United States v. Larita Anne Bolzer, United States of America v. William Bolzer, United States of America v. Jerry Thompson

This is an appeal by three defendants of their convictions by a jury for armed mail robbery, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 1706 and 2114, and for conspiracy, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 371 .

Appellants argue that count one of the indictment for conspiracy should have been dismissed because of a fatal variance between the allegations in the indictment and the proof at trial. Appellant Thompson also objects to the introduction of testimony from his ex-wife. We find that appellants were not prejudiced by the variance and that the testimony of Thompson's ex-wife was properly introduced. We therefore affirm.

Facts

In May and June 1975, appellants met several times to plan a robbery of a United States Postal Service truck trailer at Livingston, Montana. On May 29, 1975, appellant LaRita Anne Bolzer purchased a shotgun for use in the robbery. Appellants Thompson and William Bolzer (LaRita’s husband) conducted surveillance of the postal facility at Bozeman, Montana, allegedly to determine the custom and habits of the truck drivers on their routes. Thompson was a former postal employee and knew the details of the postal operation in the area.

On June 25, 1975, appellants…