United States v. Vernon Clifford Allen, United States of America v. Joseph Allen, Jr., United States of America v. Vera Mitchell

Appellants were convicted of armed bank robbery, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2113 . The defendants make two arguments on appeal. The first is that the court erred in admitting the prior consistent statement of a witness. The second argument is that the court erred in failing to instruct the jury that the testimony of an admitted perjurer should be distrusted. We affirm.

I. Prior Consistent Statement

The government’s key witness, Marie Donaldson, was an accomplice. She made two different statements about the bank robbery prior to trial. In the first statement she told FBI Agent Thomas Ernst that she had participated in the robbery. She implicated the appellants. Later, shortly before the trial, she told defendant Joseph Allen’s attorney that she had lied in her statement to the FBI and that she actually had no connection with the robbery. At trial, the government attorney’s opening statement made no mention of either prior statement. The defense attorneys for Vera Mitchell and Joseph Allen introduced the subject of Donaldson’s prior statements in their opening statements. Joseph Allen’s attorney argued that Ms. Donaldson would testify falsely at this trial in order “to save her…