By: dmc-admin//July 21, 2008//
Bank Robbery
Sufficiency of evidence
Where a bank robber told the tellers to put money in a bag and not include a dye pack, the evidence was sufficient to prove that he used force or intimidation to obtain the money.
"The record adequately shows that in each of the three contested robberies, Burnley or Harding conveyed to the teller a demand for the bank's money and made it clear that the teller was not to put a dye pack or bait bills in with the currency. The tellers understood from the words and context that these were not polite requests that could be ignored, they felt compelled to comply, and there was some evidence that they experienced fear or nervousness. That is enough, under the plain-error standard that applies in this case, to uphold Burnley's convictions."
Affirmed.
07-1314 U.S. v. Burnley
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin, Shabaz, J., Wood, J.