Sanders v. United States, 5374
| Decision Date | 20 October 1956 |
| Docket Number | 5375.,No. 5374,5374 |
| Citation | 238 F.2d 145 |
| Parties | Robert Clyde SANDERS, Appellant, v. UNITED STATES of America, Appellee. Joe Starr GULLAHORN, Jr., Appellant, v. UNITED STATES of America, Appellee. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Tenth Circuit |
William L. Bromberg, Denver, Colo., for appellants.
Melvin L. Robins, Asst. U. S. Atty., Albuquerque, N. M. (Paul F. Larrazolo, U. S. Atty., Albuquerque, N. M., with him on the brief), for appellee.
Before BRATTON, Chief Judge, and PHILLIPS and LEWIS, Circuit Judges.
Drawn under 18 U.S.C.A. § 2113, the indictment in this case contained two counts. The first count charged that Robert Clyde Sanders and Joe Starr Gullahorn, Jr., entered the Sandia Base Agency of the Bank of New Mexico, a banking institution the deposits of which were insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, with the intent then and there to steal money and property of such bank in excess of $100; and the second count charged that such persons stole, took, and carried away from the building occupied by the Sandia Base Agency money in excess of $100 belonging to and in the care, custody, control, management, and possession of the Bank of New Mexico. Both of the defendants were found guilty on both counts and were sentenced to imprisonment.
One ground urged for reversal is that prejudicial exhibits with no bearing upon the trial of the issues were brought into the court room. The robbery occurred during the weekend and was discovered Monday morning. A special agent for the Federal Bureau of Investigation testified in detail concerning the conditions at the branch bank shortly after discovery of the robbery. And after qualifying as an expert, he testified that in his opinion the door to the safe was removed by the use of a crowbar, a prybar, or some other heavy instrument. At a later juncture in the trial another witness testified that he conducted a business located about four miles from Sandia Base; that on Friday before the robbery during the weekend, one of the appellants came to the place of business looking for a crowbar; that the witness did not have a crowbar in stock; that he showed the appellant a pinchbar; and that the appellant said he did not want a pinchbar but did want a five-foot crowbar. With that background, a crowbar and a pinchbar were produced in court. It was not contended that either of such exhibits was used in connection with the commission of the robbery and they were not admitted in evidence. They were produced and exhibited to the jury for the sole purpose of demonstrating the respective sizes and shapes of crowbars and pinchbars as throwing light upon the kind of instrument one of the appellants sought to obtain and the kind he rejected. And it is well settled that when the proper foundation has been laid, articles of personal property such as models, tools, or implements may be displayed in the presence of the jury for purposes of illustration. State v. Blancett, 24 N.M. 433, 174 P. 207; Peoples v. Commonwealth, 147 Va. 692, 137 S.E. 603; State v. Roy, 220 La. 1017, 58 So.2d 323. The foundation having been laid, it was not error to use the exhibits for the purpose of illustration.
Another ground urged for reversal is the admission in evidence of three gas masks. The essence of the argument is that there was no showing that the masks were connected in any way with the perpetration of the offenses laid in the indictment or that they were capable of being used in the commission of such offenses, and that their admission in evidence was prejudicial. Evidence was adduced tending to show that one of the appellants was near the branch bank a day or two prior to the time of the commission of the offenses charged in the indictment; that one of them sought to purchase a crowbar a day or two prior to the time of the commission of the offenses; that a heavy instrument of some kind was used in removing the door from the safe; and that some of the currency stolen from the bank was in the possession of one of the appellants. The appellants resided in Phoenix, Arizona, and they were both in that city soon after the commission of the robbery of the branch bank. Three books or booklets entitled or denominated "Safe Manuals" were found underneath the seat of the sofa in the residence of one of the appellants and the three gas masks were found in a cupboard. The manuals outlined technical procedure for opening safes. And one of them stated in substance that some safes are equipped with gas in a bottle on the inside of the door; that if the lock or bolt bars on such a safe are driven out of position,...
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...soon after the time of the commission of the offense and may introduce such tools or implements in evidence.... Sanders v. United States , 238 F.2d 145, 147 (10th Cir. 1956) ; see also State v. Thomas , [205 Conn. 279, 283, 533 A.2d 553 (1987) ] (where victim bound by rope, testimony regard......
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