Public-domain · open source
OpenJurist

448 F.2d 415

Docket No. 711091.

United States v. Cole

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals

Decided Aug. 26, 1971.

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals · decided 1971-08-26

Cited by 1 later decisions — most recently August 1971

1 federal appellate ·

2 counsel of record

Applies 18 U.S.C. § 2113 · 18 U.S.C. § 371

Relies on Glasser v. United States · Diaz-Rosendo v. United States · White v. United States

Good law ✅— No negative treatment on recordhow we know

Opinion by (per_curiam) · Decided 1971-08-26

View the full empirical analysis of this case →

¶1*416Hector N. Ortiz, San Francisco, Cal., for appellant.

¶2James L. Browning, U. S. Atty., San Francisco, Cal., for appellee.

¶3Before CARTER, KILKENNY and CHOY, Circuit Judges.

¶4PER CURIAM:

¶5This is an appeal from a conviction by a jury and sentence under an indictment charging appellant with violating 18 U. S.C. § 371 by conspiring with an unknown person to commit a bank robbery in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2113(a).

¶6The sole contention on appeal is that the evidence was insufficient to show the existence of the conspiracy, the identification of appellant as the robber, and the involvement of the appellant in the specified overt acts in furtherance of the conspiracy. Viewed in the light most favorable to the government, Glas-ser v. United States, 315 U.S. 60, 80, 62 S.Ct. 457, 86 L.Ed. 680 (1942), the circumstantial evidence here shows that appellant and his unknown companion stole a car from a used ear lot, that the companion drove appellant to the bank where appellant entered and effected the robbery and that the companion waited outside and drove appellant away from the scene.

¶7 The conspiracy here was clearly established by circumstantial evidence and this court has previously noted that the existence of a conspiracy can rarely be proved in any other way. Diaz-Rosendo v. United States (9 Cir. 1966) 357 F.2d 124, 129. Similarly, the evidence of appellant’s involvement in each of the alleged overt acts was circumstantial but it is well settled that not only the existence of the conspiracy but also the overt acts in furtherance thereof may be established by evidence which is other than direct. See generally White v. United States (9 Cir. 1968) 394 F.2d 49.

¶8At the trial appellant was identified as the bank robber by the teller and another bank employee. A handwriting expert from the FBI compared the demand note with other specimens of appellant’s writing and testified the same person wrote the samples and the demand note.

¶9Affirmed.

/448/f2d/415 · .json · Public domain