Coleman v. United States

• Decision Date: 28 November 1969
• Docket Number: No. 21804-21806,21856.,21804-21806
• Parties: Earl COLEMAN, Appellant, v. UNITED STATES of America, Appellee. Alvin J. TOBIN, Appellant, v. UNITED STATES of America, Appellee. Ronald ALLSTON, Appellant, v. UNITED STATES of America, Appellee. Winfield L. ROBERTS, Appellants, v. UNITED STATES of America, Appellee.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — District of Columbia Circuit

137 US App. DC 48, 420 F.2d 616 (1969)

Earl COLEMAN, Appellant, v. UNITED STATES of America, Appellee.

Alvin J. TOBIN, Appellant, v. UNITED STATES of America, Appellee.

Ronald ALLSTON, Appellant, v. UNITED STATES of America, Appellee.

Winfield L. ROBERTS, Appellants, v. UNITED STATES of America, Appellee.

Nos. 21804-21806, 21856.

United States Court of Appeals District of Columbia Circuit.

Argued June 18, 1969.

Decided November 28, 1969.

Petition for Rehearing Denied December 18, 1969.

Mr. Peter D. O'Connell, Washington, D.C., with whom Mr. William F. Wetmore, Jr., Washington, D.C. (both appointed by this court), was on the brief, for appellants in Nos. 21,804, 21,805 and 21,806.

Mr. Robert L. Wright, Washington, D.C. (appointed by this court), for appellant in No. 21,856.

Mr. Julius A. Johnson, Asst.U.S. Atty., with whom Messrs. David G. Bress, U.S.Atty., at the time the brief was filed, and Victor W. Caputy, Asst. U.S.Atty., were on the brief, for appellee. Messrs. Thomas A. Flannery, U.S. Atty., and Roger E. Zuckerman, Asst.U. S.Atty., also entered appearances for appellee.

Before BAZELON, Chief Judge, and TAMM and ROBB, Circuit Judges.

Petition for Rehearing in No. 21856 Denied December 18, 1969.

ROBB, Circuit Judge:

The appellants Earl Coleman, Alvin Tobin, Ronald Allston and Winfield Roberts were convicted on twelve counts of an indictment:¹ one count charging them jointly with unauthorized use of a motor vehicle on or about November 15, 1966 (22 D.C.Code § 2204); one count charging that on November 22, 1966 they entered The National Bank of Washington, D.C., Brookland Branch, with intent to commit robbery (18 U.S.Code § 2113 (a)); five counts charging them jointly with robbery of the Bank on November 22, 1966, in violation of 18 U.S.Code § 2113(a); and five counts alleging the same robberies on November 22, 1966, in violation of 22 D.C.Code § 2901.² Each was sentenced to prison for not less than one nor more than five years on the unauthorized use count and from five to fifteen years on each of the remaining counts, the sentences to run concurrently.

At a few minutes before 9:56 A.M. on November 22, 1966, the Brookland Branch of The National Bank of Washington, on 12th Street, N.E. near Perry Street, was held up. As they were afterwards to testify some of the tellers on duty saw three men enter the bank with drawn guns, others saw four. The bandits, Negro males, were masked with dark glasses to which scarfs or bandanas were attached. Witnesses noticed that one or more wore dark hats, dark gloves, and raincoats or carcoats. The bandits ordered the Bank employees and customers to lie down on the floor. One of the tellers, a lady, was talking on the telephone at the time and was slow in complying with this order. A bandit pushed her, took the telephone receiver out of her hand and struck her in the face with it, breaking her nose. She noticed that this man wore a black hat, sun glasses with a multi-colored bandana tied to them, a dark carcoat, khaki pants and dark gloves. He carried a short-barreled pistol.

Having placed the employees and customers on the floor the bandits "went through and took the money out of the tellers' cages", gathering it up in "dirty white" bags that "looked like pillow cases". The money, in bills and coins, amounted to $15,308.32. Included in the loot were bills the serial numbers of which had previously been recorded by the Bank and packets of bills and rolls of coins bearing notations in the handwriting of Bank employees.

The holdup took only a few moments. Before the bandits left, carrying the bags of money, one of the Bank employees was able to set off the holdup alarm; and after they left another employee got up from the floor, looked out the front window and saw the bandits getting into a dirty light blue or white automobile. She noted and wrote down the tag number of the car. It was a District of Columbia tag, 251-219. She watched the car leave the Bank, head towards Perry Street, and turn left on Perry.

At 9:56 A.M. Officers Ervin and Darzinsky of the Metropolitan Police, who were patrolling in a scout car, responded to the alarm from the Bank. Having spoken to the Bank manager they set out in search of the getaway car. Within minutes they found it abandoned on Perry Street, two blocks from the Bank. It was a blue Mustang bearing D. C. tags 251-219. The engine was running, the door on the driver's side was open, and rolls of coins were scattered on the floor boards and on the ground outside. A loaded automatic pistol was lying on the right of the front seat. The car was parked almost in front of the house of a Mrs. Rosser. When questioned by the officers she told them that at about 9:20 A.M. that morning she had noticed a U-Haul truck, shaped like a Volkswagen bus, parked in front of her house. Shortly afterwards she heard a noise "like a high speed speeding away". She looked out the window again and noticed that the U-Haul truck was gone. Acting on this information Officer Ervin broadcast a lookout for a U-Haul truck.

At 9:56 A.M. Officers Lukic and Yates of the Metropolitan Police, patrolling in another scout car, heard a "flash" lookout that there was a holdup in progress at the Brookland Branch of The National Bank of Washington. Five or ten minutes later they received a second message "to look out for four Negro males, one Negro male was dark skinned, heavy build and wearing a large bushy mustache. These Negro males * * * entered a blue Mustang with D. C. registration and were seen leaving the scene of holdup." The tag number of the Mustang was included in the message. Five or ten minutes after this second message the officers heard a third broadcast that "the blue Mustang was found abandoned and that they the bandits now may be in a U-Haul van-type truck."

Promptly after receiving the lookout for a U-Haul van-type truck Officers Lukic and Yates stationed themselves on an overpass overlooking Kenilworth Avenue, N. E., which they "figured * * * would be a good escape route". In a few minutes they saw a U-Haul van-type truck bound down Kenilworth Avenue. Only one man, the driver, was visible in the truck. The officers "came up behind" the truck and Officer Lukic saw the face of the driver in the truck's large rear-view mirror. The driver was a Negro male, dark skinned, with a heavy mustache. Turning on their red light and siren the officers "pulled the truck over" on Kenilworth Avenue about four blocks from the place where they had first seen it. Before the truck stopped Officer Yates noticed a Negro male looking out through one of the small windows in the rear of the van, "peeping quickly and going down". When the truck and the police car stopped, the police car being to the rear of the truck, the driver of the truck, who turned out to be Coleman, got out and walked towards the policemen, who also got out of their car and walked towards Coleman and the truck. As he walked Officer Lukic "observed a head bob up" at one of the small rear windows of the truck and then quickly duck "back down inside the truck". At this point Lukic drew his gun and told Coleman to turn and put his hands on the side of the truck. Opening the truck's rear doors the officers discovered Tobin, Allston and Roberts inside, lying on a mattress. Also in the truck was more than $14,900 in bills and coins, together with a number of articles of clothing. A fully loaded short-barreled .38-caliber revolver was on the floor behind the driver's seat. A loaded .22-caliber starter's pistol was found in Coleman's right pants pocket.³

Among the articles of clothing and equipment found in the U-Haul truck with the appellants were the following: 4 pairs of sun glasses; 4 scarfs or bandanas; 4 pairs of brown work gloves; 2 pillow cases; 4 felt hats; 2 trench coats; 1 raincoat; 2 jackets. A black silk scarf was found in Allston's pocket. Witnesses at the trial identified many of these articles as similar to those worn by the bank robbers. Also found in Allston's trousers pocket was a packet of twenty-dollar bills. At trial these bills were identified by their serial numbers as part of the money taken from the Bank. In addition, several thousand dollars in bills and rolls of coins recovered in the truck were identified by serial numbers and bank markings as part of the loot. When recovered, most of this money was stuffed in two pillow cases; the rest was scattered on the floor of the truck. Finally, evidence at the trial established that the several rolls of quarters, dimes and nickels recovered in the blue Mustang getaway car, or on the ground nearby, had been taken from the Bank that morning.

Evidence at the trial established that the blue Mustang had been stolen about November 15, 1966 from a used-car lot, where it was parked with the keys on the dashboard. No tags were on the car when it was stolen. As we have said, when it was recovered on Perry Street on November 22 it bore D. C. tags 251-219. These tags had been issued for a 1956 Dodge which was acquired by Coleman in October 1966. As for the U-Haul truck in which the appellants were apprehended, the proof was that this vehicle was rented by one Alvin Douglas, at the instance of Coleman, and with Coleman's money, on November 20, 1966. At the time he received the U-Haul truck Coleman removed a mattress from another truck that he had, and placed it in the U-Haul truck. The appellant Tobin was with Coleman on this occasion.

The appellant Roberts testified at the trial that he had no part in the bank robbery. He said he left home about 8:00 o'clock on the morning of November 22 to visit a young lady who lived near Kenilworth Avenue. Finding that she was not at home he went to a bus stop on Kenilworth Avenue where he was waiting when the U-Haul truck driven by Coleman came by, "slowed up" and his friend Tobin, who was sitting on a mattress in the truck with Allston, opened the door and offered Roberts a ride. Roberts said he got into the...