What is the effect of section 954 of the California Criminal Code when an allegation of sexual assault is brought before a jury?

Section 954 provides that "[a]n accusatory pleading may charge . . . two or more different offenses of the same class of crimes or offenses, under separate counts, . . . provided[] that the court in which a case is triable, in the interest[] of justice and for good cause shown, may in its discretion order that the different offenses or counts set forth in the accusatory pleading be tried separately or divided into two or more groups and each of said groups tried separately." Accordingly, even if an information properly joins charges of different offenses of the same class, the court has discretion to try those charges separately. (People v. Merriman (2014) 60 Cal.4th 1, 37.)