United States v. Johnny Bob Robertson

The appellant Johnny Bob Robertson (Robertson) and codefendant Christopher Walker (Walker) were tried before a jury for the armed robbery of a federally insured savings and loan association. ( 18 U.S.C. § 2113 (a), (d)). Robertson was convicted, while Walker was acquitted on a motion for directed verdict. On appeal from his judgment of conviction and sentence to custody, Robertson claims that the District Court improperly denied three motions: (1) a motion to suppress pretrial identifications of him made from an allegedly suggestive photospread, and to suppress in court identifications allegedly prejudiced by those prior identifications, (2) a motion to conduct a lineup, and (3) a motion to suppress evidence and statements obtained as a result of a warrantless entry into a dwelling. We remand.

FACTS

In the early afternoon of January 27, 1978, a man, later identified as Robertson, entered the Citizen’s Savings and Loan Association in Harbor City, California. His pacing back and forth and other suspicious actions attracted the attention of four tellers, and one of them activated a hidden surveillance camera. He left without transacting any business. Within an hour, the Association…