify against Black and the three others.

Ravelston Corp. Ltd., a company formerly controlled by Black that is now run by a court-appointed receiver, is also named in the suit and is planning to plead guilty to a fraud charge -- a move which Black opposes and is fighting in an Ontario court.

Under Black, Hollinger International owned the Chicago Sun-Times, the Daily Telegraph of London and the Jerusalem Post, among other newspapers. The Daily Telegraph and the Jerusalem Post have been sold, and the name of the company is now the Sun-Times Media Group Inc.