United States v. Joseph Lee Lewis

On September 28, 1971, following a trial by the Court, appellant was found guilty of a charge of bank robbery ( 18 U.S.C. § 2113 (a)). This conviction is now before us on an appeal in which two issues are raised. The first is the admissibility of certain statements made by appellant to the arresting agent. The second concerns the permissibility of a photographic identification procedure employed by the Government attorney in this case.

Appellant contends that the trial court erred in refusing to grant a motion to strike the testimony of an FBI agent relating to statements made by the appellant immediately following his arrest in that any statements made by appellant were coerced and in violation of his Constitutional rights, as set forth in Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436 , 86 S.Ct. 1602 , 16 L.Ed.2d 694 (1966). There is nothing in the record of this case to substantiate such a claim. The circumstances surrounding the arrest and the statements made by appellant to the agent are certainly not on their face unduly coercive or threatening. The arresting agent testified that he informed appellant of his rights and appellant appeared to understand them; that appellant’s ability to…