When will a court deny a severance motion for a non-capitalized murder?

As earlier explained, in determining whether a trial court abused its discretion in denying a severance motion, we consider whether a capital offense has been linked with a noncapital offense, and most particularly whether the linkage "`turns the matter into a capital case.'" (People v. Bradford, supra, 15 Cal.4th at p. 1315, 65 Cal.Rptr.2d 145, 939 P.2d 259.) Here, as defendant points out, he could not be sentenced to death for killing Abono because in 1975, when Abono was killed, there was no death penalty law in effect in California. Accordingly, defendant contends that trying that noncapital murder count with the two capital murder counts was an abuse of discretion by the trial court. We disagree.