Travis Truman Lott, Jr. v. United States

Appellant, Travis Truman Lott, Jr., was indicted and convicted by a jury of bank robbery in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2113 (a) and (d). The sole issue in this appeal is whether the trial court erred in permitting an F.B.I. agent to testify in rebuttal about statements made by Lott to hint while in custody after the United States Commissioner postponed the hearing to permit Lott to obtain counsel.

At the trial, four bank employees identified Lott as one of the men who robbed the bank. They testified that Lott and his accomplice forced them into a back room, required them to lie on the floor, removed $5,163.31 from the vault, and departed. When one of the employees heard the outside door close, he stood on a chair and saw the getaway car going south. He called the police. The police immediately broadcast the descriptions of the robbers and the car.

An officer testified that when he heard the broadcast he parked his patrol car about one mile south of the bank. When he saw a car and two men that answered the descriptions, he drove his car alongside and motioned Lott to stop, but Lott suddenly turned a corner and sped away. After a high-speed, zigzagging chase during which the officer…