Yates v. United States
| Decision Date | 17 June 1966 |
| Docket Number | No. 8152.,8152. |
| Citation | 362 F.2d 578 |
| Parties | Donald Lee YATES, Appellant, v. UNITED STATES of America, Appellee. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Tenth Circuit |
George R. Compton, Wichita, Kan., for appellant.
John M. Imel, U. S. Atty., for appellee.
Before LEWIS, BREITENSTEIN and SETH, Circuit Judges.
On May 7, 1964, the Citizens Bank, Drumright, Oklahoma, was held up and robbed of over $35,800 by a lone, unmasked man. Appellant was indicted and tried for the crime, 18 U.S.C. § 2113(a), and now appeals from the judgment of conviction and the sentence imposed.
Six witnesses identified appellant as the person who committed the armed robbery, one of whom further testified that appellant left the scene driving north in a green and white 1962 Chevrolet. Appellant concedes the testimony of the eyewitnesses to be sufficient to warrant conviction but contends that additional evidence of extraneous circumstances was improperly admitted that prejudiced his denial of participation in the crime. Three areas of such additional proof were specifically connected with appellant: that he was in possession of a black and white .38 caliber revolver meeting the description of the gun described by the eyewitnesses as used in the robbery; that he had possession, after the robbery, of some $8,700 in cash; that he checked out of a Tulsa, Oklahoma motel on May 6 where he had been registered for several days under an assumed name. One area of proof was not directly connected to appellant: that a green and white 1962 Chevrolet was stolen on May 6 in Tulsa and found abandoned after the robbery some two miles north of the bank at Drumright.
It is true, of course, that circumstantial evidence which tends to connect an accused with a crime not charged or with suspicious or unconventional conduct may, in some instances, have such little probative value as to be irrelevant and prejudicial when considered in light of the totality of the evidence in a particular case. See Lyda v. United States, 9 Cir., 321 F.2d 788. The case at bar is not such a case. Appellant's possession of a large sum of money after the robbery and his possession of a gun similar in appearance to that used in the robbery are facts clearly probative of the commission of the crime and thus admissible. Johnston v. United States, 10 Cir., 260 F.2d 345, cert. denied 360 U.S. 935, 80 S.Ct. 1454, 4 L.Ed.2d 1547. Appellant's presence in and departure from Tulsa immediately before the...
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U.S. v. Wardell
...noticed the stun belt[]." Id. Thus, we refused to "presume prejudice." Id. In reaching our conclusion, we relied upon Yates v. United States, 362 F.2d 578 (10th Cir.1966). Yates affirmed the denial of a mistrial because although the defendant entered the courtroom in shackles on one occasio......
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U.S. v. Wardell
...noticed the stun belt[ ]." Id. Thus, we refused to "presume prejudice." Id. In reaching our conclusion, we relied upon Yates v. United States, 362 F.2d 578 (10th Cir.1966). Yates affirmed the denial of a mistrial because although the defendant entered the courtroom in shackles on one occasi......
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United States v. Zarra, Crim. No. 14225.
...prejudicial when considered in light of the totality of the evidence. United States v. Bowe, 2 Cir. 1966, 360 F.2d 1; Yates v. United States, 10 Cir. 1966, 362 F.2d 578; United States v. Costello, 2 Cir. 1955, 221 F.2d 668. In Costello, the court, in an opinion written by Judge Learned Hand......
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U.S. v. McKissick
...Mr. Zeigler and conclude the court did not abuse its discretion in denying Mr. Zeigler's motion for a mistrial. See Yates v. United States, 362 F.2d 578, 579 (10th Cir. 1966) (no prejudice to the defendant found where there was no evidence any juror in fact observed him wearing shackles in ......