Roy Bell v. United States

This is an appeal from a judgment of conviction, after a jury trial in the district court, of robbery of a bank which was federally insured and was a member of the Federal Reserve System.

The appellant and one Harold Williams were indicted for having, on October 28, 1965, robbed a branch of the Wells Fargo Bank in San Francisco. The appellant was tried separately from Williams. The prosecution presented evidence that, on the day of the robbery, the appellant appeared at a teller’s window in the bank. The teller and two other witnesses described, at the trial, the clothing worn by the appellant, and testified that he had a goatee, and a scar on his face. He asked where he could open a checking account and was directed to the officer’s platform of the bank. He moved to another teller’s window and then, displaying a gun, leaped over the counter to where two tellers were standing and, pointing the gun in their direction, said, “Don’t anybody move, don’t make me kill anybody.” He grabbed money from the tellers’ cash drawers, stuffed it into his pockets, leaped back over the counter and ran out of the bank. Three tellers, at the trial, identified the appellant as the robber.

The…