Bram v. United States, 15062.

• Decision Date: 09 November 1955
• Docket Number: No. 15062.,15062.
• Citation: 226 F.2d 858
• Parties: John Jacob BRAM, Appellant, v. UNITED STATES of America, Appellee.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Eighth Circuit

226 F.2d 858 (1955)

John Jacob BRAM, Appellant, v. UNITED STATES of America, Appellee.

No. 15062.

United States Court of Appeals Eighth Circuit.

November 9, 1955.

William E. Crowder, Minneapolis, Minn., for appellant.

George E. MacKinnon, U. S. Atty., and Kenneth G. Owens, Asst. U. S. Atty., St. Paul, Minn., for appellee.

Before WOODROUGH, JOHNSEN and VOGEL, Circuit Judges.

WOODROUGH, Circuit Judge.

Appellant was convicted of robbing the State Bank of Danvers, Danvers, Minnesota (insured by Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation) on October 13, 1953, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2113(a) and (d) and was sentenced to 25 years imprisonment.

The chief witness for the government was one Howard Milton Mason, Jr., who admittedly participated in the bank robbery, and was under indictment for that offense at the time of the separate trial of appellant. Mason was also under indictment in Wisconsin for burglary at the time of the trial and had a criminal record as was shown. The appellant did not take the witness stand in his own defense nor introduce evidence of good character. On this appeal he does not challenge the sufficiency of the evidence to support the verdict and judgment against him.

The grounds relied on by appellant for reversal are (1) that the court erred in receiving inadmissible, prejudicial evidence; (2) that the court erred in permitting certain improper cross examination of witnesses called to prove an alibi; (3) that the court committed reversible error in summarizing the evidence to the jury.

Before discussing the grounds for reversal, an outline of the evidence may be summarized as follows.

There was substantial evidence to establish that on October 13, 1953, at about 1:50 P.M., two men entered the State Bank of Danvers, Minnesota and through the use of an automatic pistol took away money and property (unissued travelers checks) in the amount of $11,911.50. They forced three employees of the bank and two customers to lie on the floor, and before leaving the bank, compelled the employees and customers to enter the small bank vault and locked them in. Both robbers wore business suits and hats; the larger of the two, who held the pistol, wore a hankerchief over his face below his eyes and was close to six feet in height and weighed about 190 pounds. The smaller man wore a rubber mask or "devil face mask" over his face, had dark eyes, was about five feet eight or nine inches in height and weighed about 160 to 175 pounds. The larger man was admittedly Howard Milton Mason, Jr.

Mason testified for the prosecution that he and appellant John Bram first met in 1940 at the St. Cloud Reformatory where they were both doing time together and were friends and social acquaintances since that time. Some time prior to October, 1953, Mason himself was in great need of money and he said that Bram was behind on certain payments he was required to make by an order in bastardy proceedings to a girl named Marlys Rogers. Bram suggested robbing the bank at Danvers which was in an area with which he was acquainted, being near the Bram farm where Bram's mother lived.

Mason testified that on Thursday, October 8, 1953, he and Bram went from Minneapolis to Danvers in a Lincoln car belonging to and driven by Bram to survey the situation as to the bank and plan a method of robbery and escape to be carried out at some subsequent date.

They planned to steal a car from the Hansford Pontiac lot in Minneapolis for use in the robbery and to leave Bram's Lincoln car near a bridge and grove of trees close to the Bram farm until after the robbery. The proceeds of the robbery were to be transferred from the car used in the robbery to the Lincoln car and then hidden in a haystack in the meadow near the Bram farm.

After making the reconnaissance of the bank and planning the robbery, Bram and Mason returned to Minneapolis but on the way stopped at Kerkhoven, Minnesota, where Bram made a telephone call to Minneapolis to Marlys Rogers. He assured her he was soon going to pay up back payments due her.

Bram's work record showed that he was absent from his employment on October 8, 1953 (the date of the reconnaissance), and also showed that he worked on the 9th of October, a Friday.

Mason testified that on Saturday, October 10, 1953, he and Bram went to a Kresge store in Minneapolis and purchased two rubber "devil" masks and two sets of rubber gloves. The clerk who made the sale identified both Bram and Mason as the purchasers. In the afternoon of October 10, Mason stated they went to a gravel pit on the outskirts of Minneapolis and tried out the gun to be used in the robbery which gun Bram had obtained from his sister. The gun had a tendency to jam but both agreed it would serve the purpose.

Mason also testified that on Sunday, October 11, he and Bram drove in Bram's Lincoln automobile to Cannon Falls, Minnesota, where they stole a set of 1953 Minnesota license plates from a Ford car and returned to Minneapolis having agreed that Mason would drive his 1952 Dodge truck to the Bram farm and leave it there.

On Monday, October 12, Bram worked at his place of employment and Mason started to drive his truck towards the Bram farm, leaving Minneapolis about 11:40 a. m. The truck broke down and got only as far as Willmar, Minnesota, where Mason left it and started to hitch hike back to Minneapolis, to meet Bram at his place of residence at 18th Street and Second Avenue in Minneapolis as they had previously agreed. At Delano, Minnesota, Mason tried to reach Bram on the telephone several times but was unsuccessful. He then hired one Loren Yaeger to take him to Minneapolis in Yaeger's car and after arriving in Minneapolis, Yaeger at Mason's direction drove to Bram's residence. Yaeger in his testimony confirmed this portion of Mason's testimony and testified as to the street number of the residence where Mason got out of the car, which street number was in fact Bram's residence.

Later that evening about 9 p. m., Mason joined Bram and they drove together to the Hansford Pontiac lot in Minneapolis where Mason stole a 1952 powder blue Pontiac car and at a place a block away, they removed the license plates and substituted the plates previously stolen off the Ford car at Cannon Falls.

Mason then drove the Pontiac and Bram his Lincoln car to the hayfield on the Bram farm where they parked the Pontiac and the two then drove to Willmar. There Mason picked up his truck and they both then returned to the hayfield. They slept there in Bram's Lincoln until the morning of October 13th.

On the morning of Tuesday, October 13, Mason drove the Pontiac car and Bram drove his Lincoln car to the previously arranged point and there the Lincoln was parked. Bram left a change of clothing on the back seat of the Lincoln which was observed by a witness.

Mason testified that they had enlarged the eye holes in the masks previously purchased and that Bram's fit and he later wore it during the robbery, but Mason's did not fit and he discarded it for a handkerchief. Mason stated that they both drove in the stolen Pontiac to Danvers but did not stop as they considered there were too many people around the bank and when they returned a second time around noon, they found the bank closed. In driving around they ran low on gas and stopped to buy some at a station west of Danvers. Both were short of funds so Mason left his watch as security. At that time the license plates stolen from the Ford were on the Pontiac and the numbers were written down by the woman who sold them the gasoline. At about 2:00 p. m. they entered the bank and committed the robbery.

After leaving the bank, Mason stated that he drove the Pontiac along the prearranged route to where the Lincoln was parked and there the proceeds of the robbery were transferred to the Lincoln car and the license plates removed from the Pontiac and placed inside the Lincoln. The Pontiac was abandoned at this spot. They both drove in the Lincoln to the hayfield where the loot was cached in a haystack. They changed clothes and left. Mason soon thereafter started to drive off in his truck and stated that as he was leaving, Mrs. Bram, John's mother, and her hired man Rogers came driving by and they stopped and talked with Mason. After the conversation, Mason returned to Minneapolis.

Bram's work record showed that he was absent from his employment all day on Tuesday, October 13, 1953, but was back at work on Wednesday the 14th. A fellow employee testified that Bram was off work on the 13th of October and on the next day told him that he, Bram had been duck hunting up by Benson which is only a few miles from Danvers. On the evening of the 14th, Mason and Bram met after a telephone call and drove in Mason's truck to the haystack, picked up the proceeds of the robbery and returned to Minneapolis. Mason said they threw the money bags into a small creek and they were later recovered there. At Minneapolis, according to Mason, the proceeds of the robbery were transferred to Bram's Lincoln car and on the morning of October 15th the two men drove outside of Minneapolis and into a field where they burned the money wrappers (remnants of which were recovered) and divided the proceeds consisting of money and travelers checks. Bram then drove Mason back to Minneapolis.

Bram's work record showed that he was absent from his employment on the morning of October 15, 1953,...