United States v. Brown
Decision Date | 16 June 1969 |
Docket Number | No. 19376.,19376. |
Citation | 412 F.2d 381 |
Parties | UNITED STATES of America, Appellee, v. Nathaniel BROWN, Appellant. |
Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Eighth Circuit |
William B. Kelleher, St. Louis, Mo., for appellant.
William C. Martin, Asst. U. S. Atty., St. Louis, Mo., for appellee; Veryl L. Riddle, U. S. Atty., on the brief.
Before BLACKMUN, GIBSON and BRIGHT, Circuit Judges.
Nathaniel Brown appeals from a judgment of conviction entered in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri where a jury found him guilty of violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2113 (a).1 Brown received a sentence of eight years imprisonment.
Viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the verdict, Brown, on April 4, 1966, entered the premises of Conservative Federal Savings & Loan Association at the southwest corner of Ninth and Olive Streets, St. Louis, Missouri, approached the window of teller Marcella Simmons and passed a note over the counter to her which read: Miss Simmons dropped the note to the floor in an attempt to attract the attention of a fellow teller Magdeline Schmiehausen, opened her cash drawer and pulled out some marked money. She whispered to Brown, "Show me your gun." Brown moved his right hand that was in his jacket pocket. Miss Simmons then screamed, "Show me your gun, you little snot, or get out of here." Brown left the premises empty-handed, having displayed no weapon at any time. Miss Simmons, Miss Schmiehausen, and a customer of the institution all identified Brown as the person involved in the aborted robbery attempt. Further, a fingerprint examiner testified that a print found on the note corresponded with the left thumb print of Brown.2 Brown denied the attempted robbery and offered an uncorroborated alibi. The factual matters were all resolved by the jury adversely to Brown.
On appeal Brown raises one basic issue: The District Court erred in overruling his motion for dismissal since the government failed to establish the crime charged as there was no evidence upon which the jury could find that anyone was intimidated or put in fear of bodily harm. As a corollary claim of error, Brown contends that the District Court should have sustained an objection and sustained a motion for a mistrial when government counsel stated in closing argument that Miss Simmons was intimidated in that this argument assumed the ultimate issue to be determined by the jury.
The indictment was cast under the second paragraph of § 2113(a) and charged Brown with entering the financial institution with intent to commit a felony. The Court's charge was responsive to the first paragraph of § 2113(a) and placed on the government the burden of proving that intimidation was used in the attempted robbery of the financial institution. The overt act of demanding money accompanied by a threatening gesture of any type intended to intimidate could reasonably be viewed as either evidence of the attempted robbery itself, or as evidence of the perpetrator's intent to commit a felony. The party accosted or threatened does not have to be put in fear of his life, only intimidation need be shown along with a demand for funds to satisfy the first paragraph of § 2113(a), and any evidence showing an entry with intent to commit a felony satisfies the requirements for conviction under the second paragraph of § 2113(a) — the intimidating note is evidence of the would-be robber's intent.
We find the contentions raised by Brown are without merit and affirm the judgment of conviction. Similar arguments to those raised by Brown were raised by the defendant in United States v. Baker, 129 F.Supp. 684 (S.D.Cal.1955). In Baker, the defendant passed a note to the teller which read: The teller asked, "What is this?" The defendant said, "Just put everything you have in the sack and there won't be any trouble." The teller tripped an alarm and the defendant was apprehended. No weapon had been displayed, nor was one found on the defendant. The defendant argued that the facts could not support a charge of an attempt to take by intimidation. The Court said at 686-687 of 129 F. Supp.:
To continue reading
Request your trial-
United States v. Natale
...States v. Alsop, 479 F.2d 65, 67 (9th Cir.1973); United States v. Epps, 438 F.2d 1192 (4th Cir.1971). See also United States v. Brown, 412 F.2d 381, 384 (8th Cir.1969). Accordingly, we reject the claim that actual fear is a necessary element of this II. Charge to the Jury on Intent and Entr......
-
Coles v. State
...defendant, without displaying weapon, gave teller note stating, "Please check all, into this sack, Thank you ECB"); United States v. Brown, 412 F.2d 381 (8th Cir.1969)(affirming conviction for bank robbery when teller was presented with demand note without display of a weapon, reasoning tha......
-
U.S. v. McCarty
...527 F.2d 1170 (6th Cir.1975) (no express threat or display of weapons); U.S. v. Epps, 438 F.2d 1192 (4th Cir.1971); U.S. v. Brown, 412 F.2d 381 (8th Cir.1969)).4 See U.S. v. Pennington, 20 F.3d 593, 597 n. 2 (5th Cir.1994); see also, U.S. v. Davis, 583 F.2d 190, 198-199 (5th Cir.1978) (Clar......
-
U.S. v. Thornton
...an act of intimidation; attempted intimidation is insufficient under the first paragraph of § 2113(a). See also United States v. Brown, 412 F.2d 381, 384 n. 4 (8th Cir. 1969) (approving of jury instruction on intimidation that required proof of one or more acts or statements done or made so......