Reamer v. United States

• Decision Date: 16 February 1956
• Docket Number: No. 12583.,12583.
• Citation: 229 F.2d 884
• Parties: Leslie William REAMER, Appellant, v. UNITED STATES of America, Appellee.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Sixth Circuit

229 F.2d 884 (1956)

Leslie William REAMER, Appellant, v. UNITED STATES of America, Appellee.

No. 12583.

United States Court of Appeals Sixth Circuit.

February 16, 1956.

Robert G. Sislock, Pontiac, Mich. (James A. Jameson, Detroit, Mich., on the brief), for appellant.

George E. Woods, Detroit, Mich. (Fred W. Kaess, Detroit, Mich., on the brief), for appellee.

Before SIMONS, Chief Judge, McALLISTER and STEWART, Circuit Judges.

SIMONS, Chief Judge.

On June 28, 1954, the West Road Branch of The Trenton State Bank, in Trenton, Michigan, was robbed by two masked men, carrying guns. The appellant and one Simon Thompson were indicted and on October 19, 1954, convicted by a jury. The appellant independently appealed. The crucial question, as we view it, is whether the appellant was identified as one of the robbers by evidence that was substantial. A motion for acquittal made by the appellant at the conclusion of the Government's case was overruled and he received a sentence of twenty years.

Three of the bank's emloyees were present at the time of the robbery * * * Mrs. Agnes Morrison and Mrs. Olga Barker, tellers, and Mr. Fred Pluskat, the bank's branch manager. Mrs. Morrison was typing when she heard a slight noise, looked up and saw a man with a gun, 2 feet away. He was dressed in dark clothing, with a hat pulled down and a blue handkerchief covering most of his face, the only parts of it showing being the eyes. She was unable to state their color, doesn't remember whether he wore glasses, or was gloved. The man said: "This is it. Get to the floor." She immediately complied, lying face down. She heard Pluskat ordered to the rear of the bank and assumed that the commands were spoken by another man. She then heard the words "Don't be afraid, everything is going fine. There is no use to be afraid, nobody is going to get hurt." She then heard the name "Tommy" spoken while she lay on the floor. She never again saw the man who confronted her. She remembered that his voice had no peculiar qualities about it except that she felt it was reassuring. She estimated the time she saw this man was no more than fifteen seconds.

Mrs. Barker was working at the adding machine when she heard a sound, turned and faced an armed masked man who ordered her to "get down on the floor." Not believing him at first, she stood still and the man said: "This is it. Get down on the floor." This time, she did so and her hands were tied behind her back as she lay on her stomach. She heard him assure Mrs. Morrison that as long as they did as they were told they would not be harmed. She also heard one man address the other as "Tom."

Mahlon Coller, an agent of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, talked with the appellant on July 10th, subsequent to the robbery. He came to the FBI Office, upon request, but was not then put under arrest. He told the agents that he would be willing to have the bank witnesses look at him and that he would appear in a show-up. When the agents were through questioning him, he left of his own accord and went home. In the same period, the officers had been looking for a man by the name of Mahlon Fehl, in connection with the case.

On August 25, 1954, nearly two months after the robbery, the appellant appeared in a line-up at the Detroit Police Department. He was brought in with four others, all dressed in dark clothes, their faces hidden, an arm of each pointing as though it carried a gun, and each was asked to repeat the words that had been used at the time of the holdup. Mrs. Morrison and Mrs. Barker each, coming in singly without opportunity to confer, identified the appellant solely by his voice, * * * "it was reassuring," "a pleasant voice." Mrs. Morrison, testifying, said: "I knew the moment I saw, it was the same man that was in front of me that day the bank was robbed * * * because it looked exactly like the man. The whole appearance of the man looked exactly like the man that was in front of me that day." Mrs. Barker testified: "When I went to the showing I was a little doubtful as to how I was going to be able to identify a man whom I had only seen masked, but when I went to the show-up I saw Mr. Reamer with a hat on, with his face covered, and his hand in that position, I knew definitely that that was the same gentleman who had held me up."

There was no other clearly identifying testimony. A Mrs. Jones saw two unmasked men leaving the bank while looking through her window. She said there was a similarity but she would not say positively that the appellant was one of them. This was the only evidence that undertook to place the appellant at the bank at the time of the robbery.

Here, then, is the situation, as we view it from the record. Two women in a critical position saw an armed man facing them for a few seconds, did not see his face, could not tell the color of his eyes, and heard a voice they had never heard before. They were...