Evalt v. United States

• Decision Date: 13 June 1966
• Docket Number: No. 20040.,20040.
• Citation: 359 F.2d 534
• Parties: Anton Vaughn EVALT, Appellant, v. UNITED STATES of America, Appellee.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Ninth Circuit

359 F.2d 534 (1966)

Anton Vaughn EVALT, Appellant, v. UNITED STATES of America, Appellee.

No. 20040.

United States Court of Appeals Ninth Circuit.

March 10, 1966.

Rehearing Denied June 13, 1966.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

William C. Harrison, Spokane, Wash., for appellant.

Frank R. Freeman, U. S. Atty., Spokane, Wash., for appellee.

Before POPE, DUNIWAY and ELY, Circuit Judges.

DUNIWAY, Circuit Judge:

Evalt was convicted of robbing a federally insured bank in the small town of Twisp, Washington, a violation of 18 U.S. C. § 2113(a). He was also convicted of a violation of section 2113(d) in that he put in jeopardy the life of the teller at the bank.

The essential facts of the offense are stated in a written confession which Evalt gave to a representative of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The confession, in the handwriting of the F. B.I. agent, except for the last paragraph, and the signature, and initialling ("A. E.") of strikeovers and at the bottom of each page (all written by Evalt), reads, in pertinent part, as follows:

"Sept. 9, 1963 Wenatchee, Wash.

"I, Anton Vaughn Evalt, hereby make the following free and voluntary statement to George J. Foster who has identified himself to me as a Special Agent of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. I have been advised that I do not have to make any statement and that any statement that I make can be used against me in a court of law. I have been advised that I have the right to consult an attorney. No threats or promises of reward were made to me to make this statement.

* * * * * *

"I had worked in Twisp, Wash. during the World War II for the U. S. Forest Service as a look out on Birch Mountain.

"I wanted to build a sailboat and so I planned on robbing a bank in order to get money to buy materials to build a sail boat. I decided on a bank in Twisp, Wash. because I was familiar with the area.

"I bought a 1950 Chevrolet 2 door sedan from Ray Gross who lives in Yacolt, Wash. I purchased this car about 2 weeks ago. My home is at Yacolt, Wash. I left Yacolt, Wash. the afternoon of Sept. 4, 1963 driving the Chevrolt A.E. Chevrolet enroute to Twisp, Wash. I stopped and slept in the car the evening of Sept. 4, 1963 somewhere south of Chelan, Wash.

"I arrived about 3 miles south of Twisp, Wash. about 9:30 a. m. on the morning of Sept. 5, 1963.

"I pulled off the road and finished a beer there, and then went on into Twisp, Wash.

"I planned on getting to the bank in Twisp, A.E. Wash. sometime between 10:15 a. m. and 10:30 a. m. I pulled into Twisp, Wash. at 10:15 a. m. on 9/5/63.

"I was wearing a dark rain coat, sort of a black blue civilian made, I had on pl A.E. black pants and tennis shoes, a dark color.

"I was wearing orange rubber gloves. I was wearing a brownish black hunting cap with two silk stockings hanging loose.

"I had an Olympic High Standard short .22 pistol which was mine.

"I pulled up in front of the bank, got out of the car and left the motor running.

"I walked into the bank, up to a male teller, and said `This is a hold up.\' I said to take all the money from his drawer and lay it on the counter. The male teller did this. I had the gun in my right hand and picked the money up with my left hand.

"I ran or walked fast out of the bank, the name of the bank I don\'t recall, got into the car and drove out of town at a fast rate of speed. A.E.

"When I left Twisp, Wash. I drove up Twisp River Road planning on going to Twisp Pass. However the engine started knocking, and I lost all A.E. oil pressure, so I pulled off on a side road and stopped on a concrete bridge and set fire to the car. I had the license plates in the back seat of the car and set fire to it in order to burn up the plates. I left the rain coat, the rubber gloves and the silk stockings in the car. I kept the hat.

"I put the money and the pistol in the pack sack, along with the pistol. I didn\'t spend one cent of the money.

"After burning the car I headed for the Butter Milk Creek Trail and from there to Reynolds Peak, to Twisp Pass, and from there to Eagle Creek Trail and then to Bolder Mountain and from there to Stehekin.

"I arrived at Stehekin at 8:15 p. m. on sic Sept. 8, 1963.

"I went into Stehekin, Wash. the morning A.E. of Sept. 9, 1963 and tried to find someone to take me to Cascade Pass.

"I found a man naned A.E. named Ray Burns and started up the pass, and about 14 miles out of Stehekin, Wash. I was arrested by the Sheriff.

"I have Read this Statement consisting of this page & 4 others I have initialed the bottom of each page & the cross-outs this statement is true & correct.

Anton V. Evalt. "Witness: Ralph D. Hobson, deputy — Chelan County S.O George J. Foster, Special Agent FBI Wenatchee, Wash."

The evidence also shows that before the robbery Evalt loaded the pistol, removed the license plates from the car and installed behind the back seat, as a protection against bullets, a 12 x 4 inch plank, and that at some time, either before or after the robbery, he chiselled off the number of the motor.

His plea was "Not guilty, by reason of temporary insanity." A plea in that form is not provided for by federal law, but, of course, the defense of insanity is encompassed within the plea of not guilty. He was tried twice, and was convicted on both counts at the conclusion of the second trial.

Evalt makes the following contentions on this appeal:

1. He was unlawfully arrested without a warrant, and the search of his person and of a pack sack that he was carrying was therefore also illegal.¹

2. The court erroneously received testimony from the sheriff as to certain statements made by Evalt because the arrest was illegal and the sheriff did not advise him of his constitutional rights before questioning him about the offense.

3. Confessions that he made to certain newspaper reporters, to the FBI agent, and to two deputy sheriffs should not have been received in evidence because the arrest was illegal, he had not been advised of his constitutional rights, he did not have a lawyer, and the officers did not get in touch with his wife after he asked them to do so. He also claims that his physical condition was such as to make the confession or confessions involuntary.

4. He was not taken before a United States Commissioner as promptly as he should have been and before he was interrogated by the newsmen and the FBI agent.

5. The evidence shows that he was insane as a matter of law when he robbed the bank.

6. It was plain error for the trial court to permit the United States Attorney to tell the jury that if they acquitted Evalt he would walk out of the court a free man, while at the same time the court refused to permit defense counsel to argue that, if Evalt were acquitted, psychiatric assistance and care would be available to him through the United States Navy.

7. It was error to permit the sheriff and two of his deputies to express an opinion as to his sanity.

1. The arrest was lawful and the incidental search was therefore permissible.

The town of Twisp, located at the junction of the Methow and Twisp Rivers, lies in a mountain valley a few miles north and east of Lake Chelan. The lake is narrow and fjordlike, some 55 miles long, and runs from the town of Chelan at its eastern end, at the foot of the Cascade Mountains, into the heart of the eastern part of the Cascades. The valley of the Twisp River runs roughly parallel to Lake Chelan and is separated from it by a high ridge which is exceedingly steep and rough. The town of Stehekin is situated at the upper end of the lake and about 35 air miles from Twisp. It is an isolated community which cannot be reached by road. The only road at Stehekin is one running some twenty miles or so up the Stehekin River to the foot of Cascade Pass, where it ends. Access to the town is by airplane or by boat up Lake Chelan. The town itself is a tiny village.

The offense occurred on September 5, 1963, a Thursday. After Evalt robbed the bank, he proceeded up the Twisp River to the point where he burned the car. He took to the hills carrying a loaded rifle and the pack sack. He had no camping or sleeping equipment. He wandered in the mountains during the remainder of the day on the 5th, and on the 6th, 7th and 8th. He made his appearance at Stehekin on the evening of the 8th, a Sunday. The next morning he approached one Bird, a resident of the area, and asked Bird to take him by car from Stehekin to the foot of Cascade Pass. Evalt's intention apparently was to hike over the pass and down into the valley of the Skagit River at the town of Marblemount, several miles away.

News of the bank robbery had preceded Evalt to Stehekin. When he accosted Bird on Monday morning, September 9, Bird, because of his behavior and appearance, suspected that he was the Twisp robber. Bird caused the sheriff of Chelan County at Wenatchee to be notified by radio that a person who appeared to answer the description of the Twisp bank robber was in the Stehekin vicinity. The sheriff proceeded immediately to Chelan where he met a Mrs. Young, who had seen Evalt standing beside his car outside of Twisp a few minutes before the bank robbery, and had so notified the sheriff after seeing a newspaper photograph of the burned Chevrolet. The sheriff and his brother, who was a pilot, accompanied by Mrs. Young, then flew to Stehekin, where they were met, by prearrangement, at the Stehekin airport by a car and driver. The latter had agreed with Bird that Bird would stall, and would proceed up the road with Evalt as slowly as possible, so that the sheriff could overtake him before Evalt could get away again into the mountains. In this Bird was successful; he used the pretext of talking to the driver of a passing truck. The sheriff, accompanied by his brother, Mrs. Young and the driver, overtook Bird and his passenger about 14 miles out of Stehekin, where Bird's car was stopped; Evalt was sitting in the front seat of Bird's car with a loaded rifle beside him.

Knowing that...