U.S. v. Yockel

Decision Date21 February 2003
Docket NumberNo. 02-3226.,02-3226.
Citation320 F.3d 818
PartiesUNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee v. Robert F. YOCKEL, Jr., Defendant-Appellant
CourtU.S. Court of Appeals — Eighth Circuit

Stephen C. Moss, argued, Asst. Fed. Public Defender, Kansas City, MO, for appellant.

Linda Parker Marshall, argued, Asst. U.S. Atty., Kansas City, MO, for appellee.

Before WOLLMAN and MURPHY, Circuit Judges, and GRITZNER,1 District Judge.

GRITZNER, District Judge.

On this appeal, appellant Yockel asserts the district court2 erred in (1) not holding intent was a requirement for the intimidation element of bank robbery; (2) finding the evidence was sufficient to prove the taking of money by intimidation; (3) precluding defendant from presenting evidence regarding intent and mental health; and (4) failing to grant a continuance or mistrial, requested after the jury was impaneled and sworn, when the court reversed its ruling on the government's motion in limine regarding the admissibility of defendant's mental health evidence. We affirm.

On March 23, 2001, appellant entered UMB Bank located at 14th and Grand in Kansas City, Missouri. He appeared a little dirty and scraggly, his hair was unkempt, and his eyes were black as if he had been beaten. He approached a bank teller and stated that he wanted to withdraw $5,000 from his account. He could not provide an account number, so the teller asked him for identification. Yockel provided his Kansas driver's license, but the teller could not find an account under Yockel's name or social security number.

When the teller asked if the account could be under another name, Yockel told her to look under "Bob Yockel", "Drug Bust", "Evangelistic Services", and "Triple X Deluxe". The teller was unable to find an account under any of these names, and she then sought help from her manager. They still could not find an account for Yockel, and the teller repeatedly told him that she could not find an account for him.

The teller asked Yockel in which branch of the bank he had opened his account; Yockel stated he didn't know. The teller then explained, "I'm sorry, I can't help you." Yockel replied, "Well, I know I have money here." Searching computer records once again, the teller turned the computer screen so Yockel could see it, saying, "There's nothing here," then gave Yockel his identification back.

As Yockel was putting his license away, he asked the teller, "Does it matter to you if you go to heaven or hell?" The teller responded, "Yeah, I'd kind of like to go to heaven." Yockel again asked, "Do you want to go to heaven or hell?" The teller does not recall what her response was. Yockel then told her, "If you want to go heaven, you'll give me the money."

Upon hearing Yockel's statements regarding heaven and hell, the teller became fearful for her life, pondered whether her son would have a mother, and wondered where she would go when she died. She became so frightened, she urinated.

The teller decided to give Yockel some money in the hopes that he would leave her teller window. She grabbed two bundles of $100 bills and one bundle of $50 bills and gave Yockel the cash, amounting to $6,000. When the teller asked Yockel, "How's that?", he responded, "That's great, I'll take it."

During this encounter, Yockel did not, at any time, make any sort of physical movement toward the teller and never presented her with a note demanding money. Yockel never displayed a weapon of any sort, never claimed to have a weapon, and by all accounts, did not appear to possess a weapon.

Tanya Moore, an unarmed security guard on duty that day, noticed Yockel leave the teller line and saw the teller crying and pointing to Yockel as he left the bank. Moore followed Yockel outside, saw Yockel in a car with two other people, and noticed that Yockel was counting money. As Moore approached the car asking if everything was alright, the car drove off. Inside the bank, the teller had now pulled the alarm, but Yockel was not apprehended.

The following day, Yockel visited a different UMB Bank, this one located at 1810 Grand in Kansas City. Yockel approached a teller window and tried to withdraw funds, providing his driver's license to the teller. The teller informed Yockel that he could not obtain money without his account number, to which Yockel replied that he had been able to obtain "money down the street yesterday" without an account number. While this was taking place, another teller recognized Yockel as possibly having robbed the 14th Street UMB Bank the day before and called the police. The police arrived and arrested Yockel.

Yockel was charged in a criminal complaint with bank robbery in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2113(a). Following a psychological examination, a competency hearing was held before a magistrate judge. The only evidence to which both parties would stipulate was the psychological report which concluded that Yockel was competent to understand the nature and consequences of the proceedings against him and to assist properly in his defense. The magistrate judge recommended that the district court find Yockel competent to stand trial. There being no objection by the parties, the district court found Yockel competent to understand the nature and consequences of the proceedings against him and to properly assist in his defense.

On July 24, 2001, Yockel had filed a notice of intent to rely on the defense of insanity. On November 19, 2001, Yockel withdrew the notice of his intent to rely on insanity and expert testimony at trial, but maintained his intention to present evidence of his mental health "through other evidentiary sources." During the pretrial conference, Yockel advised the government and the court that he intended to rely on the defense of general denial and lack of intent.

The case against Yockel was scheduled for trial on February 4, 2002; however, on that date, because Yockel had indicated he intended to offer medical records, personnel records, and lay testimony regarding his history of mental problems and mental treatment, the government filed a motion in limine seeking to preclude such evidence since Yockel was not relying on the defense of insanity. The trial was continued to allow the court time to fully consider the matter. In its motion, the government contended that whether Yockel intended to intimidate the teller was irrelevant, and that the essential issue was whether Yockel did something that would make an ordinary person fear bodily harm.

Yockel contended that the general intent of bank robbery requires proof that he possessed knowledge with respect to the actus reus of the crime and that the use of force or intimidation is part of the actus reus of bank robbery. On February 13, 2002, the district court denied the government's motion in limine. The court found that medical evidence was admissible, not on the issue of Yockel's intent but, rather, on the issue of Yockel's knowledge of his actions, i.e., whether he knew he was physically taking money that did not belong to him. The February 13, 2002, order made it clear that this evidence was relevant and admissible only with respect to Yockel's knowledge of his actions, not his intent.

On the morning of the first day of trial, counsel for Yockel explained to the court that he planned to offer copies of medical records reflecting Yockel's mental health but was not going to offer expert testimony; he intended to present the medical records without a witness. The trial court advised Yockel's attorney that he would not be allowed to present evidence regarding mental illness or mental health in this fashion, and that the court denied the motion in limine on February 13, 2002, expecting Yockel to present expert testimony. The district court and counsel continued to address this issue after jury selection and before opening statements, but, ultimately, the trial court ruled that it was going to exclude mental health evidence in its entirety as not relevant to any issue in the case. The court rescinded its order of February 13, 2002, and granted the government's motion in limine. Appellant moved for a mistrial and a continuance; both motions were denied, and the case proceeded with a two-day jury trial in which Yockel was convicted on Count I of the superceding indictment.

I. Application of the mens rea element of bank robbery to the element of intimidation.

"Analysis of the intent element under § 2113(a) is an issue of law," United States v. Sewell, 252 F.3d 647, 650 (2nd Cir.2001), which we review de novo. United States v. Yousif, 308 F.3d 820, 827 (8th Cir.2002). Likewise, issues of statutory construction are reviewed de novo. United States v. Allen, 247 F.3d 741, 757 (8th Cir.2001), vacated and remanded by ___ U.S. ___, 122 S.Ct. 2653, 153 L.Ed.2d 830, 70 U.S.L.W. 3798 (U.S.2002); see also United States v. Williams, 136 F.3d 547, 550 (8th Cir.1998).

In addressing the issue of whether bank larceny (18 U.S.C. § 2113(b)) was a lesser-included offense of bank robbery (18 U.S.C. § 2113(a)), the Supreme Court indicated that the offense of bank robbery prohibited by § 2113(a) "contains no explicit mens rea requirement of any kind." Carter v. United States, 530 U.S. 255, 267, 120 S.Ct. 2159, 147 L.Ed.2d 203 (2000). The statute of conviction for Yockel, 18 U.S.C. § 2113(a)3, requires only proof of "general intent — that is, that the defendant possessed knowledge with respect to the actus reus of the crime (here, the taking of property of another by force and violence or intimidation)." Id. at 268, 120 S.Ct. 2159 (emphasis in original).

The court in Carter, discussing a hypothetical situation, specifically pointed out that "[s]ection 2113(a) certainly should not be interpreted to apply to the hypothetical person who engages in forceful taking of money while sleepwalking (innocent, if aberrant activity), but this...

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