United States v. Maurice Pierre Roustio

Maurice Pierre Roustio, appellant herein, was convicted after a jury trial in the United States District Court for the District of Nevada for a violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2113 (d) (bank robbery). This court has jurisdiction over appellant’s direct appeal under 28. U.S.C. § 1291. On September 11, 1969, the First National Bank of Nevada, Las Vegas, was robbed by a single male who entered the bank, approached a teller, handed her a note in which he demanded money, and threatened to kill her should she not comply with the demand. He passed her a brown paper bag into which the money was to be placed. She followed his directions and placed certain moneys, into the bag, including five $20 bills whose serial numbers had been recorded. The robber then ran out of the rear door of the bank and diagonally across the street in an easterly direction. In doing so, he was observed by three persons. He was seen to enter an automobile described as a maroon convertible with Texas license plates. One of these three persons was Officer Brown of the Las Vegas Police Department, and another was a Miss Schuman. Both Brown and Miss Schuman made a subsequent in-court identification of the appellant as the…